1 in 20 people have a blue badge?

@BrightYellowTrain What has that got to do with it? Does having CF mean that you can get a BB even if you have no difficulties, just in case you do later down the line? I was not aware of that obviously. It makes no difference to me, one way or another though.

The person getting a BB just in case was not eligible for one

It would not be on most people's mind to apply for a BB, just in case.

@LadyKenya most people don’t have CF…

Yes, I understand@BrightYellowTrain . I just would have thought that she must have felt a need to apply for it, in the first place. It would not be on most people's mind to apply for a BB, just in case. It is a shame that she felt that people's judgement on how she presented, prevented her from using it, if she had the need to, as well.

@LadyKenya @brunettemic CF can be a fluctuating and variable condition. You don’t know when you might need the blue badge. You don’t want to need it but not have one and have to apply and wait.

I’ve no idea but you’re right!

That's absolutely fine. I don't need a random stranger on the internet to believe me. Odd that you'd think that a disabled person is lying about something that has actually happened, though.

These types of situations always confuse me. The BB have to be applied for, so why would people bother to do so, if they felt they had no need of one🤔

You can't.

Also, standard mobility has an automatic entitlement if you get 8 points in 'moving around'

Every council differs but as I understand it Advisory Disabled bays (outside a property for example) are marked in white. They are advisory only and have no legal standing and any driver can park there. Also while a bay is intended for the person who applies for it, other disabled drivers can use it.

Council owned carparks the disabled bays are normally Yellow I believe so must make a difference? Private owned carparks it's just a contractual obligation not to park there but that's between the land owner and the person parking as it is to pay for your parking in any space.

That is how I understand it anyway but I may be wrong.

This could result in their mum not receiving the blue badge any more as they are abusing the system by using it without her there.

In England, the enhanced rate of the mobility PIP does not automatically result in a person being eligible for a blue badge. In England, to be automatically eligible as a result of the PIP you receive, one needs at least 8 points on the moving around activity &/or 10 points exactly under descriptor E on the planning and following a journey activity.

@Oodlesofnoodlez I thought if you received the higher rate of PIP for the mobility component you could tick a box on the blue badge application to say so, which meant you didn't need to fill out the whole form and would be eligible for the badge. I wonder if they have changed it?

To date both my dds have received their blue badges with no refusal, and I really hope that doesn't change. They both have mobility issues and use wheelchairs when out and about, but I know not all disabilities are visible so I wouldn't assume just because someone doesn't use a walking aid they aren't disabled in some way, and they aren't deserving of a blue badge.

Blue badges can be issued for a lot of things and many people will therefore have them. I used to work with someone, she was late 20s, super healthy, exercised a lot but has CF so had a blue badge. She didn’t use it but still had it. From the outside the had zero signs of a disability and that’s why she said she didn’t use it.

Surely it makes no difference as they will be parked somewhere nearby anyway.

My DM could walk up to a point, but not the distance from the car park to e.g the optician’s - or anywhere else that I needed to take her. And because she had dementia, I couldn’t drop her anywhere to wait for me, since she’d immediately forget that I was coming back very soon, and get into a complete panic.

So thank goodness that once she moved to a care home they had BBs I could borrow.

I am not surprised to see the usual tropes being banded about, regarding BB. It is sad to see the posts alluding to people somehow cheating the system by having a BB, because they don't look disabled enough, or they saw someone for 10 seconds walk away somewhere. Some people can be very quick to judge. If someone has a BB, then there is a reason for that.

It was because he didn’t (and couldn’t) claim pip because he was diagnosed at 70. So it was a “computer says no” decision on the basis that “if you aren’t eligible for pip you can’t really have any mobility issues” (despite medical letters demonstrating that he did.

Agree with this

I've been glared at plenty of times for doing this. You can see other BB holders staring/glaring at DH and I (I can't drive anymore so he's always with me) as we get out of the car and nip into a shop.

What they don't see is us leaving the shop halfway through because fatigue and exhaustion hits me out of nowhere like a brick wall, or me being completely out of it post-ictal and unable to remember where we parked, never mind make it back safely.

When you see someone for thirty seconds, you see them for thirty seconds - you do not see enough of their life to know whether they need a blue badge or not.

This varies by council. In my area, it is automatic eligibility if you scored 10 points on Activity 11 (not the higher 12 points), or a certain level on 12.

That's absolutely shocking, what in the world were they thinking.. just can't imagine several people sat round deciding that.

And we need closeness to where we are going as well as an extra wide space.

We got a Blue Badge easily, but it depends on your disability or medical condition.
A couple of years ago the criteria for Blue Badges was expanded to include neurodiversity, and the number of Blue Badges issues increased a fair bit.
We do find it hard sometimes to find a disabled space. And you have to go very early to the hospital and hang about, to have any chance there.

@thecherryfox It's not about being physically close to the shop. In fact usually there are non-disabled bays closer to the shop than the furthest away disabled bays. It's about being able to navigate the car park safely. As in giving people safe room to get in and out of the car and a direct route to the shop that doesn't involve having to dodge cars while crossing a busy car park. Car parks are dangerous places. People with certain mental illnesses struggle to navigate safely in that type of environment. Hence why they are entitled to Blue Badges.