Woman shouted at me for parking in a disabled spot

Those of us with mobility issues still have to deal with the impatience of some drivers anyway even with a Blue Badge.

For those who think that they should be reserved for mobility issues that need a wheelchair or scooter, those of us who have invisible mobility issues would have to park quite a distance away on busy days, or cross roads to the impatience of drivers at our slowness.

It is just as well that those people who think like that, are not the ones setting the criteria for who is able to get a BB.

That is misuse if he isn't getting out the car, unless you also have a blue badge?

I tend to find that replying with "Fuck off you ugly old bat" does the trick.

As someone with a blue badge but who isn't in a wheelchair, I dread people claiming I'm not disabled. It's really mentally draining.

I do need a disabled space and the criteria to get a blue badge is really strict. They don't hand them out like sweeties. What's more, my DH does a lot of shopping and other things for me because I can't get about much. And no, he doesn't use my badge, unless he is driving me or picking me up, because it's illegal.

For those who think that they should be reserved for mobility issues that need a wheelchair or scooter, those of us who have invisible mobility issues would have to park quite a distance away on busy days, or cross roads to the impatience of drivers at our slowness.

Dp parks in a disabled bay when I am getting out and stops in the car on the odd occasion. He's doing nothing wrong. It's not his badge, it's mine

She sounds ignorant and stupid
She also had no idea of your medical history.
Any comments I just look them up and down and walk away
I have a visible disability but the worst was when I had my young DC in the car with me
I got comments such as " if you're that disabled, you shouldn't be allowed to have children!" WTF
You can't reason with stupid

Do you know how hard it is to get a blue badge? My Mum couldn't get one because she wasn't blind enough despite also having problems walking. I eventually got her one by putting down how she was on her very worst days but by that time it was too late and she never got to use it. Never mind eh, she should have just gone out on one of her 'good days' 🙄

I hope you never have the need for a blue badge but if you do, I hope you look back and realise how fucking nasty and offensive your post is.

Some of the private car parks do enforce it with fines, but only the ones who are keen to issue fines for everything. I can always get a parking space at our local shopping centre because they do fine people.

In this case, is it a misuse of the BB, where the DM is being picked up by her DD?

A reasonable response.

Such bays are never enforced, they are just there to make the supermarket look good or a sop to planners.

They are if they’re not getting out of the car themselves. They’re misusing the badge for someone else’s’ benefit and taking up a space that someone else could be using.

I know. I do this with my DP when the disabled spot is not close enough to the entrance of somewhere.

Personally I'd have told her to f**k off.

You have a blue badge, end of.

On collecting her DM, friend parks her car in a disabled bay, displays the blue badge. No one (yet) has questioned this.

Good, because they would be wrong too. Your friend is not doing anything wrong, by doing this.

This is a common misconception. Those who are on PIP (also a very difficult benefit to obtain) qualify for a blue badge, if they have obtained the benefit on physical or specific combined mental health/physical grounds, which are subject to stringent assessment. Others qualify by way of applying to their local authority and again the assessment process is stringent, often involving a face to face interview. I think before people challenge, they should stop and think that if someone has a blue badge, it’s because someone a lot more qualified than themselves has decided they need one.

Blue Badge parking though is poorly enforced.

I agree.

You can pick up or drop off the disabled person and park in a disabled spot

And unless there’s a police officer or parking attendant handy, no way to police it because as a member of the public, asking to see the badge yourself would be harassment.

This is one of my bugbears. This kind of misuse can actually result in the badge being withdrawn. The problem is identifying it. Unless you know the people involved it would be very difficult for the public to ‘police’ as you’re not entitled to view or handle the badge, so no way to know. We’ve all seen it though and it’s really annoying.

@Auburngal You are nit allowed to use a Blue Badge to park unless the disabled person is getting out of the car. Blue Badge parking though is poorly enforced.

You have a disability, so used the lift in accordance with that. I am surprised that they had a sign like that though.

Then get people who park in disabled bays when the disabled person sits in the car. They should park in a normal bay as disabled bays are for the badge holder to leave and being picked up. For example. One of my friend's DM is disabled, goes to bingo once a fortnight and friend goes shopping whilst her DM is at bingo - she parks in another car park as the shops are quarter of a mile away. On collecting her DM, friend parks her car in a disabled bay, displays the blue badge. No one (yet) has questioned this. Her DM uses a walker which probably keeps some potential abusers to keep their mouths shut.

The thing is, a lot of people think that blue badges are handed out like sweets - they’re not. They’re very difficult to obtain and the application process involves getting robust evidence from you GP, as well in many cases, having to attend a medical at the request of the issuing authority. People who have fluctuating conditions will be required to provide evidence that they present for 50% of the time or more, so it’s properly assessed. And in my own experience, disabled people tend to be a lot more considerate. For myself, I’m in a wheelchair and if I can find a disabled bay at the far end of the spaces I’ll do so because it leaves the nearer ones empty for those with walking issues. I have a friend who has a walking disability and she will use the nearer standard spaces wherever she can so that those who need the wider spaces can park.

There are many hidden disabilities which conceal a walking difficulty too - for example, my partner has a serious heart condition and has a badge because it limits the physical activity he can do, including walking any distance, and disabled spaces allow parking closer to the entrances of places. You’d never know he has the condition from looking at him, apart from when he’s exerted himself too much and is gasping for breath. And people may have mental health conditions/Autism or ADHD for example, which reduces their awareness of danger, so parking safely and close to destination is important - again, you wouldn’t know this just by looking at them, so how do you differentiate when it comes to need ?

I also think a lot is down to car park owners. Supermarkets in particular will cram in as many standard spaces as they can and as a result the spaces have got smaller. I would happily use a standard space because in the wheelchair I can mobilise further than someone who has walking restrictions. The reason I don’t is because the narrow spaces make it very difficult to negotiate the wheelchair and get into it, and from previous experience, you can’t guarantee that when you get back to your car, someone in the next bay hasn’t parked too close for you to actually get back into the car.

Why are you acting like they get handed out to every Tom, Dick and Harry. It’s an incredibly rigid criteria so if OP has one, she needs one