The Blue Badge Scheme has undergone changes recently and with fraud estimated at £46 million per year hopefully the new measures that have been introduced will reduce this figure.
Archive for the ‘Transport and Travel’ Category
Blue badge parking measures update
Wednesday, February 1st, 2012Danielle – new found independence
Friday, October 21st, 2011This afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting a young lady in the Spinal Unit, Danielle who has just turned 17. Danielle sustained a spinal cord injury at T10 in a road traffic accident when she was 15. Danielle lives in Drumnadrochit, in a remote house at the top of a hill, and, on leaving hospital felt isolated and reliant on family and friends to take her out. Danielle discovered that she was able to start driving at the age 0f 16, so four days after her 16th birthday in September 2010 she had her first driving lesson. Due to the severe weather last winter she had to stop her lessons and was unable to continue until March. Danielle progressed extremely well with her driving and on 9 May 2011 she passed her test at the first attempt. This gave Danielle the independence that she wanted and she loves driving. She drives for miles just for the pleasure of it and regularly travels to Glasgow to meet cousins and go shopping, and also visits friends in Oban and Perth.
Unfortunately Danielle has had to go back to the Spinal Unit for a further operation on her back and is confined to bed. She has been there for 6 weeks now and is counting the days (18 at present) until her x-ray and is hoping that she will shortly thereafter be heading home and back to driving her car.
We hope to have a fuller article from Danielle in the spring edition of Newsline. In the meantime, here’s hoping she gets good news after her x-ray and can get home and back to driving to her family and friends.
Rosemarie Boyle, Office Team
Blue Badge Scheme Update
Monday, August 15th, 2011We have kept you up to date with the review of the Blue Badge Scheme Review and there have now been information leaflets published from July 2011 that can be downloaded.
The first document is: Can I get a Blue Badge?
And the second document is: Rights and responsibilities of a Blue Badge holder
You can either click on the highlighted text link or on either of the images.
You can also find out more about the Review of the scheme: CLICK HERE
Questions over disabled access to 2014 games
Thursday, January 20th, 2011SIS vice chair, Clare Byrne, represents the charity on the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS). A recent article in The Herald regarding the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games has included criticism of the organisers by MACS member, Grahame Lawson.
Grahame was alarmed at a recent meeting to discover that planners would appear to have seriously underestimated the amount of disabled spectators who are likely to attend the Games. Grahame contrasted the Glasgow organisers’ approach to that of the 2012 London Olympics organisers, who were estimating as early as 2008 that around 7% of visitors would face difficulty in the use of stairs. The London organisers consulted extensively with a number of disability groups as part of their preparations. It seems that in Glasgow, while the needs of disabled athletes have been taken into account, those of spectators have been largely overlooked, since 7% would equate to around 100,000 visitors being affected.
Click here to read the full article from The Herald.
For more information on MACS, please visit the Transport Scotland website here.
related links:
Braving the weather!
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010I know I’m probably in the minority here, but all this snow just makes me want to head to the ski slopes and enjoy some rare Scottish powder. One of the biggest challenges when skiing in Scotland however, is actually getting to the slopes; when there’s enough snow for skiing there’s often enough to close the country’s roads! For those with a spinal injury, these wintry conditions can present an even greater challenge and just getting to the road can be a task in itself.
Since I’m a regular skier, I’m quite used to getting through the white stuff in a wheelchair, so I thought I’d share some of the tips and tricks I use. These might not work for everyone, so if you have a solution that works for you, why not share it in the comments section below?
Winter tyres: In everyday use I use slick tyres. They’re fast on most surfaces and they don’t pick up dirt like treaded tyres do, but they’re useless on snow and ice. In the snow I use Primo V-Track Knobblys. They’ve quite an aggressive tread, but they’re not as chunky as mountain bike style tyres and they fit straight onto a spare pair of 24” wheels I have. Because they are fatter than my normal tyres they raise my chair up slightly which makes it feel a bit different, but I don’t find it too big a problem. Being only slightly wider than my standard tyres they fit the chair neatly, but this slim width means they do have a tendency to sink into the deeper snow.
