to wonder why disabled parking should be free

[Lilaclion]

My local council is considering making blue badge holders pay to park which has caused a certain amount of controversy, but personally I don't see why they shouldn't pay to park just like everybody else? The blue badge parking system is there to ensure an ease of access, it has nothing to do with finances.

I agree Carpetlover. It's not right,and is an issue that needs to be tackled. In my area they stopped all hospital parking charges for many of the hospitals,possibly all now,but unfortunately that hasn't happened across the nation. People should not be penalised for being ill and disabled.

This thread has brought back memories.About 4 months prior to his death DP parked the car in a disabled space.He didn't LOOK disabled,but due to his condition got very breathless and struggled to walk long distances.Also in the car was ds and dd,with her orthopaedic splints on her legs.Off we started,and were aware of a group of women across the street staring at us.We thought nothing of it but on return to the car found a message under the windscreen wiper.It said "You didn't look disabled to us,we are reporting your car registration to the Council".In the three years of enduring his particularly horrible illness and constant pain I don't think I ever saw him look so upset.In fact he cried.The irony of the situation was that there were in fact 2 disabled people in the car (I don't drive and therefore don't claim mobility for dd).Dp said "I would gladly NOT have to park in this space if someone could take away this illness".I am sure likewise he would have paid all the parking charges in the world just to have some kind of normality.

It needs to be addressed nationally, I agree.
The worse part of that story for me was thinking about the poor woman having to walk 3/4 of a mile back to her car after undergoing chemo.

I must recommend this book,particuarly to those who are still irate about the 'many privileges' that disabled people have. I see that the OP has apologised.

Scapegoat.

I won't deny that it's often an extremely disturbing read,but it's a story that needs to be told.

Lilaclion, how nice of you to apologise to those you may have offended. I was thinking this was a nasty, ill thought out thread particularly with everything else going on at the moment. However, I'm now really glad you started it as it gave those in that position the chance to explain how much more is involved.
Well done for being so gracious!

Mavend something similiar happened to me, We parked legally in a disabled parking spot (with a badge) at the hospital ds who has severe CP was small so was still in a major buggy. DD and I got out of the car, I got ds' major buggy out of the boot and put ds in it. Now I can see from another person's point of view that it looked like a mum with two kids. But, the abuse I recevied made both of my kids cry. Not such a brilliant day.

unpa1dcar3r You're fab, and so are all the other people on this thread either suffering with a disability or caring for someone who does.

Apology accepted also, Lilaclion

Nice one, lilaclion

I'm so sorry that your dp was subjected to such ignorance in his last few months,Mavened. It's sickening.

While not quite the same thing my mother was for quite some time reluctant to use her travel pass because people made remarks about her not really being disabled,and because of the general attitude of society towards those with disabilities. She developed epilepsy and deserved and needed that pass as much as those with more visible disabilities imho,and it saddened and infuriated me that she felt she couldn't use it for some time.

Getting the bloody pass was another ordeal but that's a tale for another thread.

My local hospital (when I was still in the UK) did have hugely reduced long term parking rates, for people who had to show up frequently to hospital (and rightly so). It was a bloody fortune for one off visits!

Mavend, you don't have to drive to claim the mobility component. The money can be paid to you instead of going towards a motability car, to cover the costs of other public transport options.

And DS's orthotics and physio centre are inside the Congestion Charge zone. That would add a tenner to every appointment were it not for the BB concession on CC.

His BB runs out in a couple of weeks, which is completely fair enough - atm he is highly mobile, and I don't use it when we don't need to. But even though he is mobile there is still one hospital appt a month, and other appts for physio and shoes and god knows what. I'm not complaining, it won't bankrupt us and we are incredibly grateful for the lifesaver that is the NHS. But for information, the costs of having a child with any extra needs is significant

i would rather pay to park than live a life of being disabled.

