to be a bit irked about disabled badge holders using mum and baby spaces

[mousemole]

I am not sure why I am irked because clearly having a disabled badge means you have a need to park near a supermarket. But when all the mum and child spaces are gone, and I am struggligng with baby and toddler, and see a man with a blue badge RUN from his car in the pouring rain to Sainsburys whilst I can't get a space I have to admit to feeling P*ssed off. Oh and I also dont understand why totally able bodied senior citizens feel they have the right to park in them either.
Rant over.

Of course a person can be disabled and still capable of running, but as has been said, there is massive abuse of the blue badge system - it's thought up to half are being wrongly used. For example:

Thiswww.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1990469/Drivers-commit-disabled-parking-fraud.html

or business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article3241387.ece

In that second link, by the way, it does suggest that to get a blue badge, your disability does have to impair your mobility in some way - so the OP has a point. Quote: 'The rules state that, to qualify, a person must have a ?permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or have considerable difficulty in walking?.'

I'm just reading from the articl, not talking from personal experience - some of you with blue badges will of course know more. But from the OP, if the above is true, it does sound like the driver shouldn't have had a blue badge at all.

I have a condition that makes it advisable for me to use disabled toilets, so I am familiar with the glares you get from people who clearly think you are abusing the system since you are not in a wheelchair, as I leave the toilets. There's no real way to win as I don't want to stop and explain my medical history to them, and shouldn't have to. However, my condition doesn't affect my mobility so I would never apply for a badge and would never park in a disabled space. I don't need them, other people do.

oh dear

what if its the baby thats disabled? where would the parent park ,disabled bays or kiddy ones? what if the disabled person has young child with them? wonder??????

You can't get blue badges for under 3's!

You can get blue badges even with enhanced mobility. DS1 gets one because he cannot walk 'unaided' along a street. Not for 1 metre. Okay the 'aid' he needs is someone clinging onto him to stop him throwing himself under the wheels of cars in his street - his brain damage counts as 'permanent and substantial disability'. Believe me he is fast though. If he wasn't as fast (and therefore dangerous) as he is then I wouldn't have applied for mobility.

If anyone is remotely interested in applying despite being physically able I've written a little about it here. The links are useful.

jimjam thats disgusting u cant get blue b for under 3s.what are you supposed to do about hospital car parks {4 appointments ect}

so mething very wrong with that, (angry about it)
want to start a petition and get that changed?

you can get blue badges for under 3's - my dd is 2 and has had one since the start of her 2nd birthday. She has CP and can't walk, I know people look at me and wonder why I have a blue badge but tough shit, how many 2.5 year olds do you know you can't walk at all? I also need the disabled places so I can open the doors properly to lift dd in, at this age most children would be able to climb into their seat themselves.

dsrplus8- well then the car park is your oyster: they could park wherever they saw fit!

Again, no problem with my walking, provided there is a safe route from car to store (ie pavement all the way round- preferably with a railing round it, so dcs can't suddenly run into the path of a reversing car) This actually happened to me when dd1 was 2, and I had to abandon dd2 and throw myself at the back of the woman's car and thump on the boot. She didn't see dd1- not her fault, but I was trying to wrestle dd2 out of her car seat.

I don't get myself extraordinarily worked up about people abusing M&B spaces, I just think they are ignorant people who don't think about the reasoning behind such spaces. If I go into a car park without the dcs I always park at the far end- I have no problem walking and cannot be arsed to bust a blood vessel circling, desperately trying to get as close to the store as possible as some (able-bodied) people seem to- madness!

OTOH, I DO get a bit worked up about people abusing disabled spaces (and have got into trouble confronting people about it before now!) When my mum was alive one of her only pleasures was being taken round the shops, but her disability meant that if we couldn't bag a disabled space (she had a badge, of course) or 2 spaces, she simply couldn't get in and out of the car, and we went home . The worst case of disabled-space abuse I saw was a woman who parked in one at the GYM (no badge, no disability, lots of other spaces), then went in and walked on the treadmill for 20 mins (yes, I was stalking! ) Where is the logic in that- you can't walk an extra 100m from your car, but you will pay to walk on a treadmill?

Apologies, it's higher rate mobility you can't get until you're 3 (the route we took for the blue badge). It is hard to get under 3, I know people who have tried because they have been lugging baby plus oxygen bottles around and have been refused.

most bays arent really big enough, lets pettition about that instead

The bays might be big enough if people were able to park in a sensible fashion...but I'm sensing that would be a whole nother thread!

you can get blue badges for under 3's.

try walking with oxygen cylinders, suction equipment, 24 hour feeding pumps, blue badges available.

Actually I think officially you can get higher rate below 3, but I don't know anyone who has managed it (Jooly I think you're the first I've come across with a blue badge under the age of 3- did you get higher rate mobility or go via your council?)

Agree spaces in general are too small. Although Sainsbury's have put in 'comfort' spaces locally and I go for those. A lot of people don't know they exist.

cali- can I ask you as well- did you get the blue badge from your council, or did you go via higher rate mobility (useful to pass on).

jim jam im new in the world of SN and havent got all the info yet about all these things,there just seems to be a bit of a lottery going on about services/help and thats unfair.i know car parking issues are way down on the importance scale but something has to be done!!!!personly will name and shame loudly at whatever supermarket i visit asda voice overs will be busy

We haven't applied for high rate mobility yet as dd is not yet 3 but applied for the blue badge just before her 2nd birthday, GP had to sign something and it was all in place by the time she turned 2.

here is the list of criteria for under 3's - "You may also be eligible for a badge if you are over two years old and either:

have a permanent and substantial disability which means you cannot walk, or which makes walking very difficult
drive a motor vehicle regularly, have a severe disability in both arms, and are unable to operate all or some types of parking meter (or would find it very difficult to operate them)
If you are a parent of a child who is less than two years old, you may apply for a badge for your child if they have a specific medical condition which means that they either:

must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around without great difficulty
need to be kept near a vehicle at all times, so that they can, if necessary, be treated in the vehicle, or quickly driven to a place where they can be treated, such as a hospital"

The blue badge is not mine but the community nurses I work with helped a family get one as this is the situation they have found themselves in.
I am not at work for a week but could find out what criteria they used/met.

Oh it's always a lottery. If people have a child with autism and need a blue badge I tend to suggest going via higher rate mobility as it's the hardest for 'authorities' to wriggle out of, if you can get help in presenting your case.

I do know people who have struggled with oxygen cylinders and young children and got nowhere with blue badges and it's completely wrong.

Parking issues can make a huge difference to people, but often it just becomes another battle!

All the services (and education) are a lottery. It's totally wrong.

eh? what 2 yr old can drive???? forms say some stupid things !

Thanks howling, and that would be useful cali. According to your criteria howling the people I know who were refused shouldn't have been. That's always useful to know as well.

Crazy isn't it? You need to know the rules better than the people supposedly there to help you. (We were told by the DLA helpline that ds1 definitely didn't qualify- we got it on first application when he was 5).

Yes, agree that it's a lottery. The blue badge process has probably been the only easy bit so far! I have to do the DLA renewal forms soon and I'm dreading it and am also battling to get social services to agree to install some handrails in the bathroom for dd. Having the blue badge has made such a big difference to my dd as I actually go out now knowing I'll be able to park and get her out of the car without contorting myself or dd!

link here for those interested.

Sorry if my other post made it sound like it was personal experience.

I have some experience of taking babies out for little while, who are oxygen dependent and require suctioning. It helps knowing that you have a vehicle close to where you are.

Our adaptations have taken over a year (almost 2). However, I found out that from application to fitting should be no more than 6 months. It came in useful when I complained.