Blue Disability Card

[starone]

I have one of these and it is very useful because at my age I find it quite difficult to walk without using some kind of aid. Now here is my question - today I had to go to the hospital and the parking there is practically non-existent. There is parking about 50yds up the road in a multi-story car park, and so that I will not have to walk too far my daughter dropped me off at the hospital and helped me in and then went to the car park with the blue card and parked in the disability places. Then she walked back to the hospital where I was waiting. She did the same procedure only the other way around when I had finished the treatment and came out. Now someone has told us this is not allowed. The card can only be used if I am in the car all the time and she is not allowed to be in the car alone even if she is parking it after making sure I was delivered at the hospital. Surely this cannot be right - it is supposed to help me not hinder. Might as well not have it if it cannot be used as we have previously used it. Is there a huge fine? Hope this is plain - it is rather involved or as the Americans say "complicated".

[starone]

Tee-hee, hopkirk - I pictured Bristol becoming gridlocked with me staggering about outside of the car trying desperately to get into the hospital.

[bednobs]

hello starone, i am sitting here with the booklet in front of me. On this matter it says:
The badge is for your use and benefit only ...or if someone is collecting you or dropping you off and needs to park at the place where you are being collected or dropped off
so, clear as mud then!

[EDDIE51]

My wife has a blue badge, I take her to all her hospital appointments.
If I can not park near enough for her to walk I drop her off and then park in a disabled space. This is correct as the car is being used solely for her benefit it says so in the conditions of use. The fact that she may not be in the car when I actually park is irrelevant as the conditions of use are being fulfilled.

[EDDIE51]

bednobs it is clear ' the place where you are being collected or dropped off' is the hospital , clinic or any other place you need to go. It does NOT mean the exact spot where you get out of the car it means anywhere in that location the hospital car park for example.
Only the other day I dropped my wife off outside a shop she needed to go into, there was no room to park there so I parked in a disabled space in the nearest car park. As I got out of the car a traffic warden was doing the rounds of the car park, she looked at the badge and said ''that is not you'' I explained what I was doing and she said that was ''fine then'' and walked off.

[Peter Pedant]

Eddie there seems to be confusion about dropping off and parking

The blue card allows your driver to park whilst you the disabled one hobbles around. On a bad day I cling to things when I walk up the streeet and no one expects me to drive...

[EDDIE51]

^^ yes PP that is correct but there does seem to be a lot of confusion about it. As long as the car is being used
'solely for the benefit of the disabled person'
the driver can park the car alone without the person actually being in it. Very often there is no other way to do it.

[Retrochic]

If you are driving someone to an appointment and they have a disabled badge you have every right to use a disabled space if that person is getting out of the car and walking directly to the appointment. If you are dropping them off at the door and parking up, then there is no need for a disabled space and morally you should leave that space for a disabled person perhaps coming in on their own with no help. Surely this is a no-brainer?

[dannyk13]

From the handbook :- The badge is for your use and benefit only.It must be displayed if you are travelling in the vehicle as a driver or passenger, OR IF SOMEONE IS COLLECTING YOU OR DROPPING YOU OFF AND NEEDS TO PARK AT THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE BEING COLLECTED OR DROPPED OFF.

[hc4361]

retrochic is right. Eddie, you are needlessly taking the space of somebody who needs the disabled parking. You don't, you are fit and able.
That is why there is a photo on the badge. If a warden sees you getting in or out of the car and asks to see the badge you could get a FPN as the disabled person is not with you.


Who Can Use the Badge?
The badge is for your use and benefit only. It
must only be displayed if you are travelling
in the vehicle as a driver or passenger, or if
someone is collecting you or dropping you
off and needs to park at the place where
you are being collected or dropped.
Do not allow other people to use the badge
to do something on your behalf, such as
shopping or collecting something for you,
unless you are travelling with them.
• You must never give the badge to friends
or family to allow them to park for free,
even if they are visiting you.


