Sooo what does it take to get handicap tags...

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**ShivanAngel**

Really really curious what it actually takes to get a handicap permit for your car in the states...

90ish % of the time the people I see get out of cars with handicap tags look perfectly fine, Im a nurse so I know sometimes there are things we cant see, but that many people that dont look that handicap surely dont need them...

**Mr. Burning**

Here in the uk it appears that:

Who can have a Blue Badge

Anyone over two years old automatically qualifies for a Blue Badge if they are either:

* registered blind
* receiving the higher rate of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance or a War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement

People who may need to have an assessment

Anyone over two years old may be eligible for a Blue Badge, if they either:

* have a permanent and substantial disability which means they cannot walk, or makes walking very difficult
* drive a motor vehicle regularly and have a severe disability in both arms, making it very difficult or impossible to operate parking meters

If you are a parent of a child who is less than two years old, you may apply for a Blue Badge for your child. You can do this if your child has a specific medical condition which means that they either:

* must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around without great difficulty
* need to be kept near a vehicle at all times to get treatment for a condition when necessary

If you do not automatically qualify, your eligibility will need to be assessed by your local council. To help them decide if you can get a badge, they will ask you some questions. Your local council might also ask you to get assessed by an independent health professional, like a occupational therapist or physiotherapist.
Using the Blue Badge as a driver or passenger

You do not need to own a car or be able to drive one. You can use the Blue Badge in any vehicle that you are travelling in as a driver or a passenger.

Bureaucracy being what is you then need to find out what the

higher rate of the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance or a War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement

is.

Looking at this section

have a permanent and substantial disability which means they cannot walk, or makes walking very difficult

I assume that any testing is subjective and dependant on who is assessing you at the time and where.

Maybe it is better to ask why individuals who deserve a handicap permit do not get one. I know pride stops people form applying.

**BearersOfSalvation**

You get handicapped tages based on having a disability that commonly makes walking long distances difficult, the standard is not 'you have to look weird when you're walking' or 'you have to use a wheelchair'. Difficulty breathing, extreme pain when walking for a long time, an artificial limb, severe dizziness, and the like don't require a wheelchair, but do make it extremely hard for someone to walk long distances. It's also possible that someone has an intermittent but frequent condition, where they may be fine RIGHT THIS SECOND but when the condition acts up they can't move well.

This may come as a shock to you, but most people don't like to look like freaks. If they can get an artificial leg, or walk for a short distance without a wheelchair, or otherwise not look weird, they generally will. The way that some people will confront handicapped people who don't look freakish enough is just weird.

**Vandil**

If you are allowed the use of another persons vehicle and the tags are on it you aren't supposed to park in a handicap spot but most people do. My aunt has them and when my uncle drives her car he always uses the handicap spots even though he's fine.

**ShivanAngel**

Vandil wrote:If you are allowed the use of another persons vehicle and the tags are on it you aren't supposed to park in a handicap spot but most people do. My aunt has them and when my uncle drives her car he always uses the handicap spots even though he's fine.

I figured this was a lot of it.

Also to the guy that said handicapped people dont have to look like freaks... Im perfectly aware of this, I work in the medical field. I was just interested in how loose the criteria for getting these tags was, because it really does seem that a lot of these people that have the tags really do not need them.

Like I said just wondering, cause it also seems that some people may stretch the truth or get them "just because they can" cause its convienent.

**Mr. Burning**

BearersOfSalvation wrote:You get handicapped tages based on having a disability that commonly makes walking long distances difficult, the standard is not 'you have to look weird when you're walking' or 'you have to use a wheelchair'. Difficulty breathing, extreme pain when walking for a long time, an artificial limb, severe dizziness, and the like don't require a wheelchair, but do make it extremely hard for someone to walk long distances. It's also possible that someone has an intermittent but frequent condition, where they may be fine RIGHT THIS SECOND but when the condition acts up they can't move well.

