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Main Section => Workshop Wisdom => 602's Musings => Topic started by: w3526602 on September 06, 2022, 06:20:21 AM

Title: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: w3526602 on September 06, 2022, 06:20:21 AM
Hi,

What it says on the label. I'm mainly interested in "ON STREET" parking.

Walking is starting to hurt ... I limp on both legs, take 12" strides. I can't bend either knee more than 90*. Any step higher than 4" is a major obstacle ... particularly going down.

602
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: geoff on September 06, 2022, 07:22:28 AM
I do know you cannot park on a double yellow line otherwise you'll get a parking ticket.

Generally speaking you have to be a law abiding citizen in the same way that other road users are expected to be.

That said many Blue Badgers around here seem to take the *&%^$ and seemingly act with impunity !

Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: gilbo on September 06, 2022, 07:48:00 AM
You CAN park on double yellow lines for up to 3 hours. You cannot park on them if there is a line painted from the pavement onto the kerb at 90 degrees to the yellow lines.
There are a whole host of things you need to be considerate about though.
John, as tedious as it is, I suggest you have a read of the regulations but in our experience the 'traffic wardens' ( or whatever they are now called) are very unlikely to give you any grief.
Just watch out for car parks - despite having disabled spaces it is very, very likely you will still have to pay for a ticket (usually only disabled people who have tax exempt vehicles (no, not old Land Rovers!!!!) get to park for free.
Please read the rules!
HTH
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: geoff on September 06, 2022, 07:55:46 AM

Didn't know about the 90 degree lines would have stopped my wife getting ticket  :neener 

Maybe the rules differ in Wales what with Dripford and Co ?

John the advice above is certainly good, have a read of the rules  :tiphat

Oh and John, always abuse a good thing for if you don't others certainly will and the " good thing " will surely be taken away.
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: Peter Holden on September 06, 2022, 07:57:48 AM
It is a minefield, we always wondered why in St Annes blue badge holders parked in such bad places even next to council car parks with spaces until we got caught.  We have a disabled friend, a wheelchair user,who used to live there.  We parked in an ordinary bay in a car park because the 2 disabled bays were full and of course we got a ticket.  To add insult to injury the entrance and exit to this carpark was always difficult to negotiate due to the cars displaying blue badges parked on the double yellows on either side of the entrance and exit.  In thi s case the law is an ass, they are causing obstructions and causing accidents because of the silly parking restictions

Peter
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: Birdsnet55 on September 06, 2022, 08:30:58 AM
John always check in car parks, some are free, some you have to register your badge and reg number (mainly hospitals). Always display the time clock set correctly and that the badge can be read as some parking wardens are Job's worths and you then have to go to the trouble of getting the ticket cancelled.

Paul
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: Wittsend on September 06, 2022, 09:59:08 AM
Read your local rules ....

That's the best, and only advice we can give, every thing else is speculation.

It's no good if your line of defence is; "Well some geezer on an Internet forum said I could do it."  :thud

The beaks  :judge :judge :judge will not be impressed.

 :plod
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: Dave M on September 06, 2022, 10:09:23 PM
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england

Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: w3526602 on September 07, 2022, 06:22:41 AM
Hi Notlob (Robin?)

Thanks for the above link. I managed to print off a copy, albeit with the usual 602 difficulties.

Both Barbara and I receive Attendance Allowance ... we are too old for anything else, at 80 and 83 respectively. I was told on the phone, that I was only entitled to DAY AA, but our Carer CEO (Madam Whiplash) got involved, and the NIGHT element was added, without being mentioned ... it just appeared on our bank statements. It think the two AA total £160 each week.

Barbara and Madam Whiplash had an eye-ball to eye-ball episode, over who put the supermarket deliveries away. Neither claimed victory, nor admitted defeat ... but the groceries are now put away ... and the "Sanitation Crew" now tread carefully in Barbara's presence.

I now get a shower attendant in the morning, then I am undressed, and changed into my jim-jams at night, but my carer has been changed from a nubile maiden to a bloke with a beard.  :'(   All the cares are African, I think from Somalia.

Many years ago, I watched Barbara and a Police Sergeant, standing in the middle lane of the M4, traffic passing both sides, wagging fingers in each others faces. It ended with the Sergeant telling me to "get my wife out of his sight". An offer to good to refuse. Me?  I still wake up screaming.

602
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: Wittsend on September 07, 2022, 08:08:08 AM
Be careful and follow the rules ... else  :go_to_jail

Blue Badge misuse in Norfolk Crack Down (https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/local-council/seven-prosecuted-over-disabled-blue-badge-misuse-9255268)


 :free_parking
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: A-Ro on September 07, 2022, 03:26:28 PM
How do you qualify for a Blue Badge? The anti car Nazis in Oxford are now implementing 6 traffic filters which only allow busses, vans and sundry other exceptions through including Blue Badge holders. As a local I can now only leave my estate in my car 100 days per year. I need to find a loophole.
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: w3526602 on September 08, 2022, 05:58:28 AM
How do you qualify for a Blue Badge?

Hi A-Ro,

During my researches, I came across a requirement that the Badge Applicant must be unable to reach the coin slot on a parking meter. A Google for Blue Badge Entitlement should point you in the right direction ... though it might be safest to include your Town Name in the search parameters.

I recently read that Milton Keynes Council were moaning about the loss of Parking Revenue due to Covid.

Barbara enquired about wheel-chair friendly taxis, was told that the minimum fare was £40. She assumed that they only wanted fares to airports.

602
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: geoff on September 08, 2022, 08:18:25 AM
..... As a local I can now only leave my estate in my car 100 days per year.

 I'm confused here can you elaborate please  :tiphat
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: w3526602 on September 08, 2022, 10:34:23 AM
Hi

It would cost me £5 each way, to visit MK Hospital, by taxi.

Factor in the cost of the car parking, plus the long walk from the multi-storey to Reception, it's almost a no-brainer ... provided there are wheelchairs available in Reception.

I wonder if a wheel-chair "jockey" could make a living, pushing patients/visitors, in a hospital provided wheelchair, from the taxi drop-off to wherever they want to be?

602
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: Dave M on September 08, 2022, 10:21:23 PM
How do you qualify for a Blue Badge?

Apart from the automatic criteria, there is also this:

It starts with "you may be eligible for a badge" if:

you cannot walk at all
you cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
walking is dangerous to your health and safety
you have a terminal illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a DS1500 form
you have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines
you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment
you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child must always be kept near a vehicle in case they need emergency medical treatment
you are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
you struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces
Title: Re: What can/can't you do with a BLUE BADGE?
Post by: w3526602 on September 09, 2022, 11:41:25 AM
Hi Notlob,

Thanks for your time spent.

The only "specific" that applies, in your list is ... you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes

Yep, walking hurts, but until recently I would just live with it ... and argue with my builder about whether I was capable. So then he just did the jobs when I wasn't looking, after which, it seemed churlish to complain.

I got out of my PC's chair a few minutes ago, and staggered to the bathroom. I thought I wasn't going to make it without falling. I anticipate that I will improve during the day.

602

Breathless? I done a quick test, found I can hold my breath for 30 seconds without difficulty ... and then got bored. In my twenties, I once spent two minutes submerged in the swimming pool, but I wasn't moving. I could swim the length of a swimming pool (25 yards) under water ... but so could everybody else.