Is it time to bring back the Plastic Pig?

[BBROWN1664]

Obviously we have too many people getting Motability cars when they should be buying their own but I also accept that for some people we need to provide them with transport.
the plastic pig might be the way to go. Disabled people will get dedicated cars that will help them transport themselves around and maybe one other passenger. Perhaps the plastic pig could be replaced with one of the San Permis cars from France?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39575293

[maddog04]

the issue is HMG, was reading yesterday about a woman who was on a mobility car for work and they said we can't afford to let you have the £6000 car that we're paying for, so they took it off her

But.....they said, we CAN pay for your taxi to work and back............wait for it..........at £65000 for the year

even her MP said it was utter madness, give her the 6K car back and save 59K but the dept. was adamant they couldn't

buffoonery of the highest order and this is where the millions are wasted

on a different note than mobility but still abusing the public purse, NY Police drove a round trip of 153 miles to hand deliver a letter that could've been posted

[slappy]

There are already too many able bodied dickheads in cars trundling along at 25mph in a 40 limit, putting some unfortunate person who is already having to cope with a disability in a San Permis car is just taking the piss, remember those little blue  3 wheeled invalid carriages? A lad I knew in the 70s had one after being badly injured in a pit accident, it was a death trap, two of us would cram in with him ( I was a lot more supple and skinnier then ) and he would bring us back home from the pub and he was generally the most pissed up of all of us.
Mind you some of the later ones had a top speed in excess of 70mph

[BBROWN1664]

remember those little blue  3 wheeled invalid carriages?

That is a plastic pig.

[robbo]

The plastic pig was the Invacar made by Greeves motorcycles. The early ones had a 147cc Villiers engine but the later ones were powered by 500 or 600 Steyr Puch motors with a claimed top speed of 82mph. They were phased out with the introduction of the Motability scheme.

[slappy]

remember those little blue  3 wheeled invalid carriages?

That is a plastic pig.

Not where I lived in Leeds, plastic pig was always a Reliant three wheeler and the invalid cars were rather nastily known as spasmobiles.

[taylor]

yep bring them back great idea.

[Mick-H]

https://www.cdn.renault.com/content/dam/Renault/UK/brand-and-editorial/Vehicles/editorial/Twizy/twizy-hero-tablet.jpg.ximg.m_12_h.smart.jpg


This would do the job.

[celticdog]

remember those little blue  3 wheeled invalid carriages?

That is a plastic pig.

Not where I lived in Leeds, plastic pig was always a Reliant three wheeler and the invalid cars were rather nastily known as spasmobiles.

   spazmobiles! Haven't heard that in years. Not very PC but funny none the less

[mr self destruct]

Obviously we have too many people getting Motability cars when they should be buying their own but I also accept that for some people we need to provide them with transport.
the plastic pig might be the way to go. Disabled people will get dedicated cars that will help them transport themselves around and maybe one other passenger. Perhaps the plastic pig could be replaced with one of the San Permis cars from France?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39575293

Nine of my family and friends have Motability cars, and they all were reassessed. The six who got them back were all too disabled to drive themselves, and it turns out a large percentage of Motability cars have nominated able-bodied drivers (my stepdad drives my mum's car for example).
So while I totally agree with what the government are doing with the reassessments, I don't think an Invacar would benefit many of those who are left on the scheme.
Shame though, as I quite miss those little blue fuckers. My mum used to take me out in hers in the 70's, sitting on the floor by the seat, and I'd have to duck every time a copper was near. 

[YamFazFan]

I hope no one loses their Motability cars.

They are great second-hand buys. Usually low mileage and the maintenance/servicing is included in the Motability package.

I bought my ex Motability Mazda 6 from a main dealer at 3 years old, 11,400 miles, it had already had 3 services and the price was good too

[VNA - BMW Wank]

They were phased out with the introduction of the Motability scheme.

They have been banned from the road since 31-03-03.  Most were called in and crushed apparently;


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-23061676

Anyway it's good to know that whilst the biggest companies trading in the UK get away without paying any tax that disabled folks are getting their cars taken away to make up the short fall.

Meanwhile our former chancellor - 6 jobs - George Osborne - who made no effort to try and collect the billions upon billions of pounds of unpaid corporation tax and was vehemently opposed to raising taxes for the rich earned 150,000 quid for four speeches he gave last month.

Just saying.

[BBROWN1664]

Lets be honest here. The majority of motability car users (not all) have the car as a cheap means of getting a new car.

Re-assessment issues aside, I have no issues with limited mobility people having blue badges enabling them to park near to where they need to be and often have a go at people who park in disabled spaces when they are just obviously feccing lazy bastards who do not want to walk the extra 20ft to the shops.

