Are there now too many disabled parking spaces?

[Ladywithabagonherhead]

I know I will sound like an entitled cow, but I wonder if I am alone with this. I am all for helping people who have disabilities in any way we can, that is decent - and if you are disabled yourself reading this, this is not against you at all.

I more and more think that we are overdoing the whole disabled parking slot deal. It's been happening these last few months everywhere I go, shops, high streets, supermakets, vet, etc.. Everyone is struggling to find a space, while there is a whole row reserved for blue badge holders, with one maybe two parked there. Meanwhile, there are fewer spots for family cars with small children, for example. Surely... surely there are way more families with kids than disabled parking needs (and I don't even have kids, just an observation). Not to mention the rest of us. Again, yes, we need dedicated parking spots, but aren't we overdoing it? As in, it's not really balanced. This is what I experience where I live, at least.

Parents with small children need space to get in and out of the car. Proximity to the store is not pertinent

if they are all able bodied then they are perfectly capable of managing to walk

I appreciate that you don’t have children yourself so might not understand that.

No.

As for normal spaces being too small, no, cars are too big.

As the base idea I would agree. It is beyond me how one would calculate the right amount of dedicated spots. But looking at the situation here for me, over an extended period of time (months, close to a year now since I moved back), this is always the case, almost fully empty disabled bays, while others struggle, often parking multiple streets away from where they need to be. With that I think it is not unreasonable to say that it is not balanced

There are lots of people who are pretty disabled but don't manage to get a blue badge (partly because some conditions are poorly understood)

Then there are people who are temporarily struggling due to illness or an accident.

Or the people who are waiting for a diagnosis

It isnt a binary between blue badge holder and "able bodied".

And nobody "needs" P&C spaces. They prefer them. Not the same. If there are none left, you park in a normal space. Most supermarket car parks have loads of space except around Christmas.

I am not the one who said we don't need P&C spots @AgnesMcDoo .I was responding to someone who said we should sacrifice P&C spots to give them to disabled people.

fair point

Yes they are always empty

I think both can be true.
one supermarket near me definitely falls into the too many category. Almost 1/3 of the spaces are blue badge spaces. By the time you have added in parent and child spaces and EV spaces over half the car park is taken up. The normal spaces are also incredibly small. Parking there is a nightmare. The blue badge bays are never full. The irony of the situation is that the shop is one of the least disabled friendly places I’ve been.

Equally as a carer I know all too well how shockingly few the spaces are in other places.
And in response to PP who said companies are not going to invest in research into how many spaces they should have. Yes they absolutely should! Of course they should! Equally they need to invest in other barriers that prevent people from getting out, like disabled toilets and changing places. There is so much more work to do on accessibility.

Remind me which age group is having the most accidents?

But lets start with the oldies...🙄

I’m a wheelchair user and can honestly say there’s not enough especially at places like the hospital, my doctor surgery is a laugh 1 space ! And that’s used by a receptionist- yes he is disabled but not in a chair. Which is my big bone of contention. My son has a blue badge, he can walk short distances, so to walk round the supermarket fine, but to walk from the other end of the car park then round the store then push a trolley back to the other end of the car park is way to much. But as he says, he doesn’t need the wide space that I need with my chair, I think there should be 2 sorts of disabled spaces, those who need wide ones - the blue badge, and oh I don’t know ? A green one, close to the door but normal width and across the drive through so children spaces are up to the shop if you see what I mean.

This. Don’t need a disabled bay but find it infuriating to see so many disabled spaces taken by drivers without a blue badge who can’t be bothered to walk a few yards

Disabled parking is a legal requirement
P&C are a courtesy
They absolutely could be given up for disabled spaces.

The able bodied have choices and options that disabled people do not.

Nope.

next.

Oh it's even more fun if you have a bb but don't look disabled/physically disabled

That is extra silly for a surgery. It's like a parody. Another example of skewed ratios, just the other way.

When I am in my wheelchair with DH I don't actually need a disabled space as we unload the chair from the boot. So I don't use a disabled space. I actually feel far less disabled when I am in my electric wheelchair

When I am walking I need a close space far more badly so I do use a blue badge space. I agree I don't need a wide space though.

But this receptionist may well need a wide space. My friend does as she has a congenital disability that doesn't require a chair but does mean she needs a lot of space to get out of the car. You can't judge whether or not he needs a wide space. But his employer could provide him with a different space so he doesnt affect the patient parking though

That is true. but my original question still is: IF the large amount of disabled spots at a certain place is ALWAYS completely empty, while others struggle to park, are they needed to that extent? The answer is no.

This I think covers it all!

Let's please stop pretending able bodied and blue badge holder is a binary.

There are so many people with limited mobility who don't qualify for a blue badge. I went through it for years, essentially housebound often because I lacked a diagnosis and therefore a way to explain or understand why I struggled so much.

Normal parking spaces are also an incredibly important part of accessibility

Exactly!
There are some places I go where noone other than people with a blue badge can park close to the building. Yet the blue badge spaces are often empty. And there can be all kinds of permanent/temporary conditions that mean someone may need a "normal" parking space that is near enough

If memory serves it is going to be the kids. Recklessness, aggressive, careless stupidity, I believe they cause the most fatal ones.
But don't tell me the 80+ year old who can barely lift an arm and can't see past his nose should be allowed to drive. Come on.

and before anyone decides to twist what I am saying - I know you will know some old guy/gal personally who is in better shape than a 40-year-old, that's great. I am talking about those who refuse to acknowledge that they are a hazard due to declining eyesight, reflexes, etc. If they get the green light from a health checkup, sure

Nope, there’s no where near enough.

No

Yes. Far too many, I regularly work in hospitals and even there there are loads of empty disabled spaces and nowhere to park