Blue badge in Europe (1 Viewer)

jollyrodger

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I believe there was a thread on this a little while back
Re : discounts in France ,can't copy/paste on this old tablet but you could try the search bar top left
Good luck
 

Riverbankannie

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It says on the autoroutes.fr website that a class 2 vehicle that has been adapted for use by a disable person, and the adaption is shown on the registration papers, can pay class 1 rates.
We travel with friends who have a blue badge and they do not get a reduction.

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Riverbankannie

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Have found this in the post referred to above

Yes. Blue badge holders who have a Class 2 vehicle (not valid for car + caravan) are entitled to be charged at Class 1 rate if the vehicle is adapted for disabled persons. However, in order to be charged at Class 1 rate in the automated lane, you will need to stop and press the intercom button to request the correct toll to be applied. Alternatively you can use the manual lane and hand over your tag to be scanned. Please note the reduction is applied at the discretion of the particular auto route operator of the toll road you are using. More information can be found athttp://www.autoroutes.fr/en/services-for-disabled-people.htm

Martin
 

Snowbird

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Some, but not all French toll routes will give blue badge holders the concession. All French aires are now free to blue badge holders. The vehicle should be registered as disabled tax class and log book will occasionally be asked for. France seems to be the only country giving this concession at the moment.

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Oct 7, 2013
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Blue badges are treated very sympathetically in France, (Autoroute tolls excepted).

We have been moved to the front of a queue waiting for car park spaces because an attendant saw the badge and knew there was a vacant disabled place available. We couldn't see it from our position in the queue.

Free of charge spaces in car parks are more readily available than in U.K. too.

On their disabled signs (the blue sign with a wheelchair symbol) they also have the wording "Take my space, take my disability" which I think tends to make able bodied drivers think twice before abusing the space.(y):france:
 
May 28, 2016
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why should there be discount for blue badges on toll roads its not the person it the vehicle

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ColinandDawn

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hello @boxerdog

Ref your question - why should there be discount for blue badges on toll roads its not the person it the vehicle?

I have copied my answer to the same question asked on this forum on the 8th June this year.

I have again included a photo of my van so you can see it is very much about the vehicle.

It's a fair question...

The reason the disabled are allowed a reduced toll fee, which requires the vehicle to be in the Disabled class for road tax purposes to qualify, is because the government (toll operator) recognise a significant percentage of the disabled need a van to transport themselves and their wheelchairs about - where the able-bodied use a car.


In the French example they reduce the charge from a Class 2 to a Class 1, this is because a Class 2 is a van and a Class 1 is a car. In fairness, the French system does require the vehicle to have modifications necessary to allow the disabled person to use the vehicle - be they passenger or driver.

In my case I have a Mercedes Sprinter which has both a wheelchair lift and hand controls fitted.

When I first bought the sprinter it was a five-seater mini bus - I converted it to a campervan and registered it as a Motor Caravan with DVLA. It is not registered for disabled road tax but would still comply with the French system.

As you can see the wheelchair lift also doubles as an outdoor table.

Regards,

img_0894-jpg.167490
 

Allanm

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I wonder if you begrudge the disabled benefits?

Most would exchange their benefits in order to retain able-bodied status.
I think the idea he was getting at is that if you are travelling in a motorhome, disabled or not, then you should pay the appropriate charges.
I can understand an adapted vehicle, which may, because of it adaptions, be larger than a class 1 vehicle being charged as a class 1 vehicle but can’t understand why you would want other toll users to subsidise you when you are on holiday in a motorhome, adapted or not.
And just because I think like this, doesn’t mean I would begrudge people with disabilities getting their benefits, as you seem to suggest to others in your post.

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Abacist

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I think the idea he was getting at is that if you are travelling in a motorhome, disabled or not, then you should pay the appropriate charges.
I can understand an adapted vehicle, which may, because of it adaptions, be larger than a class 1 vehicle being charged as a class 1 vehicle but can’t understand why you would want other toll users to subsidise you when you are on holiday in a motorhome, adapted or not.
And just because I think like this, doesn’t mean I would begrudge people with disabilities getting their benefits, as you seem to suggest to others in your post.
How patronizing of you to think that you and other toll road users are subsidizing the disabled! It's a government concession passed on by the toll companies and nothing to do with you!
 

ColinandDawn

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Hello @boxerdog
Hello @Allanm

I posted my earlier answer in an attempt to stop this thread becoming another opportunity to have a go at the disabled and disabled Funsters in particular. I hoped having understood the why that would be the end of it.

I truly have no idea why some people take such exception to the blue badge scheme and the benefit it delivers.

Allanm, you can’t understand why we would want other toll users to subsidise us when we are on holiday in a motorhome, adapted or not but @Andy Grisswell said nothing about motorhomes or any other type of vehicle - you just assumed.