Motability cars however are different. Where someone has a genuine need for one, I have no issues. Where someone is just getting one because they can get a new car instead of the 10 year old one they could buy themselves is when I have an issue. Why should my tax be used for these?
If someone needs a modified car - fine.
If someone NEEDS a car that can be driven by others because its their only way of getting about - fine.
If someone just gets the car because they can - NOT fine.

Many of the cars I see on the motability scheme are not modified so fall into the latter two categories. I would suspect that these are split about 50/50 with people that really need them and people that should get a buy their own cars.

[taylor]

anyone got a picture of the old blue plastic pig.?

[Grayo]

anyone got a picture of the old blue plastic pig.?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-23061676

[darrsi]

Here you go 

[mtread]

The majority of motability car users (not all) have the car as a cheap means of getting a new car.

Nonsense. Most mobility car users are using the cars to get to work because they can't use public transport. Better that than not working. Unfortunately the reassessments are being done by staff completely unqualified to carry them out.

[mr self destruct]

Lets be honest here. The majority of motability car users (not all) have the car as a cheap means of getting a new car.

Most eh? Do you have any evidence to back that up, or is it just a gut feeling?
Those with Motability cars sacrifice part of their allowance to pay for it. It's not the cheap means of getting a car people seem to think it is.

And while we're being honest here, would you NOT sacrifice part of your benefits for a new car if you could? If I, or the person I care for, was disabled enough to qualify then I'd sure as hell want a car I'd not have to worry about mot/repair costs or whether it'll start in the morning.

[fazersharp]

Im with yamfazfan in that I have always brought cars around 3 years old and they have all seemed to be ex mobility cars very well kept.

Whilst we are on the subject lets talk about disabled parking, mainly in supermarkets, they always seem to have way too many for the amount of cars using them I mean loads. I know that you can rule out the driver as they may the designated driver but quite often I cant help thinking "whats wrong with you" they seem quite able bodied to me.

My local asda petrol station has a pump designated disabled but it is exactly the same and people have been so conditioned that no one uses it as a normal pump.

[mtread]

That's because they are full up with all the f*****g 4 wheel drive users who can't put their precious cars in a normal space

[darrsi]

Im with yamfazfan in that I have always brought cars around 3 years old and they have all seemed to be ex mobility cars very well kept.

Whilst we are on the subject lets talk about disabled parking, mainly in supermarkets, they always seem to have way too many for the amount of cars using them I mean loads. I know that you can rule out the driver as they may the designated driver but quite often I cant help thinking "whats wrong with you" they seem quite able bodied to me.

My local asda petrol station has a pump designated disabled but it is exactly the same and people have been so conditioned that no one uses it as a normal pump.

You can't just look at someone and decide they look able bodied.
Physically they might look okay, but they may have breathing difficulties in which case parking nearer to an entrance can be a huge benefit, especially in cold weather.

[mickvp]

Im with yamfazfan in that I have always brought cars around 3 years old and they have all seemed to be ex mobility cars very well kept.

Whilst we are on the subject lets talk about disabled parking, mainly in supermarkets, they always seem to have way too many for the amount of cars using them I mean loads. I know that you can rule out the driver as they may the designated driver but quite often I cant help thinking "whats wrong with you" they seem quite able bodied to me.

My local asda petrol station has a pump designated disabled but it is exactly the same and people have been so conditioned that no one uses it as a normal pump.

You can't just look at someone and decide they look able bodied.
Physically they might look okay, but they may have breathing difficulties in which case parking nearer to an entrance can be a huge benefit, especially in cold weather.

Indeed. Thats why we have got Grace's sign coming in up here:



To many people think disability and associate it with "wheelchair".

[scoobiemandan]

Just to clarify, the Government pays nothing towards a motability car so that means no ones tax is being used to pay for them!  Motability is a charity and they are able to offer new cars at a lower price than the open market due to the unique VAT concessions they get!  Okay so indirectly tax payers money is paying for the rental as it's taken from the mobility part of anyone's PIP/DLA claim but this money would still be paid to the person whether or not they have a vehicle under the scheme.

My wife would be focced if it weren't for this scheme so kudos to them I say.  Even though it costs me a tidy couple of thousand every three years as an upfront payment but I'm safe in the knowledge that she'll never have to worry about breaking down and being without help or a car.

[taylor]

one day on the severn bridge a guy was showing his blue card to get over for free when he dropped it,     he got out and ran after it .

[BBROWN1664]

Blue badges are abused by some. Many people don't realise that they are only meant to be used to park in disabled spaces etc if the disabled person is getting out of the car. I have used them in the past when giving my granddad a lift into town or my father in law a lift to a hotel.
Just like the blue badges, the mutability scheme is abused by some too.
The government may not pay for the cars themselves, but they do pay the benefit that is used to pay for the car to some people that don't really need it as they managed to swing the lead at the assessment I know a few that have done this over the years and a few others who should claim it but are too proud or scared of the assessment to claim it.