This may come as a shock to you, but most people don't like to look like freaks. If they can get an artificial leg, or walk for a short distance without a wheelchair, or otherwise not look weird, they generally will. The way that some people will confront handicapped people who don't look freakish enough is just weird.

I don't think that anyone thinks that you have to look like a freak to be disabled or have a debilitating illness.i don't think that anyone has said they confront individuals who doesn't look disabled enough.

Like other forms of state provided assistance/aid a small minority may abuse the system. It depends on how rigorous any testing may be and how any results are interpreted.

**BearersOfSalvation**

Mr. Burning wrote:I don't think that anyone thinks that you have to look like a freak to be disabled or have a debilitating illness.i don't think that anyone has said they confront individuals who doesn't look disabled enough.

The OP based his question around the fact that that people who don't look unusual were getting handicapped tags. If someone who is handicapped can manage to look normal, then they are going to do it, so no one should be surprised a lot of people who have the tags don't look unusual. Someone who has to walks for a short distance then sit down simply isn't going to look handicapped while walking, but they'll prompt this kind of question because their person doesn't have a sign that screams 'handicapped' on them.

No one in this thread talked about confronting people, but I've seen it on other boards and heard it in real life conversations. One darkly amusing one was where a guy ranted and railed at some poor girl about how terrible she was for abusing the handicapped parking lot until she broke down in tears and removed her artificial leg to shut him up. Some people seriously do believe that the only people who should be in handicapped spaces are those that look unusual.

**Grakmar**

I think your answer lies here.

In terms of people not looking like they need a tag, often times there's issues you can't visibly see. My mother-in-law has lupus and gets incredibly sick if she spends too much time out in the sun. So, she has a handicap tag so that she can park close to a store and get inside quickly.

**ShivanAngel**

I had googled it, and its very vague, so was just curious what people actually get them for...

Apparently all you need is a note from a doctor saying you require a tag.

**Prawnkus**

What really bugs me is the fact that some people park in it even though they don't have a tag or a plate! My dad is a one-leg amputee, and I hate it when he has to walk a long way in his prosthetic, because most of the time it hurts him because it shifts around so much.

**filbert**

Once in a Safeway's carpark, my dad and I were loading our shopping in the car and preparing to leave. Some old lady came up and started ranting and raving that my dad wasn't disabled and how dare he park in a handicapped space etc etc. The irony of it all was that I was helping him put his wheelchair in the car (he broke his back in a motorbike accident - if you saw him, there is absolutely no way you could mistake him for able-bodied - he is a paraplegic).

The issue does inflame my inner bigot somewhat. I see plenty of people at the local supermarket or shopping mall who park in disabled spots but clearly have no trouble walking at all. Both my parents are wheelchair bound and severely disabled and there is nothing more irritating than having to circle around trying to find somewhere to park because some soap dodger has conned the local council into giving them a blue badge because they have managed to pour on the sympathy vote with a trowel...

**Karon**

Either have a disability that impairs your ability to walk and move around like a normal person, or be very old.

**dogma**

BearersOfSalvation wrote:
This may come as a shock to you, but most people don't like to look like freaks. If they can get an artificial leg, or walk for a short distance without a wheelchair, or otherwise not look weird, they generally will. The way that some people will confront handicapped people who don't look freakish enough is just weird.

Yeah, this is the first, and probably only, time I have/will agree with you. But yes, you are absolutely correct.

**Prawnkus**

dogma wrote:
BearersOfSalvation wrote:
This may come as a shock to you, but most people don't like to look like freaks. If they can get an artificial leg, or walk for a short distance without a wheelchair, or otherwise not look weird, they generally will. The way that some people will confront handicapped people who don't look freakish enough is just weird.

Yeah, this is the first, and probably only, time I have/will agree with you. But yes, you are absolutely correct.

My dad just lives with it, I also laugh at the kids that stare. He doesn't mind at all.