Parking Disabled Spaces

[babsanderson]

Do you ever park in disabled parking spaces?

My DH has a blue badge and it seems so common for non disabled people to do this, especially when waiting in their car for a child to leave an activity. He just winds down his window and asks them to leave - they usually do. But it is annoying.

Are you honestly saying my example with my dad having rapid onset MND is invalid? He was entitled to a BB, but needed access to the spaces before it was processed and sent out to him.

There was no way I was trying to carry him from the car to a wheelchair for the sake of not offending people who can't see past the rules for basic human decency. These weren't fun excursions but trips to see specialists who were trying to give him dignity and comfort as he died.

People do abuse the spaces, but anyone who can't make an exception for a clearly unwell and immobile person are dickheads quite frankly.

That is ridiculous. I had the email to renew my daughter's yesterday and it said it could take up to 12 weeks so I reapplied immediately thinking that was bad.

In the 20 years she has had a BB I have seen many cars parked in the spaces without badges. I have yet to see the rows and rows of empty spots mentioned by PPs.

When I was using them (No blue badge but unable to walk for 3 months
That would fall into my "fuck off, mind your business" category.
When people that don't actually have mobility issues are gatekeepers to things that are available to assist. Then we have a problem.
Most carparks are private property anyway. It's only the council owned town center ones where it might be an issue.
I was actually instructed to use the blue bays at the hospital by staff despite having no blue badge.
A temporary badge might be the answer, but gatekeepers certainly are not.
Luckily traffic wardens are rare around where I lived at the time.

Alder hey is the worse for this it seems sadly. They have ample disabled parking spaces but too often when we finally find one 50% or more of the row of spaces aren’t displaying a blue badge.

i get it’s frustrating when your not entitled to one but that doesn’t mean you can just decided to use the spaces anyway.

No but there are p people on here making their own rules up.,can you not see what that would lead to.,oh I have twisted my.ankle, so I will.just use a blue badge ,space or I feel a bit tired ,sick.etc, which means genuine blue badge holders have less and less spaces my son has severe autism and learning disabilities he has a blue badge, because he has zero concept of danger .

@Sirzy That sounds very frustrating, have you contacted the trust about this? Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and very quick to fine people doing this.

It’s ridiculous. I’ve been told that there’s now one person in that dept after cutbacks but that isn’t something I know for sure.

Its something that I just have to deal with, and you simply can’t get DD out of the car and into her wheelchair in a normal size space. Even decent or generous spaces don’t work.

People can judge away if they like, and I get that technically we shouldn’t be using them, but I’m not allowing DD to miss more things (as that’s what happens if there’s no available spaces - we have to leave), especially medical appointments because of that length of delay.

"Are very quick"

@YetMoreNewBeginnings There should be some sort of time limited permit issued, saying blue badge application in process if this is the new system. If my daughter's is held up, I'll have to use the out of date one.

No.

Be careful. That's technically fraud.

I used à disabled space for about 5 minutes recently. I’d driven 6 hours with 81 year old father who had badly broken his ankle. He was using a zimmer. Stopped at a service station (he needed loo) and then outside family members house to drop off. We were challenged during drop off, and once dad and stuff unloaded (5 mins) I moved. I think that was reasonable.

our local Sainsbury’s has about 15 spaces and they are never full (usually about 10 free) but that’s life. I never park there… have given up and driven home instead.

I'm very fortunate that I don't have a disability so I've never parked in a disabled space.
I visited a supermarket a few years ago who had what looked like a small speed hump at the head of each disabled space.
I almost jumped out of my skin, when passing a car that had just pulled up in one and a really loud robotic voice screeched 'hello, do you have a BB that entitles you to this space? '
The driver reversed and went to park somewhere else.
I have no idea what it would have said if he had left his car in that space, but it made me giggle all round the supermarket at the possibilities.

If you do not meet the criteria for BB then do not take a space that means a BB can not park.

Someone not having a badge yet doesn't mean they don't meet the criteria. What are they meant to do if there's a delay?

Or they are immobile.
Albeit temporarily.
I'd say an inability to walk unaided pretty much entitled me to use the spaces.
I'd have fought a fine.
And as I said before, anyone daring to question me that was not an official of some sort would have been told to get to fuck.

In Stratford West Mids the Bridgeway Car Park has tons of disabled spaces but rarely more than a handful occupied.

@Meseekslookatme You would have been fined. No one is entitled to a BB unless the disability will be there for at least a year. It is not for temporary issues.

And I spent time stopping at the side of the pavement, unloading DH and his wheelchair and then going to park up in an ordinary space, until he got a BB. It is not easy, but it is temporary.

Oh well, I'd have paid it then.
I had a need. I used what was available to me to make my life easier.
As I said before, I mostly used private carparks so it wouldn't have been an issue.
I might write to my mp regarding temporary need.
But in the meantime, if I find myself in that situation again, I will not hesitate to use the spaces.
Same for my loved ones.

Never, not even for a second. I think anyone who would do this is the lowest form of scum

I don't do it And it would annoy me.
But i did get annoyed yesterday as a BB holder parked in the PC bay NEXT to a row of 8 disabled bays with 7 empty. Inc the space next to where he parked.
So its not like he was closer to the shop or no BB spaces.

How do you know those species weren't occupied when the disabled person arrived.

Never, I would be mortified.

The reason BB are not there for temporary need is because there are not already enough BB spaces. In spite of lots of claims of loads of empty BB spaces, in most places they are very limited.
A friend who uses a wheelchair and can not walk at all regularly has to appeal fines as she has to park across two ordinary parking spaces as there are no BB available.