Can you settle this blue badge debate?

[elliejjtiny]

DS2 (4) has a blue badge for his mobility issues. I don't drive but DH does. Car only fits 4 people in and we have 3 ds's so we only rarely use the badge.

On the road where the school is, there are several council houses adapted for people with physical disabilities. One has a disabled space outside with white markings. The person who lives in the house regularly parks his trailer in the space and the car on the road. Other mums at school get cross about this as this means less spaces near school for parking. Some of them were saying that it is legal for anyone to park in that space as the markings are white and it's only illegal if the markings are yellow. I think anyone with a blue badge can park there as long as the badge is displayed etc. One of the mums who has a blue badge said that the space is for the resident of the house and anyone else who parks there, blue badge or not will be clamped if caught.

Which of us is right? I thought I'd better find out in case DH ends up being clamped for parking where he shouldn't.

Ellie. I don't have a clue about this. I am still waiting for my blue badge for DS. I would ring the LA and ask them. I always thought that disabled in yellow markings meant just that, not sure about the White markings. I would get clarification first.

is there not a sign next to the bay? All the ones round here in front of peoples houses can be used by anyone with a BB but different areas may work differently.

your friend is right, when you have a blue badge you can apply to the council to designate a disabled space for you, either on the road as a white painted rectangle with the disabled logo, or a bay with the disabled logo, this is to be used by the person who applied for it not 'general' disabled people and definatley not anyone. I might be totally wrong, but this is how I understood it to be when I read up on it for my ds. But I dont mind being corrected!

I believe you are correct, any car may use the space with a blue badge, unless the plate/sign gives a registration details of a vehicle.

i would check with your local council, I live in dacorum and the spaces are not marked with a number but can only be used by the person who requested it.

I found this. There are 3 different types of Disabled Parking Bay, these are:

An Advisory Disabled Bay

This type of bay is introduced in most cases where the application is successful and is for a bay close to a persons home. Although this type of bay is not enforceable it has proved very successful in the majority of cases in providing the blue badge holder with an improved facility to park close to their home. This type of bay is quicker to introduce as no Traffic Regulation Order is required.

A Mandatory Disabled Bay

This type of bay does require the introduction of a Traffic Regulation Order and therefore usually takes longer to introduce, but this type of bay is enforceable. Bays for general use of blue badge holders close to hospitals, clinics, doctors surgeries, chemists or other public buildings are usually of this type. In addition advisory bays that suffer regular misuse can be changed to mandatory bays to allow enforcement.

A Dedicated Disabled Parking Bay

This type of bay is for blue badge holders who are also permit holders and is restricted to use in specific areas covered by permit parking schemes or at locations where use by other blue badge holders is likely to occur regularly to the disamenity of the applicants.

My understanding is that any blue badge holder can use the bay UNLESS there is a sign next to it (official sign, I mean) with a specific registration. But it varies from area to area, so might be worth checking with your council.

Howerver this person could be in trouble for parking his trailer in the space as it is intended for cars.

I'm currently in dispute with my local council about them not being willing to provide a disabled bay outside my house and have been digging through the rules regarding them.

My understanding is that rather than the colour of the road markings the important bit is what is written on the sign next to the bay. Advisory bays do not have a sign and there can be no legal comeback for anybody parking in them, whether a blue badge holder or not. With other disabled bays any blue badge holder can park in them as long as they display a current badge and no other regulations are in force such as requiring a residents parking permit. I've never heard of disabled bays being solely for the use of one person, but if they were it would have to be clearly marked on the sign and would not use the car registration to use this because of the cost and time to change the sign everytime the person changed their car!

I find it interesting that they do not park their car in the space, but put their trailer in instead. Is the trailer parked up in the space, or do they keep the trailer attached to the car? If they need to keep the trailer constantly attached, then the council would need to extend the bay to fit both the car and trailer or the provided space is not enough to meet the disabled persons needs. If it is stored there and the person is able to park outside the space then they will no longer be entitled to a disabled bay! To be granted a bay you have to meet a medical test and a parking density test. If the parking density is not such that a person cannot park in a 6 meter space within 25 meters of their home for substantial parts of the day then they are not eligible for a bay. This is the point that I'm currently in dispute with my local council about......

Paul

Thanks everyone. The bay doesn't have a registration or anything in it, just the word "disabled" in front of it, like the disabled parking spaces in the high street outside the bank. The trailer isn't attatched to the car. One of the other mums told me that the space was there for the previous tenant. This morning the man had his trailer in the front garden and the car in the space, without a blue badge displayed. I'll phone the council and ask them to make sure we've got it right.