General Discussion

I'd just like to say thanks to the owner of the vehicle dumped on double yellow lines next to the pedestrian crossing outside Harrisons. Well done for causing absolute chaos this morning due to vehicles trying to get past your car. Blue badge holders can park pretty much where they like, but you selfishly choose to dump your car in yhe most inappropriate and dangerous of locations. Well done you. Rant over! Having got that out of the system, I'm now off to enjoy another day's beautiful sunshine on the beach.

Was interested to see a young lady driving the above car earlier today. Whilst appearances can be deceptive, I can only assume that another driver of the car uses a blue badge.

It might not have been her blue badge. The blue badge is owned by the person with a disability and they do not necessarily have a car.

Thanks for the feedback Flo. I genuinely didn't realise that blue badge holders didn't have to be the driver.

The badge holder is often not the driver as may not be capable of driving but it is very annoying to see the abuse of these badges. I have seen many times people park cars in Dawlish, put the blue badge in the window, put on their rucksacks and go hiking for the day. The person who 'owns' the badge is supposed to be in the vehicle, when the badge is used, but this is often not the case. Although a photo of the blue badge owner wouldn't always help traffic wardens trying to stop abuse of these badges, it would act as some deterrent as they could check if close to the vehicle when the occupants used the badge to avoid parking payment.

the abuse of blue badge holders is enormous . i regularly see people getting out of cars when they are on thier own, stick the badge in the window and run into a shop. They seem to think they can abandon the car anywhere and dont give a toss about anyone else.

@J Warrener - and this makes it really difficult for those applying for a blue badge. I recently went through the procedure with an elderly family member who is wheelchair bound outside the home. They actually turned him down first time, even though it takes him anywhere up to half an hour to actually get out the car and into the wheelchair.

The wrong people are dealing with the applications and regulating blue badges.