Woman shouted at me for parking in a disabled spot

Never mind 'popular'. How about you do something about your bigoted, ableist attitude?

In your best Hyancith Bouquet voice.
Excuse me madam but do fuck off..

I'd have said a hell of a lot worse to the nosey c than what you did

It doesn't matter where the badge was at that time though , the woman was a few cars away .she was just shouting the odds because she was feeling important and harassing the op, and it is harassment.

Probably not going to be popular … but I think those spaces should be specifically for people with mobility issues, and those who need to get wheelchairs / scooters etc out of the car.

Some disabilities aren’t visible which is correct, and some people have disabilities that good days and bad days, just because you “can” doesn’t mean you “should”

Yes, that's what I would do.

I don't mind people having a look to see if you are displaying a badge, but for goodness' sake don't shout before you know.

This!

I'm always on alert for anyone having a go at my husband for parking in a blue badge space, as he's a super fit runner and much faster out of the car than me 😅 he's the only driver in the family because I'm epileptic. The amount of people who think only the disabled person can drive the car is insane.

I'm applying for a Blue Badge for my mum, who relies on me to give her lifts everywhere. If they see me bounce out of the car first to go round and open the door for mum, people could draw the wrong conclusions.

Just wanted to note also, as well as not all disabilities being visible, that the driver may not be the one with the mobility problem.

It's surprising how often people do seem to think that they ARE the blue badge police though.

I know someone who is a below the knee amputee and wears a prosthetic leg. You can't see it when he is out and about and wearing trousers and he does walk quite well even if it can become painful for him. He has been challenged before when people can't see his disability and "don't think he looks disabled enough", whatever that means. He has no qualms about hitching up his trouser leg and displaying his prosthesis to these twats (not that he should have to, if course) and they invariably go bright red and scuttle off muttering something. It's themselves they have embarrassed.

That was the point I was making. if OP was displaying her badge, then the woman was rude and can jog on.
If OP wasn't displaying a badge then how was the woman to know she wasn't one of those idiots who think they can park anywhere.
OP has since confirmed she was displaying her badge, so of course the woman was rude! She should of checked if she was so concerned someone was taking up a disabled space when they were not disabled.

I am not sticking up for this woman at all - yes she was rude - but at the same time, perhaps she was fed up of twats taking up disabled spaces when they don't need them and just lost it this time.
In this instance she was wrong.

People shouldn't challenge someone for using a disabled space. She was wrong to confront you and you were within your rights to take her down a peg or two. The usual rules apply though with regard to whether it's wise to get involved in an altercation or if it's best just to ignore them. The sort of person who challenges a person using a disabled space with a permit on display isn't a rational person, they are more likely just looking for any excuse for a fight. Sometimes ignoring them is the safest thing. From personal experience, ignoring them can be quite funny at times because they end up having a public meltdown.

You don’t need to justify yourself to anyone. Next time just smile and say ‘call the police’.

Who on earth are the wheelie police - are they like those scary characters from Return To Oz?!

It's a horrible state of affairs when disabled people, with a legitimate blue badge, are prevented from freely using it by nasty oafs like her. A blue badge isn't a privilege; it's actually to go some way towards helping people who already have far less privilege.

A wheelchair serves as a practical clear illustration to denote disability on signs, but it does mean that some particularly thick and unpleasant people then believe that everybody is either a wheelchair user or otherwise 100% able bodied.

Then she was unreasonable and rude. Ignore her is the best option.

If you have a blue badge and displayed it as required then you were right.

You refer to a permit. Is that a blue badge? Had you displayed it? Those are not clear from your post.

If all was present and correct then she was a rude twat and you dealt with it well, although it would probably have been better to have totally ignored her.

@Bookworm20 It's nothing to do with the woman not seeing the badge she wasn't the "badge police" if the op has a blue badge they can park in a blue badge space, they don't have to prove they are disabled enough to randoms in a car park or on the Internet.

An elderly couple shouted at me outside our GP surgery for parking in a disabled spot. It wasn't. It was a parent child spot. I politely pointed that out and mentioned the spot they were parked in was also a parent child spot but made it clear I wasn't complaining to them that and showed them where the disabled parking bays were. But they were having none of it. I see them in the village occasionally and they scowl at me. 😀

She was rude yes, but were you displaying your badge? It is a nightmare when someone who uses a wheelchair can't park because they can't actually get out of the car.
However if you were displaying your badge and have mobility issues then of course she was rude as you are as entitled to it as the next person.
I mean i'm assuming you didn't hop out the car and jog happily into the shops.

I don't know why but 'wheelie spot' really tickled me.
Obviously if you have a blue badge you are perfectly entitled to park there and it's nobody else's business why you have the badge. They are not exclusively for wheelchair users.

Do you have a blue badge and was it displayed? If so yanbu

She shouldn't shout but maybe she also has a disability?

If yiu either haven't a badge, don't park there, or if not displayed then display it.

She nay just be a twit or yiu may not have displayed a badge or have one, you don't say.