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Free Parking for Disabled WHY ?
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Wasn't sure which topic to put this under, so here goes.... Could someone please explain to me why Registered Disabled people get Free Parking in public car-parks. Don't get me wrong I understand most things are difficult for disabled, but why is paying for parking difficult? I only found out about this only recently when i went shopping with my friend, she is registered disabled as she has arthritis with limited mobility, she can walk but not for too long distances, she needs to take regular breaks due to pain. However, she does go shopping, she does walk without aid, she also has a car through disability allowance. Why do they get Free Parking� ? There is no excuse that the parking meters are 'too far' to walk to, because the parking meter was right next to where the disabled parking bays were and having looked since it seems that most car parks have done the same. When I asked my friend why she got the 'special' treatment, she couldn't answer � she just smiled and said 'don't know but I'm not going to question it if I get it for free'. She also tells me she goes through motorways tolls (Dartford crossing) for free because being registered ? WHY, please tell me why they cannot pay like everyone else does. Bearing in mind, if I took my friend out in my car, she could bring her free parking permit with her so I can park in the disabled bay for her benefit (so she didn't have to walk too far)! In this instance, I too could have benefited from the 'free parking', is this right? I can understand those who are severely disabled and will need special benefits for the reasons of their disability, but surely each disability should be graded to just how disabled they are?!
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Hi Mustang Lady,
I agree with you, My daughter is registered disabled, and we have the Blue Badge,
What happens, is that the parking bays for the Disabled, are closer to the shops and other amenties, and that is, I think, how it should be.
Where I live, there are some areas where we pay, and others that we don't, My opinion, which i've had printed in our local Newspaper, is that there's no reason whatsoever for free parking for Disabled people, they get Motorbility cars and various benefits, which add up to quite a lot, so there's no reason not to pay.
In the end though, its up to whoever owns the carparks.
I agree with you, My daughter is registered disabled, and we have the Blue Badge,
What happens, is that the parking bays for the Disabled, are closer to the shops and other amenties, and that is, I think, how it should be.
Where I live, there are some areas where we pay, and others that we don't, My opinion, which i've had printed in our local Newspaper, is that there's no reason whatsoever for free parking for Disabled people, they get Motorbility cars and various benefits, which add up to quite a lot, so there's no reason not to pay.
In the end though, its up to whoever owns the carparks.
The car park next to where I work charges everyone the same (except emplyees like me, i have a special pass) there was alot of moaning about the disabled having to pay for their special spaces right outside the doors, but the car park people ignored them, i agree, why should they not pay? they are near the entrance and have extra wide spaces.
As already pointed out, not all council car parks offer free disabled parking places - in many the charges are exactly the same as for everyone else.
Not everybody who has a blue badge has a car on motability - many don't have a car at all and it is perfectly legal to display that badge in any car that is being used to transport the disabled person- whether that is friend, relative, volunteer or taxi. Others own their own cars.
Motability cars are not free - they are leased and paid for by the disabled person and have stringent conditions.
A lot of people with blue badges work full time and wouldn't be able to if they couldn't park close to the work place.
Disabled people don't have the choice to walk to their destination and some can't use public transport - senior citizens get free bus passes, so it would be cheaper to get the bus.
Disability benefits ARE 'graded' - both the mobility and care components are paid are different rates, depending on the extent of the disability. You have to be in receipt of the highest level of mobility allowance to qualify for a blue badge; be registered blind or be in receipt of War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement; or
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).
Not everybody who has a blue badge has a car on motability - many don't have a car at all and it is perfectly legal to display that badge in any car that is being used to transport the disabled person- whether that is friend, relative, volunteer or taxi. Others own their own cars.
Motability cars are not free - they are leased and paid for by the disabled person and have stringent conditions.
A lot of people with blue badges work full time and wouldn't be able to if they couldn't park close to the work place.
Disabled people don't have the choice to walk to their destination and some can't use public transport - senior citizens get free bus passes, so it would be cheaper to get the bus.
Disability benefits ARE 'graded' - both the mobility and care components are paid are different rates, depending on the extent of the disability. You have to be in receipt of the highest level of mobility allowance to qualify for a blue badge; be registered blind or be in receipt of War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement; or
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).
Cazzz.. yes my friend does have bad days and those day she does not go out. I (or another) would go food shopping for her as we appreciate things can get unbearable for her.
Lonnie, thank you. I do agree that disabled people should receive help where they need to but think that disabilties should be graded. I do find this frustrating sometimes, when i see someone who can quite happily walk around shops but cannot walk to the parking meter to pay? In addition, I would feel guilty obtaining free parking if I were to 'use' her parking permit, as I would be quite able to walk to the parking meter so why should I get the free parking? Doesn't make sense to me.
