How come everyone suddenly has a blue badge? (disabled parking badge)

More people have applied for a Blue Badge because there isn't as much of a stigma around invisible disabilities (such as mental health conditions or autism) and milder forms of visible disabilities anymore (a lot of people with Blue Badges have had bad experiences where people have told them that they "don't look disabled" and been quite abusive). In the past, everyone expected someone in a car with a Blue Badge to be a wheelchair user, whereas attitudes have changed and it's become more acceptable to have a Blue Badge without having mobility issues nowadays. For example, you can qualify for a Blue Badge if: * you receive the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA * you've been awarded 8 points in the "Moving around" PIP activity * you've been awarded 10 points in the "Planning and following journeys" PIP activity for meeting descriptor 1E, which means that you "Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress" (this means that people with severe mental health conditions are also eligible for a Blue Badge) [There are also countless other ways that someone could qualify for a Blue Badge](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-can-i-get-one/can-i-get-a-blue-badge#people-who-may-get-a-blue-badge) without receiving PIP or DLA. For example, if someone has a child that needs to be close to the car because they *might* need emergency medical treatment, they'd be able to get a Blue Badge on this basis (although they shouldn't use the Blue Badge when they don't have their child with them). --- As people always come into threads like this (and threads about disability benefits) and say "a lot of people are committing fraud", I think it's worth debunking that myth. While some people almost certainly do commit fraud (e.g by driving around using a Blue Badge that isn't theirs when they're able-bodied), **the vast majority of people** that have a Blue Badge (or receive disability benefits) **need** it. The number of people committing fraud is insignificant, so don't jump to assuming that anyone you see with a Blue Badge that can walk is committing fraud because that probably isn't the case.