Blue Badge scheme extended to cover "hidden disabilities"

[dowie]

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/blue-badge-scheme-extended_uk_5b5c942ce4b0fd5c73cfdef7

The Blue Badge scheme, which offers accessible parking for people who find travel difficult, is being extended to cover Britons with “invisible” health problems in the “biggest overhaul to the system” in 40 years.

Until now, only physically disabled people were eligible for the scheme due to the barriers they face taking public transport or walking longer distances.

The Government has now recognised that people with mental health problems often struggle with these issues too, in a move being applauded as an “important step in the right direction”.

From early next year people with disabilities including autism and mental health conditions will be able to apply for a Blue Badge.

Mixed views on this one, one one hand for people who really need it this is a great step forwards. It does seem that application of the rules is a bit patchy among councils - for example (anecdotally) AFAIK Crohn's patients generally don't get a badge though I have heard of instances where people have got one and indeed seen a youtube clip where someone is arguing with a traffic warden who doesn't think he's disabled. I guess this change might make it easier for people with that condition to get a badge along with people with mental health issues etc..

On the other hand we could see an explosion in these things being issued, I think if they do start issuing them for say Crohn's then I might be able to get one myself, though on most days I'd have no need to use it it would be during a flare up that it would become a useful thing to have. Morally if I were to have one then I should only use it during such occasions - I expect that isn't the only condition where people can vary in their condition, people with mental health conditions can vary considerably in their symptoms too. This is quite different to the rather more permanent situation a wheel chair user or a person who has lost a leg etc.. has.

So if we've already got a couple of million badge holders and if this substantially increases will it have the knock on effect of making disabled bays as busy as regular parking bays - while they'll still have the proximity and perhaps larger spaces its a bit moot if someone in say a wheel chair turns up and can't get into the wider space needed because a mother with an autistic kid who is actually behaving himself today has taken one and a guy with fibromyalgia who doesn't feel all that bad has the other.

 

[dowie]

Did Gregg need the bay? He can walk fine.

Probably not tbh... but if he gets a war pensioners mobility supplement or had a certain type of pay out when leaving the forces then he'll qualify automatically for one.

Yes there are former soldiers with one leg who run marathons etc.. and will have blue badges. Though they're a rather small % of the holders so I wouldn't have thought it is a big issue.

I also think this is going too far with the blue badge system. Genuinely disabled people who need the spaces will be denied by blue badge holders who don’t really need it.

Well that is the worry, while I wouldn't necessarily want to begrudge Gregg his blue badge there would seem to be a fair bit of variability already when it comes to issuing these things, I mean the strict criteria involves severe difficulty walking etc.. There are also people who qualify for various types of benefits who automatically get one too and there is the whole can of worms of how certain benefits get applied for.

There perhaps is a genuine worry that if you widen the criteria for inclusion in the scheme and potentially get even more variation in the severity of the cases for which these are issued then you could get situations where people have them for conditions that vary in severity and where most of the time they don't necessarily need them. That then requires people to be responsibly in using them and perhaps not using them most of the time.

 

[dowie]

I guess that is one of the issues, when you've got a wide disabled bay designed for a person in a wheel chair who actually can't use a normal parking space where cars are parked either side or you've got someone with heart failure or reduced lung capacity who really can't walk very far then it does seem a bit off if the spaces are taken up by people for whom it is more of a convenience thing to have because it makes things easier when dealing with a child with issues etc..

On one had you have someone who literally can't park anywhere else as they need to get their wheelchair out, on the other hand you have a parent who might have a higher chance of dealing with an extra tantrum/more fuss if they have to spend a bit longer driving around trying to look for a space while their autistic kid gets stressed in the back.

 

[dowie]

It gives the ability to get them in and out without the need to contort your body. If the spaces are not for convenience by your definition, then what are they for?

In some circumstance they're essentially for getting a wheel chair out, not just convenient but offering space that would make doing so impossible otherwise.

There are clearly different degrees of need for these spaces and some of the new criteria would apply to cases where the conditions concerned can be variable, this might not be too much of an issue if people are sensible/considerate in their use but I suspect that some will have some entitlement issues.

 

[dowie]

As an example, we use a buggy sometime, it keeps him safe and calm. by all rights that is his wheel chair, it just looks like a over grown child in a push chair, but it serves the same purpose as a wheel chair.​

that isn't the same thing though, plenty of parents use buggies etc.. it doesn't necessitate using a disabled space

 

[dowie]

I believe Harvey has other physical disabilities though.

Yeah IIRC he's blind/partially sighted to as a result of another medical condition.

 

[dowie]

Should that include people who are obese?

they could do with the exercise tbh...