Disabled Parking

Agreed! They might have a go at me too, I have severe arthritis in several joints, I wouldn’t say I ever walk spritely but I can sometimes walk a few metres normally and I go to the gym 3 times a week. What you might not have seen is me struggling to get out of the car due to restricted knee bend after surgery. On a good day you might not see what happens when my other (waiting for surgery) knee gives way or locks and I struggle to walk even a few steps. I’ve had to be helped out of shops a few times and so won’t go on my own now due to embarrassment. I have to open the car door fully so that I can actually get out so most normal spaces are not an option for me unless I can park with the driver door next to the kerb. My doctors and local
council have judged that I am entitled to a blue badge. If anyone dared to question me then they’d be told in no uncertain terms to get fucked.

Or if you score 8 or more points on on PIP criteria ‘moving around’.

It’s also worth noting in Scotland you need 12 points under ‘planning and following journeys’ to automatically qualify for a BB, whereas in England it’s 10 specifically.

Yes I do. Because i can.

See this is the kind of ignorance that contributes towards people judging disabled folk and feeds into the idea blue badges and benefits are given out like sweets.

Im disabled and my health can change very quickly, I have a blue badge but due to strangers choosing to being ignorant and aggressive, and thinking they have some kind of right to come and have a go at me because they cant visibly see me struggling in that few moments, I’ve had men try and snatch my badge out of my hand just to see my name on the back, Ive had strangers demand I tell them my medical indie and as a result I have a lot of anxiety around being out my home because I feel vulnerable as it is, but the anger some people choose to express because they can’t find a space is very intimidating.

Hospital parking is very stressful, I always allow an hour to find any space and rarely get a disabled bay, sometimes the person supporting me will spot someone they don’t think looks disabled enough and wind their window down to start having a go and I have to remind them that they’re about to do what people do to me, and they’ll go “but you’re actually disabled, you’re genuine” 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️. That’s the whole point, just because someone looks ok it doesn’t mean they are not disabled.

My sister used to take her disabled dad to chemo, some sessions she couldn’t stay with him all day, she’s had people have a go at her for using the disabled bay when she returns to her car and when she would arrive to pick him up, she swore at them too.

Your mum not having access to a disabled bay at a hospital when she needs it isn’t the fault of other blue badge holders who got there first, and I hope one day if you find yourself in a situation where you are returning to the car in a hospital carpark without your disabled mum, you don’t have someone choosing to have a go at you and I mean that genuinely.

It’s not your opinion that matters though. You are not the person that issues the badges so your opinion is irrelevant and invalid. You had no right to have a go at someone. You’d probably have a go at me justifiably using my BB in a BB space, and I’d eff and blind at you too.

If the baby has a blue badge the mother would be entitled to park in a disabled space when travelling with the baby.

I’ve never parked in a disabled bay even when I had two babies/toddlers in the car. But I have been forced to leave our local retail park when people without children (in our area it’s usually pensioners or white van drivers) took the last family parking space and waltzed into the building without a care in the world. A bit of respect and empathy all round would go a long way.

No. My mum had a life limiting disability and the number of times we could not get disabled parking was untrue. People are sometimes despicable.

Thank you. I didn't know it was a criminal offence but I'm glad it is. It makes me feel very uncomfortable and I don't accept lifts from her anymore. I drive myself or I offer to drive her.

Where did i say it did?

I understand you can only use spaces for disabled people if they are with you when parking or you are picking them up.

If they are not with you and you use a disabled space, it is against the 'rights and responsibilities' laid out in the Dept of Transport (England) booklet.
It is a criminal offence to misuse a badge- could lead to a £1000 fine and confiscation of the badge. Totally unfair on the disabled person.

Parents with babies, prams, toddlers etc have their own designated bays.

Did he have a blue badge?
If he did you had no right having a go at him
My son has a blue badge and even a mobility car he csn run as fast as the wind but has severe autism and severe learning disabillties and is unable to travel anywhere independently as he doesnt have the capacity to keep himself safe.

Yes but only if I'm with my mum and she's using her blue badge! I'd never use one just because I had the kids with me. Having kids is absolutely not an excuse to use a disabled bay unless one of the kids is disabled.

I was asking the original poster why they thought people with prams should be "allowed" in disabled parking spaces, because they had it in their original post, sorry if I wasn't clear.

And just to add to my post above - some people might need to be very close to entrances, and have a BB for that reason, even though they don’t necessarily need the extra space.

I only ever used them when I had my very elderly and increasingly mobility impaired mother with me, accompanied by her blue badge.

Otherwise, now I didn't and I don't.

Absolutely not. My late husband had a BB for his final few months, and on occasion, after parking in a BB space, he felt too tired and frail to get out and into his wheelchair. I immediately vacated the BB space, and parked elsewhere, as that is the correct thing to do.

The BB space is only required if the holder needs the extra room. If they are staying in the car, they don’t need it.

Only when I was picking Mum up from the Supermarket, she couldn’t walk properly, used 2 sticks .. should have had a blue badge, but found the system too complicated. I would drop her, sit her on a bench, go park the car in a regular spot, then after shopping sit her back on the bench, go get the car and drive back to pick her up .

If they had a drop off / pick up zone that was being used properly, rather then being used by prople “just popping in for a few bits / fags / to use the toilet” I wouid have used that.

Yes, I quoted your post which said "why would people with prams be exempt from parking in BB spaces" or were you being sarcastic? Or did I misunderstand and you meant something different?

I park in a disabled space ONLY when I'm chauffeuring a friend with a blue badge. (he has a wheelchair) We're not averse to parking at the far end of the car park if there isn't a disabled space, and often do this.

I do, but only when my disabled daughter is with me. We have a blue badge so we are allowed.

what a strange question.
why do you need to know? wtf has mums and babies got to do with anything.
is this a thread with an ullteria motive?

Yes, when with DD1, who has a blue badge.

When twin DDs were small, and parent child spaces weren’t common, I used to park at the far flung edges of supermarket car parks, which usually had plenty of spaces, rather than use a disabled space.

The biggest problem I have, is people parking in them, with no blue badge at all, not people who look sprightly with a blue badge. DD1 can look sprightly, but she cannot walk reliably anywhere.

But there was no need to add anything about prams unless obviously if the person in the car had a blue badge, your reply doesn't make sense, if a space is Bb specified then nobody really should be parking in it .

Never, under any circumstances. I mean, perhaps if a passenger in my car was literally giving birth and there was no where else to stop?