Melt-water off snow-covered tyres tends to make quite a mess in the house and in the car. I always swap back onto my everyday wheels when I get home and leave the chunky set to melt on a towel by the door. When I’m driving I put my wheels on the back seat, so I put some plastic sheeting down to stop the seat getting soaked.
Castors: Big chunky treads on the rear are pointless when your castors get stuck in the snow. I used to back-wheel-balance through the deep stuff to keep my castors from digging in, but it’s not that easy and it’s easy to get it wrong on slippy surfaces. I invested in a FreeWheel in the summer. It fits onto the footplate of my chair and lifts the castors by about 1½” and keeps them out of the snow. I don’t want to use the SIS blog to shamelessly plug a product, but this piece of kit works wonders for me. You can purchase FreeWheels from a number of wheelchair suppliers, but they’re not exactly cheap.
Gloves: I find standard wheelchair gloves useless in the snow. They’re not warm enough, waterproof, or provide enough grip on freezing push-rims. For the last couple of years I’ve been using winter work gloves (Showa Thermo) that you can pick up on Amazon for under a tenner. They’ve got a rubber coating on the palm and fingers that makes this area waterproof and also provides better grip when either pushing on the tyres or rims. They also seem to last for ages.
Want to share your tips and tricks? Post a comment in the box below or contact the office and we’ll post your suggestion for you.
Relevant Links:
Dropped kerbs and pavement parking
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Lib Dem MSP, Ross Finnie has launched a consultation paper on a proposed bill to restrict parking at dropped kerbs and on pavements.
Currently local authorities can only enforce restrictions on parking on or near dropped kerbs and on pavements when they have successfully implemented a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). However, TROs are applied for only on a street by street basis and the process not only takes significant time but can also involve substantial costs. The proposals in the bill would allow local authorities to enforce restrictions across their entire jurisdiction.
Parking at drop kerbs and on pavements affects many people, not just those with spinal injuries. You can register your opinion by answering the questions and following the instructions at the end of the consultation document below.
Alternatively, please feel free to add your comments below and we will forward these to Ross Finnie.
Regulation of dropped kerbs and pavement parking (Scotland) Bill
New video of Edinburgh Trams
Friday, September 3rd, 2010Edinburgh Trams have just released a new video showing the Scottish Parliament’s cross party group on disability visiting one of the trams. Click here to view the video.
Blue Badge Scheme to be reformed
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
The Blue Badge scheme, allowing improved mobility for disabled people, is a vital service – many disabled people say they would go out less often if they did not know they could park safely.
The scheme has been in place since 1971 and needs to be updated for the 21st Century. Up to 31st March 2009 there were 261,288 badges issued in Scotland and there has been a 95% increase in badges issued since 1997. If left unaddressed the scheme would become unsustainable as there would simply be too many blue badges in circulation.
The aim of the consultation is to make the scheme easier to access for those eligible, easier to enforce and clamp down on those abusing the system, and to ensure efficient administration of the scheme.
Blue Badges fall into two categories – Automatic and Discretionary. Badges are automatically awarded to those in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, and to those receiving War Pensioners Mobility Supplement.
There have been some inconsistencies in the issuing of Discretionary badges and these should be addressed by this consultation. There is a questionnaire that all are encouraged to complete (Blue Badge holder or not) along with a back up document to give the background to some of the questions.
Since that document runs to 51 pages, it would be helpful to look at some of the more pertinent issues being addressed and to explain why the need for this consultation has arisen.
An important question is -
- Do you agree that we should amend the definition of “unable to walk or has considerable difficulty walking” so that it is consistent with that used for the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance assessments?
The suggested change here is that instead of issuing a badge to those who have “considerable difficulty walking” this should be amended to those who are “virtually unable to walk”. Hence less people could fall into this category as it is a lot more specific.
- Do you agree that we should encourage independent medical assessments?
In the past, blue badge applicants have been able to go to their own GPs to be medically assessed. Independent assessments are being proposed to ensure fair, consistent and objective treatment for all.
- Do you agree that we should introduce maximum fine of £2,500 for the misuse of a Blue Badge?
At the moment the maximum fine is £1000. This has meant that some fraudsters have taken the chance to use a badge illegally because even if they were caught, it would still be cheaper than paying for parking on a daily basis!
