Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker has just introduced a new secure Blue Badge starting this week (1 Jan).
He states it’s “as secure as a banknote”. The previous Blue Badges were made from card and they were handwritten. Easy to doctor and forge. So the new ones with security features similar to latest driving licences – holograms, digital photos, etc should make stealing Blue Badges much less attractive. That’s the theory. Fingers crossed that’s the practice.
Some boroughs traffic wardens when they see a Blue Badge call the telephone number of the Blue Badge holder. Sometimes they find they’re at home while the Blue Badge is being used away from home. Sad but with ever increasing parking pressures the temptation to cheat gets higher.
Hopefully I’ll persuade Southwark Council to make such phone calls!
Our charity Disabled Motoring UK conducted a survey last year and the results showed that virtually no Local Authorities outside London were doing any Blue Badge enforcement. This new badge is a great step forward but must be followed with more stringent enforcement of the scheme is abuse is going to be stopped. We want to see all local authorities tackling this problem and where caught offenders must be taken to court to face the maximum £1000. a PCN is just not enough of a deterrent.
[…] Councillor James Barber has blogged: Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker has just introduced a new secure Blue Badge starting this […]