Charges to park at hospitals for anyone, disabled or not, are terrible, surely charging just creates problems for residents in surrounding areas with cars trying to park outside the car parks. It's not like anyone visits a hospital for pleasure, you are either unwell yourself or trying to brighten up a friend or relative's day by visiting, thank god our maternity hospital doesn't charge or it would have cost us a fortune, my DH was there from 2 til 8 for 3 days as well as the day I actually had DD which was 23 hours of labour, it would have just added to our money worries at a time when we had better things to think about.

RE hospital car parks I dont believe anyone should have to pay. Nobody goes to a hospital out of choice. Thankfully I am not a blue badge holder but have spent to long in hospitals with DS since he was born 20 months ago and dread to think how much I have spent on car parks. When he was rushed into hospital in an ambulance before joining us (in her car) my Mum was having to hunt around for change for the car park.

At least Alder Hey have a decent £1.50 for 24 hours rather than the rolling scale at the local hopsital.

I know in some places there is an issue with people parking to go elsewhere but surely that could be resolved somehow (card stamped on ward/department to show you had used hospital perhaps?)

here's another story: I was parked in a disabled bay at my local supermarket which however is free to everyone. I had my youngest disabled son with me. When we had picked up his meds and got back to the car a police car was parked in a disabled bay a few spaces down. I took an envelope out of my car and wrote: it's great to see the police force don't discriminate against employing disabled people but next time remember to display your blue badge !!

Dev

why does it matter to you anyway if disabled people get free parking?

Surely it would surely only matter on any credible level to you if you were being asked for extra money to pay for the disabled person parking next to you?

There are lots of much more important inequalities in this life to take your time to consider than a minority of people who don't have the same quality of life as you getting free parking.

Please refrain from making me want to post on threads like these.

We have to pay to park at our local hospital despite ds2 having a blue badge. I wouldn't mind paying to park in the town centre if we could park at the hospital for free. That's just my opinion though and probably influenced by the fact that I spend nearly as much time in the hospital as I do in the town centre and the hospital car park is more expensive than the one in town.

I have actually been physically assaulted in an Asda car park whilst holding my non walking SLD 18 month old son in my arms and having my other 3 yr old SLD child running like a crazy thing across the busy car park being chased by my 2, then young, daughters risking life and limb.
Because the man who assaulted me didn't think we should have parked in the disabled bay despite having what was then an orange badge on full view.
Because we didn't 'look' disabled.
He shook my arm vigorously, the one holding the baby and I came so close to dropping him on the concrete floor, whilst screaming in my face, it was terrifying.
The security guards called the police but I didn't press charges despite them wanting me to because I was so knackered and worn down and totally bloody zombified from looking after the two boys who NEVER slept plus the girls. I just wanted to get my shopping and go home asap.
That's the worst I've had, normally we just get dirty looks and tuts etc.

OP, thanks for being gracious enough to apologise.

Interesting to see how many people are posting about hospital charges - I thought they were restricted to hospitals like ours which were PPI funded when built. Sorry to see its such a widespread problem. It really grinds my gears - who chooses to visit a hospital??

Parking, means tested? I'm sorry but I find that pedantic.

I agree with other people's arguments for why disabled people are more likely to need parking spaces. They may not have the same options as able bodied people in terms of choosing where to live or work.

Free parking - where it exists, which is not everywhere - is a very small perk. Disadvantaged groups of people often have small perks like this, e.g. free bus travel for the elderly, fostered children receiving laptops. Of course there will always be some who are 'more disadvantaged' than others, but for such a relatively small amount of money it may not be worth the government's while to means-test for everything.

Try getting a double mclaren major buggy on a bus, even if there was space it would not fit. Many times i have seen people in electric wheelchairs struggle to fit into the spaces provided, its just not feasable to do.
On another note, disabled children seem to be a free for all for abuse when carers park legitimately in a disabled parking bay. Not paying for parking is the last thing on my mind.