Disabled parking badges are for the designated places NOT where the hell you like

[lilmissminx]

Really need a vent! Am sick to death of seeing cars parked in the parent and baby/toddler spaces just because they have a blue badge, and not a child in sight The other way around and you wouldn't hear the end of it about inconsiderate parents etc. I fully agree with the need for the disabled spaces etc, but I don't like having to choose between leaving my baby locked in the car to return the trolley (especially if out of sight) and him getting totally soaked etc if I take him with me.
Disclaimer This is made more annoying for the particular store I am referring to as there are only 2 parent spaces, and more than a dozen disabled badge holder ones. Yet because the parent ones are in between the two sets, they use those and leave all the other badge spaces empty.

Thumbwitch No thanks, I don't want supermarket staff giving me a "ticket". If I did not pay they would have to get my name and address from DVLA - process wide open to abuse which should end but that is another issue - and then sue me in the county court. I don't think they would bother.

I used to use a hospital where illegally-parked cars were decorated with a big sheet of paper stuck with strong glue to the windscreen. But that just prolonged the obstruction while the driver got rid of it. Clever ones started carrying a thermos of boiled water!

I think that it all goes to prove that they should remove the parent and baby spaces, we all managed perfectly well without them.
Since all it needs is space to open the door they could be in a far corner-there is no need for them to be outside the door of the store.It could be done on the same side.
I don't know when parents came to see it is a right rather than a courtesy and then some got as selfish as OP.

I have been known to point out that their stupidty really does not qualify them as having a disability .

And yes I do have children had the older ones before P&c spaces were around and younge rones when the spaces are around and yes it is a pita squeezinga child in .

But dam site harder squeezing a older child in with a disablity or a adult needing room to get in and out with a wheelchair.

Hell i like to see it go one step further and do like some of the staes in the USA where some of the disabled spaces are bit bigger and reserved for wheelchair vehcles only as tis a bug bear trying find a space for our WAV when most of the carparks are multi story and then theres a fight for the disabled spaces on street or on the normal carparks

I have a toddler and a baby. I find P&C spaces at my usual supermarket very useful when available, because aside from the advantage of being wider, they're usually close to the specialized trolleys. It's easier to return them where they come from, they don't stack so well with other trolleys.

But, they are often full, (and while I might grumble at the people using the with one teenager), I would never dream of using a disabled space instead, even if there were plenty free. It wouldn't even cross my mind, and I'm amazed that some people do.

I don't need a special space, it is a nice convenience. Most people with blue badges have them for a reason, and many can't shop without them.

Thehumancatapault, I agree about the wheelchair point. I sometimes feel guilty using a disabled space because I don't need any bulky equipment to get in and out of my car and I would be horrified to think I had prevented a wheelchair user from parking in a convenient spot.

It all does boil down to consideration and putting your own needs into perspective. It is just so unhelpful to have elevated able bodied parents into some kind of 'special case' because they go shopping with their children. I would gladly give up my disabled space to any user needing a wider space for their equipment, but if someone tried to argue with me about using a p and c space I would be very happy to tell them loud and clear just what I thought about them and why.

I saw a friend yesterday who has 2 young children with ASD, she has a BB, but both of her children receive lower rate mobility, i thought you had to receive higher rate to qualify? or do they make exceptions?

No claw, bb is nothing to do with DLA, but a notability car is. I think you only qualify for a car if you are on the higher rate.

I have bb but was repeatedly refused even the lower rate dla.

Sorry, that should be of course 'motability'

Actually I think I am being misleading - if you have the higher rate dla you automatically get a bb? So the two are linked.

Perhaps that is it Spero to 'automatically' receive BB you have to receive higher rate, but to 'automatically' receive it of course you have to apply?

Either way, it isnt made very clear to people, is it?

It might even be based on the rate of DLA do you think? I didnt ask whether her dc's receive higher, middle or lower.

Oh bliss. A grape thread, a P&C thread and a bit of 4x4 bashing as well.

Incidentally - with respect to Blue Badges. If I drive my very disabled father to the hospital, get him as near to the door as I can, get him out of the car and then park up and go back and help him into the hospital, am I entitled to use his blue badge and park in a disabled spot (in my 4x4 which is not the least bit relevant but just wanted to add it in)?

TIA

Yes

You can have blue badges issued via a doctor's report, it's not solely about dla award.

Thank you.

if you get HRM you can apply and will automatically be entitled to a BB

Otherwise you can ask your Gp to support application

Andrewofgg - if you weren't parking in disabled space inappropriately then you wouldn't get a ticket so I don't see what your point is, sorry. You may have posted something contentious previously in the thread that I haven't seen but I'm not going to search back to find it - ARE you the sort of person who would use a disabled space without a blue badge?

I know someone with a blue badge who "lends" it to people so they can park in town more easily.

Quite common, probably.

I have no issue at all with blue badges and those that need them but misuse is rife IMO and add to that the fake ones........

exit IMO yes,as the badge holder is with you and you are using it for his/her benefit.

Thanks for that Glitter and Human, does it have to be GP who supports this?

To be honest i havent seen my GP in years with regards to Ds, we do have endless expert reports detailing my ds's disbility and how this affects him ie Occupational Therapy reports, Speech and Language reports, Vision Impairment reports, EP, CAMHS, Continence assessment reports etc, etc.

Im not sure whether ds would benefit from a BB or not, but would be nice to know if we could apply or not.

yes they ask for Gp to fill it in .I sent supporting evidence from my spinal Dr and was told no we need to ask your gp how your affected. who just sent them a copy of the Drs letter

Thanks Bec - I just get some funny looks when I park in a disabled spot at the hospital and get out of the car with only my small limp. I wouldn't use the disabled bays if there was somewhere else to park close to the door - but the parking at our hospital is a nightmare and I can't leave my Dad standing there for ages whilst I park miles away and walk back.

My GP wouldnt have a clue how it affects ds, this would involve her reading reports!!

I have a friend with a BB. She keeps it in her handbag except when it's on the dashboard of whatever car she happens to be - her own or someone else's. She guards it with her life.

Mine is kept in our car. When I first got it, dh seemed to think it applied to the car rather than to me, so he used it a few times when I wasn't there. When I realised, I gave him a bollocking and he hasn't done that for years.

There was a massive problem some years ago about people lending out their BBs to friends etc. Some Councils had extra wardens to check that the BB holder was actually with the car displaying hte badge, and I think quite a few had the BB taken from them as a result, for abusing it.

2shoes - yes I did complain to the store as I always do when people abuse the disabled bays. The store managers are always sympathetic but claim there is little thdey can do.

Thumbwitch - I agree that supermarkets should have wardens to safeguard against abuse of disabled bays. But it is never going to happen - due to the cost of employing such wardens - until the rights of the disabled to access these places are enforced by law. The stores will always make a commercial decision not to spend money on such enforcement unless/until they have a LEGAL obligation to do so.

I hope that such legal obligation becomes a reality in my son's lifetime. I am not prepared to rely on other people's consideration and sense of decency as a sizeable minority of people do not have these qualities - a minority that is still sizeable enough to fill up the disabled bays in the average supermarket car park. There are still plenty of people like OP who think that their convenience should take priority over the NEEDS of the disabled. They will not change their attitude but should be made to change their behaviour.