Parking and the elderly

not sure about anywhere else but in meadowhall you can only use the P&C if you have pre-registered with them, and the child has to be there when you register.

Which means visitors from out of town aren't able to use them, and nor are locals who need a temporary wider space. It is infuriating, especially in older car parks where the bays are calibrated to car widths that are 30 years out of date.

Any posts have to be reported, if you feel that they warrant it.

So much ageist shite - where are the mods?

that's right - only young people should be allowed to be out. Not elderly doddery gits, getting in the way and nicking all the parking spots, the cunts.

Can you though if you are surrounded by large cars ? You might not park next to one but by the time you get to go home you are collared in by two monsters machines? The space you want is all gone.

Challenge the decision I've noticed recently that blue badges, carers allowance, benefits etc quite a lot are just refused first time and they're hoping you go away. If you challenge or reapply you get a fair shake and may still not qualify but they've actually looked.

Absolutely it does. It is good all round for him to get out, and be a part of what is going on, and get some gentle exercise, instead of being inside all of the time, and doing the weekly shop online. I have seen that type of comment before, and despair at the lack of thought behind such comments.

It’s far harder to get a badge these days. Despite this bizarrely plenty of able bodied seem to have them in the town I work in, if you can run you don’t need one (and no they are not picking someone up, my desk overlooks that road so I have been keeping watch and am liaising with the parking team who are convinced there is a major fraud problem but haven’t the resources to put the pieces together)

Parent and child spaces are increasingly not near the front anyway. They're down the sides with a safe footpath instead.

Use a parent and baby space and appeal the decision.

I don’t need to be near, I need to be able to open both back doors wide enough to get my children in and out without damaging cars.

And it’s been pointed out numerous times up thread. He was a passenger. Like so many blue badge holders who don’t drive.

I know people say the parent and child places are wider and needed because of that but as cars have got much bigger that additional space is all lost.

Get him one of those walkers that has a fold down seat. Pull up at the entrance where taxis drop off, get him out of the car with his Walker, sit him in the entrance whilst you go park your car. When he’s finished shopping do the reverse.
All the supermarkets round me have P+C spaces away from the entrance, so parking there would still mean a good walk for users. Also, why was his Blue Badge renewal refused? Surely at his age he is less mobile than when he first received it?

Half a mile? That’s a bloody big carpark.

drop him at the door and then park elsewhere. You can do that with an adult, I can’t with my baby and toddler.

OP didn’t say this?

The reason supermarkets give parent and child spaces near the front of a store is because they are competing with other supermarkets for their money and what they spend in the shop. So make it nice and easy. And near. Families are more likely to buy a trolley load.

I know people think or like to think it is some sort of social statement by the supermarkets ‘helping mums and tots’, and they present it that way. But it really is just about money.

Old people who do not qualify as disabled nor for a blue badge on the other hand buy less. A bag of tea. Swiss roll. Tin of cat food. Biscuits. Small pieces of food. So are worth less to the supermarket. Who do not go out of their way to make the experience nice for them.

They would never say that of course. But that is the cold reality. That and a society that seems to continue down a path of proactively despising older people. So they know nobody else is all that bothered either.

She’s driving him, taking him food shopping.

I think the fact some people think fit and health adults need a closer parking space over a frail elderly person simply because they have a child with them says a lot about what is going wrong in society. Are people really that self centred?

I think blue badge holders should take precedence nearer the store of course and parent and child spaces can be further away.

However, I do disagree that you should use parent and child spaces because these are sorely needed. We (early 60s) take our grandchildren out (4+2) and reaching into to car to unbuckle them, lift them out of and into car seats is back wrenching enough without not being able to open the doors fully wide. It might be great when you're in your 20s/30s but a lot of grandparents look after grandchildren and they need the space too to avoid injury and needing a blue badge themselves!

We've an aging population. There simply isn't enough room for the number of blue or brown badge spaces that would be needed if we handed them out to all old people.

My OH has applied for a blue badge because he can barely walk. I currently have to drop him at Tesco entrance then find a parking space. He's now been waiting 3 months. We don't actually know what's wrong with his feet as there's a 7 month wait for the orthopaedics clinic so not hopeful.
A friend's son with a below the knee amputation was turned down as he's "only lost half his leg, not the whole thing"

Don't see the need for parent and child spaces. They didn't exist when my kids were small and we all managed.

Eh?

If you designated your garden as a car park then I could - if I followed your regulations

Which is the whole point of my post. Not all disabled spaces are Blue Badge only. It's private land and it's up to them whether they stipulate this or not. My local supermarket carpark (co-op) doesn't have this restriction displayed.

@Nearly50omgyou clearly have a revulsion of getting old with attitudes like the ones you’ve expressed. Maybe your user name is a clue. But the views you’re expressing are quite awful. Do they also apply to people with disabilities? Or is it just the elderly who need to be locked up out of sight?

In my area, there are never enough blue badge spaces, presumably due to the aging population. Due to demographics it’s only going to get worse. My 93 year old mum insists on going shopping at peak times, which doesn’t help.Some local authorities still charge for blue badge spaces, presumably due to demand. With cars getting ever bigger, it’s going to be a bigger problem.