Please, please, please try to understand, disabled people fight their disability every waking hour - we honestly have enough to be going on with without having to put up with brickbats on what is a FUN forum.

regards,
 
May 28, 2016
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my reply has nothing to do with disability it is the fact that every vehicle if on the toll roads should pay the same fee.

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Allanm

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Don

How patronizing of you to think that you and other toll road users are subsidizing the disabled! It's a government concession passed on by the toll companies and nothing to do with you!
Not patronising at all, just a view, sorry if you have a problem with other peoples views.
Colinanddawn, I mentioned Motorhomes because the link to Snowbirds post was concerned with Motorhomes and concessions for vans with blue badges on Aires.
I have no problem with blue badge holders getting concessions when appropriate as long as they are used correctly and as the scheme intended.
 

LuckyLuke

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my reply has nothing to do with disability it is the fact that every vehicle if on the toll roads should pay the same fee.
Why? A disabled moho owner may need a larger or heavier van as a result of their disability, or indeed be unable to camp in a tent and need a moho instead of a car as a result.
Mind you if you want to complain about subsidising I would suggest you turn your frustrations to road haulier charges which bear little relation to the relative wear and tear they cause to roads - there is lots of evidence about this, and in truth road tax, and tolls should be several thousand times higher for lorries compared to cars and vans. eg http://facweb.knowlton.ohio-state.edu/pviton/courses2/crp776/776-roads-handout.pdf
 
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May 28, 2016
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as stated it is not about disabled drivers be it moho car or truck you use the toll road you should pay the rate
if you dont want to pay the charge dont use.

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LuckyLuke

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as stated it is not about disabled drivers be it moho car or truck you use the toll road you should pay the rate
if you dont want to pay the charge dont use.
but if they need a larger vehicle as direct result of their disability why should they be penalised for having a disability by having to pay more than they would have done if they did not have the disability? Most disability benefits are there to try and level the playing field so that the disabled person is closer to being equal to an able bodied person, rather than giving them a 'perk'.
 
May 28, 2016
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no one is being penalised you choose to drive on toll roads you pay that going charge dont see where you are trying to go with your reply
 

LuckyLuke

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no one is being penalised you choose to drive on toll roads you pay that going charge dont see where you are trying to go with your reply
You appeared to be objecting to a discount that the French government has chosen to give to disabled people, to mean that they aren't financially penalised if they have a larger vehicle as a result of their disability and wish to use toll roads like the rest of us. Apart from the fact that the subsidy is, in itself, actually very logical, the subsidy comes from general French taxation rather than it being a subsidy by other toll users, so unless you are a French tax-payer its really none of your business what the French do with their taxes - I am a French tax-payer (as well as being a british taxpayer) and I'm more than happy for my taxes to be used to support disabled people in this way - oh and for the record I'm not disabled and neither is anyone in my family - I just believe in a just society :)

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May 28, 2016
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Im sure your point of view is the only one that is right what about what others think as your attitude seems to be rather rude with your statement none of your business
 

LuckyLuke

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Im sure your point of view is the only one that is right what about what others think as your attitude seems to be rather rude with your statement none of your business
Sorry, not meant to be rude - it was meant to counter the assertion that the disabled toll user was being subsidised by the non disabled toll user, which isn't the case, its a French tax payer decision on how French taxes are paid .
 
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thank you but everyone has a point of view on here would be a sad world if we could not speek our mind end up like north korea

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Aug 18, 2014
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Mind you if you want to complain about subsidising I would suggest you turn your frustrations to road haulier charges which bear little relation to the relative wear and tear they cause to roads - there is lots of evidence about this, and in truth road tax, and tolls should be several thousand times higher for lorries compared to cars and vans. eg http://facweb.knowlton.ohio-state.edu/pviton/courses2/crp776/776-roads-handout.pdf

They aren't being subsidised but providing you & me the public with goods that we require. If it was me doing the haulage & you,the public & governement, have that attitude I'd make sure that no goods were delivered & if you all want to eat & drink go & fetch it yourself.
Any attempt at imposing subsidies would just be added straight to the cost of the goods , anyway.
 

LuckyLuke

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They aren't being subsidised but providing you & me the public with goods that we require. If it was me doing the haulage & you,the public & governement, have that attitude I'd make sure that no goods were delivered & if you all want to eat & drink go & fetch it yourself.
Any attempt at imposing subsidies would just be added straight to the cost of the goods , anyway.
If you consider the road toll is designed to pay for the road, then lorries cause most of the wear and tear and should therefore pay the majority of the charges - in proportion to the damage they cause - each lorry causes thousands of times the wear and tear of a car for each mile it is driven. Therefore, by definition, unless a lorry pays thousands of times more road toll it is, de facto, being subsidised.
It is a completely separate argument as to whether that subsidy is sensible from an economic point of view - my personal view is that it does make sense to subsidise the lorries, but earlier posters were suggesting that any subsidies were not fair.
 

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