- Would you like to see the badge holder’s photograph on the front of the badge?
This is a hotly debated issue. Some feel that it would be simpler if parking attendants/police officers could see whose badge is being used by looking at it through the windscreen. Others believe there is a security risk attached to other people being able to see who the badge belongs to and therefore making them a “soft target” for crime.
- Do you think we should make it mandatory for all authorities to charge a fee of £20 for every application?
- Do you think we should also charge a fee of £20 for a replacement badge?
At present, different local authorities charge different amounts for a Blue Badge application. Some do not charge at all. The aim here is consistency instead of the “postcode lottery” we have now. Additionally, a £20 fee per application should help dissuade fraudsters who submit multiple applications under different identities, a significant issue. A charge for a replacement badge is suggested to encourage people to take care of their badge in the same way as they would do their passport or driving licence. And again, hopefully dissuade fraud, when people claim to have “lost” badges and require a replacement.
The majority of Blue Badges are issued for three years, so applicants would be paying, in effect, £20 for three years of the benefits associated with the badge.
- Do you agree that each Organisational Badge should contain the vehicle registration number?
- Do you agree that we should alter the design of an Organisational Badge to make it easily identifiable?
These moves are suggested to discourage abuse of organisational badges – e.g. minibuses belonging to care homes, hospitals etc. Were the badge to include the registration number, and perhaps have a different coloured border to distinguish it, then it would be less likely to be used by an individual on their private car.
- Would you like to see research carried out on the implications of removing some of the additional concessions for badge holders?
This refers to concessions such as free or reduced ferry travel for Blue Badge holders. Sometimes people use badges fraudulently for financial advantage such as this. Perhaps if this financial advantage were to be removed, there would be less fraud?
The Blue Badge Reform Consultation form can be completed online at the Scottish Government website here.
Hopefully this consultation will result in a fairer and more consistent Blue Badge scheme, where applications will be dealt with identically regardless of where the applicant lives.
If you have any queries about any aspects of the form please contact Clare Byrne, who is the Spinal Injuries Scotland representative on the Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland (MACS) – clare.byrne@sisonline.org, Clare will be happy handle queries if there are any difficulties with specific questions in the form, or if you require any further information about Blue Badges in general.
The closing date for this consultation is 8th October 2010.
Blue Badge Scammer Caught
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010A former care home manager was fined £7500 for using a Blue Badge that he was not entitled to.
Is this the right decision?
CLICK HERE to read the full story.
Do you think the fine is too much or is it not enough?
Post your comments below
Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Hire Leads to Purchase
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010I recently used Autobility in Fife to go away for a long weekend and thought it was worth sharing my experience.
I was immediately impressed with them as their priority was the safety & comfort of the wheelchair passenger. We got everything sorted out with minimum hassle and off we went, only to come home the following day as I got a mark on my skin! (This was of course nothing to do with the hire vehicle). When my friend took the van back, Andy & Lorraine (the owners) of Autobility said we could have a refund or to just let them know when we were going away again and they would look at letting me have the vehicle for the same hire period.
I had a hire car on one occasion before my accident and had to return it early. I was then informed I couldn’t get any refund as the car was booked for a certain period of time and it wasn’t their fault I returned early. So I was pleasantly surprised when Andy & Lorraine acted the way they did.
I did get a vehicle for a second trip away which I have to add was a success!
Shortly after this, the van that I had owned for a number of years became un-useable. I contacted Autobility about buying a second hand vehicle from them and they couldn’t have been more helpful. They handled everything in a professional manner, including all the paperwork and gave help and advice about insurance for the vehicle. There were some things on the van that had to be changed to make it more suitable for me which was done quickly and proficiently. A full demonstration of the vehicle was carried out at a suitable time for me and family members that would be driving it. I was included in all discussions about the vehicle from the outset right down to delivery.
After having my new, well pre-owned vehicle I received follow up calls to make sure we were managing and happy with everything.
All things considered, I would highly recommend Autobility to anyone for a hire vehicle or a purchase.
I have passed their details on to my community occupational therapists and physiotherapists and I have left leaflets in the Spinal Unit as I would recommend this company to others.
There is a link to Autobility HERE on the SIS website or click on the banner below for a direct link to the Autobility website.
