Safe Speed Forums

My local council have introduced charging for the disabled in their car parks. But they have introduced a scheme to get reduced payments.

I don't know if any other County Council does this already,or something new. Would charging them cause more of them to park on road?

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Hi Derick

Long time no see



I confess to being in two minds over disabled parking. Some cases (severe) ones will certainly warrant a free parking bay. But others? They may have some difficulty in getting around .. but have no apparent problem in driving and handling a car. I thus think a nominal fee (not a full one) would be fair for the "disabled but mobile on foot at slow pace" -

I hope folk understand what I am trying to say here.

Those with a proven severe problem continue to park for free and those who need the disabled space.. but could manage a longer walk to the shops .. pay a nominal fee. It seems fair enough to me anyway.. but then .. how the hell do you decide who merits what?

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Having had extensive experience in the use of disabled parking spaces (my wife had MS and used a wheelchair) you may be surprised that I actually see no objection to charging for disabled parking.

The key thing is the provision of sufficient spaces for the disabled and the policing of these bays to ensure that only proper use is made of them. If a charge has to be made to provide these services then this seems reasonable.

The whole logic of allowing parking on yellow lines is flawed. To start with, lines should only be painted on the road where an obstruction would be caused by parking. Unfortunately, now they are used to direct cars into revenue raising car parks and, thus, they are everywhere. If yellow lines were correctly used then the disabled need not be allowed to park on them as demarcated bays could be provided.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

My wife also has MS
I have no problem with parting with money for parking , however the physical effort that that would take for someone with MS is like asking you to run up to the seventh floor to put your money in the parking meter

As said above it is the need for available parking within 100m which is getting worse with those pedestrianised centres. Also pewople like southampton who take great glee with moving the disabled bays and taxi parking around in some sort of spite full game. then the remove smooth paveing with riven portland paving ( A trip hazard does not exist umless it is over 24mm high) because it was traditional in the medevial time here. if you have foot drop this is effectivly banishing you from the area.

In reality we don't make a huge use of the blue badge unless we are on holliday but it does make a big difference when trying to find a a loo or at motorway service centres where the buggers put the loos as far from the front door as possible. These fast stops would be a nightmare If we hat to find a parking pay point first.

I think that blue badge abuse occurs more where the councils are taking the mick with the charges and where there is a total lack of planning regarding parking. Also beaches which are part of our recreational space where parking charges prevent people going and getting a bit of free sea air and excersise untill after 10 pm

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with deepest respect to the members who's spouses have disability's, the way disabled badges are handed out i feel is like confetti, this leads IMO to a saturation of availability for disabled spaces, DBH's can park on yellow lines for restricted periods of time but for many they expect free parking all day every day,

an idea what about various allowances for the severity of the disablement, less able bodied have a longer parking allowance than say someone who has broken arm, not that a broken arm is a disablement but i do not want to offend anyone

They are very hard to get! (if everyone is following the rules) however once issued are rarely rescinded.
You cannot get a blue badge for temporary injuries like a broken leg (but I think a six month badge should exist)

I parked out side Salisbury's on a council estate and was shocked how many people were waking to the shops with sticks and visible disabilities.

remember also that there are a lot of people with invisible disabilities like MS, ME , Parkinson's, back pain, Arthritis

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

Not if you look at the amount around Poole Quay!
Of course you can only park there if you are "disabled". Which kind of disables everyone else from being able to park there and enjoy the town...

It wouldn't be so bad if they were 'disabled priority' spaces or something like that, so anyone could use the space if there weren't any others around in a reasonable area, but no. They are used as an easy way to fine people. Remember that if your council runs decriminalised parking enforcement then they install the restrictions and they make money from enforcing their restrictions.

Looks like south somerset council are hoping to get DPE around April 2008. Lucky you. Restrictions all round.

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Andrew.

I know of a few people who have partners with disabilities so have no objection to them having the blue badge, but when they go out on thier own, they still use the badge - flagrent abuse should be clamped down, but how?

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Fine them!
No, um...
I think there would be much less of a problem if parking wasn't so restricted in the first place.

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Andrew.

Hello In Gear, sorry Chaps for not popping in more recently , you know how it is

My Mother is currently a Blue Badge holder, and is thinking over this Voucher scheme. A shopping centre near by a car park does a Wheel chair hire, so it's not as though people have to struggle around the town when they do get there

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RoADA Member -GOLD 2008
If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.

Got one next door - mother has disability - seldom if ever gets in car - daughter uses car as her private vehicle ,complete with blue badge. Perhaps the licencing authority might carry out spot checks - but in this day and age and climate- the inncent would be penalised more than anything else.

Not really on-topic but related(ish). Can anyone see the logic of Eurotunnel allocating a separate boarding lane for vehicles carrying Disabled Drivers and allowing them to board first ? After all, they are driving onto, and off, the train, not walking or whatever, so why the preference ?

Always strikes me as odd.

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"Experience isn't everything - but it's most of it".

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

There are straightforward criteria for getting a Blue Badge. They are only easy to get if you meet the criteria. Or if it is unclear whether you meet the criteria, and the person who makes the decision doesn't do it properly. You'd be amazed at the reasons for wanting one that people come up with when they are asked in for an interview.

And they do have an expiry date.

The problem is not with people being allocated them incorrectly, but others getting hold of a disabled person's badge and using it themselves.

Police officers, traffic wardens and some local authority officers whose duties involve parking enforcement have the power to inspect blue badges whenever they are being used.

If the badge is being used incorrectly by the person it was issued to, the number should be recorded and the issuing authority informed of the misuse. Councils have the power to rescind a badge for repeated misuse.

If the badge is being misused by someone other than the person it was issued to, it should be seized and returned to the issuing authority.
Councils have the power to rescind a badge in these circumstances.


more detail here

http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/a ... emeholders

Gotta love the shoddy lines down the pages and page 9... "put the badge upside-down and we'll fine you".

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Andrew.

that is on one of the most patronising documents I have read in my life.

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Probably related to evacuation - keeping all those with disabilities in the same place.

Does being disabled mean they also have little or no money? Parents have to pay for their spaces

No, it means that given their circumstances they can't access some of the alternative transport options that the able-bodied can. They have less choice. For example, I can jump on the bus into the city centre, with a couple of children in tow, for less than it costs to park in one of the central car parks. This is significantly more difficult if you are in a wheelchair or using a couple of sticks.

Of course, the argument about disabled people being allowed certain parking privileges in terms of allocated spaces in a more accessable location is slightly different to the question of whether they should be paying for them. I don't have a real problem with them being charged, as already happens in car parks all over the country, but neither do I have a problem with them being allowed to park for free.

So to solve this stop councils from charging people to use public car parks?

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Andrew.