I agree that the Disabled receive loads of benefits, including motability cars (includes normal cars with no adaptions being made for disability use), so why another freebie? My friend received a Vauxhall 7-seater for her disabled car? She lives on her own, has grown-up children and mostly drives the car around with no passengers? She just laughed and shrugged her shoulders when i brought up the subject.
I'm on low wage (but just above the minimum so no concession), live on my own & have a mortgage which I struggle to pay, I have to pay for my small car to make sure i get to work (25 mile round-trip) working 6days a week. I get absolutely no help at all from the Government but still get by (only just) with no luxuries. I don't drink or smoke (as I couldn't afford to if i wanted to). Sorry if I'm sounding off here, but who else can i turn to when i feel like this .... it really gets to me sometimes.
Lonnie, thank you. I do agree that disabled people should receive help where they need to but think that disabilties should be graded. I do find this frustrating sometimes, when i see someone who can quite happily walk around shops but cannot walk to the parking meter to pay? In addition, I would feel guilty obtaining free parking if I were to 'use' her parking permit, as I would be quite able to walk to the parking meter so why should I get the free parking? Doesn't make sense to me.
I agree that the Disabled receive loads of benefits, including motability cars (includes normal cars with no adaptions being made for disability use), so why another freebie? My friend received a Vauxhall 7-seater for her disabled car? She lives on her own, has grown-up children and mostly drives the car around with no passengers? She just laughed and shrugged her shoulders when i brought up the subject.
I'm on low wage (but just above the minimum so no concession), live on my own & have a mortgage which I struggle to pay, I have to pay for my small car to make sure i get to work (25 mile round-trip) working 6days a week. I get absolutely no help at all from the Government but still get by (only just) with no luxuries. I don't drink or smoke (as I couldn't afford to if i wanted to). Sorry if I'm sounding off here, but who else can i turn to when i feel like this .... it really gets to me sometimes.
i agree that free parking is silly but i also see that there are some genuinely disabled people who are on disability allowance and really struggle financially also. there are also alot of people who rip the p*** out of the already bad system. i know someone whos grandfather was on DLA because he was hit by a rubber bullet during the troubles like 30yrs ago. he also had a 7 seater that she taxied her kiddies around in. really p'd me off! the thing i dont get about car parks is why are there always about 30 disabled spots (rightly so) but about 5 mother and baby spaces, it is so difficult sometimes and it infuriates me even more when i see people parking there when they have either no kids with them or no kids at all. absolute joke!! i need those spaces!!!!
Motability cars, adapted or not, are not free - they are leased and are paid for by the disabled person.
Your friend is paying a lot of money for that car.
The car parking spaces are free in some council car parks because the law states that a car displaying a blue badge can park on double yellow for up to three hours, or for an unlimited time on single yellow lines.
So disabled drivers preferred to park on the yellow lines outside the car park than pay inside the car park - which blocks the road and congests the traffic.
You as an able bodied person can walk, or catch the bus - you have a choice.
Your friend is paying a lot of money for that car.
The car parking spaces are free in some council car parks because the law states that a car displaying a blue badge can park on double yellow for up to three hours, or for an unlimited time on single yellow lines.
So disabled drivers preferred to park on the yellow lines outside the car park than pay inside the car park - which blocks the road and congests the traffic.
You as an able bodied person can walk, or catch the bus - you have a choice.
I think with some people its a matter of , if i can't have it then nobody should, what difference will it make to those people if they charge disabled people to park their cars, where do you stop, why do council tenants get free smoke alarms and free batteries every six months, why do they get reduced rents and pay very little council tax, i am not saying that they should not , just making a point.
I am a disabled person with a blue badge in my area we only get free parking in designated bays .. which are sometimes used by people with no badge..also we have roadside disabled bays which delivery drivers use frequently i have severe pain when walking and sometimesI cannot get parked so have to go home again and try on a less busy day! i accept the system is abused but not by the majority.. twinny
http://www.motability.co.uk/main.cfm?Type=CHSW
This link explains how a disabled person goes about getting a car through their disability allowance payments,you can clearly see that the car is NOT FREE by reading it MustangLady
This link explains how a disabled person goes about getting a car through their disability allowance payments,you can clearly see that the car is NOT FREE by reading it MustangLady
Different question, but on the same subject.
If you are temporarily disabled, say with a broken leg or a slipped disc, bad arthritic bout, etc. is there any way you can use the disabled space!!
I often struggle to walk the length of a car park with a heavy trolley - at other times I am fine. I often see people who are far more able than I with blue badges.
If you are temporarily disabled, say with a broken leg or a slipped disc, bad arthritic bout, etc. is there any way you can use the disabled space!!
I often struggle to walk the length of a car park with a heavy trolley - at other times I am fine. I often see people who are far more able than I with blue badges.
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