I do get what you are saying about using the car for the benefit of the disabled person but that does not entitle you to use the badge if that person is neither getting in or out of the car at that place. I repeat, from the conditions:
if someone is collecting you or dropping you
off and needs to park at the place where
you are being collected or dropped.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206022/blue-badge-rights-responsibilities.pdf

Of course, hospital car parks are private land and may have different rules.

[Retrochic]

Can I just add something here. The car does not have the badge, the person does. I ferry a couple of ladies to hospital in my car that have disability badges and they don't own a car.

[hc4361]

Yes, taxi drivers can display a passenger's badge - the whole purpose of the badge is to enable a disabled person or his (or her) driver to park as close as possible to where the disabled person needs to get to.

[bednobs]

this is why i said "clear as mud" that phrase about dropping off and picking up is ambiguous and could be read either way. However, as star did walk back to the car, in my mind there is no issue at all

[EDDIE51]

As I said earlier I was actually told by a traffic warden that it was ''fine'' to drop the person off and then park the car using the blue badge to park in a disabled space. That is good enough for me.

[EDDIE51]

hc4361
another point, at Addenbrokes Cambridge it costs £3.50 to park unless the car displays a blue badge and is in a disabled space.
So if I drop my wife off at her clinic and then use an ordinary space to park we are going to lose £3.50 every time. Our only income is pension credit and we can't afford to pay £3.50 every time she go's to an appointment.

[bednobs]

how do you think non-disabled people manage!

[EDDIE51]

^^ Anyone on a low income/ benefits can claim back the hospital travel costs and the parking charge. But people who have a blue badge can not claim the parking charge back as a badge gives free parking anyway. The fact that my wife is on high rate disability payment which gives you the blue badge automatically is on her hospital records so we can't say we do not have one and claim back the parking charge.

[starone]

Sorry - I seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest here and have ended up more confused than ever. Whatever the true conditions are, I still think it is odd that I am forced to walk uphill for at least 100 yards or more when I am supposed to be helped with a blue card which presumably should let me out of the car as near as possible to the hospital. Bit pointless if it doesn't!

[EDDIE51]

starone the conditions of use are clear.
As long as the car with the badge is being used FOR YOUR BENEFIT ONLY !
the driver can park the car with the badge in a disabled space without you being in the car. The driver can also go and get the car from the parking place and bring it to pick you again with the badge but without you being in it. Think about it , anything else would mean the badge was useless.
I do that every time I take my wife to a hospital appointment. I drop her off outside the door to the clinic she is using and then drive the car to the car park with the badge and park in a disabled space.
I HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN TOLD BY A TRAFFIC WARDEN THAT TO DO THIS WAS ''ABSOLUTELY FINE''
Some people on here do not seem to understand this and have said it is wrong but I know for certain that it is correct.
The important thing is that the car / badge MUST be being used FOR YOUR BENEFIT ONLY. The driver could NOT drop you off and then go shopping somewhere else with the badge and then come back for you as that would NOT be for your benefit only. But the driver CAN drop you off and then park using the badge.
Some people on here seem to be very resentful about the parking privilege of a blue badge and put up incorrect information.
What I have told you is correct even though some people do not like it!
The person who told you that you had to be in the car all the time was wrong!

[hc4361]

And I know for certain you are wrong in relation to parking in council car parks or the public highway.
Private car parks have their own rules.

I'll say it again - how does it benefit the disabled person AFTER you have dropped them off if you then park in a disabled space? This would only be right if the disabled person was then going to walk/be pushed to the car after the visit.

[EDDIE51]

^^ it benefits the disabled person as the car can be near by if needed urgently if for example they are taken ill ( as has happened to us) . It WAS a council car park where the traffic warden told me it was 'fine' to park there in a disabled space after dropping off my wife at a shop.
At Addenbrokes hospital for example it is often impossible at peak times to park without a blue badge, you would have to take the car to the 'Park and Ride' and get a bus back. That would not be much use as my wife needs help from me while she is in the clinic so I can not park a long way off.
Many disabled people are the same, they need help while in the clinic or what ever not just to get there!