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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have parked in a disabled spot today

227 replies

AuntiePickleBottom · 30/09/2011 21:42

my mum recently broke her leg, she has a full cast on, I took her food shopping today so parked in a disabled bay as there is no way my mum could of used crutches far or get out of a normal spot, my mum used one of the wheel chairs supermarkets offer for the customers.

OP posts:
Crosshair · 30/09/2011 21:56

''Blue badges are for those that need to be closer to places, not those with broken leg.''

Do you need a blue badge for a supermarket carpark? Confused

AuntieMaggie · 30/09/2011 21:56

Hmmm interesting.... so what about someone recovering from major surgery who couldn't walk far?

Ghoulwithadragontattoo · 30/09/2011 21:56

YANBU - Surely that is what they are for. She is disabled at the moment, albeit only temporarily. You wouldn't be able to park on a double yellow line on the road as you don't have a blue badge and that's a legal requirement but in a supermarket it's fine. It is probably worth mentioning to customer services on a arrival in case anyone tries to ticket your car but I'm sure they would not have a problem with this. She clearly needs the extra space and to be near the day if anyone sees you.

MrsCampbellBlack · 30/09/2011 21:56

YANBU

I wouldn't have thought that anyone would mind someone with a broken leg parking in a disabled space.

MillyR · 30/09/2011 21:56

Of course some disabilities are more deserving of a blue badge than others. My mum has a very serious disability but as it doesn't have an impact on her ability to walk short distances, she has no blue badge.

I agree with others have said that regardless of the law, the general public are not going to take offence at a person with a broken leg using a disabled parking space.

madmouse · 30/09/2011 21:57

I'm going against the grain here - but I would not mind, provided there were sufficient spaces for blue badge holder as well. FWIW my ds is a blue badge holder, but if I put him straight in the trolley I don't need it so don't use it. Bit of give and take. Question is, where to draw the line though...sprained ankle???

ShirleyKnot · 30/09/2011 21:57

When my nan visits (85, stroke victim, needs a wheelchair) I use her BB to pull into a BB spot. I'm not disabled.

I could theoretically park somewhere else, get her a wheelchair from the supermarket and get her into it/or do her shopping for her.

PeneloPeePitstop · 30/09/2011 21:57

but don't do it in council owned places you'd get ticketed.... supermarket ones aren't enforceable in the same way

PeneloPeePitstop · 30/09/2011 21:59

I do believe that for breaks that could impede mobility/serious surgery that does the same temporary badges should be issued, to expire in say 6 weeks and renewed if necessary.

squeakytoy · 30/09/2011 21:59

YANBU at all, but dropping her at the door while you park would save any hassle you get from people who are too busy looking to see if there is a badge on the car to notice that your mums leg is in plaster.

I also imagine it would be a bit awkward for her getting in and out, so she may not have wanted to struggle at the door with people looking though.

Ghoulwithadragontattoo · 30/09/2011 22:00

Part of using the disabled bay is to have the space for the wheelchair. OP would still have needed this if she'd parked and then got a wheelchair. Her mum probably wouldn't have been able to get out of car with full leg cast on. I don't think people with serious leg injuries using a disabled space undermines their main purpose.

RhinoKey · 30/09/2011 22:01

YABU.
This will end badly.

SoupDragon · 30/09/2011 22:01

Technically you were being unreasonable but really, what right minded person would complain??

troisgarcons · 30/09/2011 22:01

P&C spaces ..... no ticket required .... booster seat and you can havea v short 12yo sitting on one of those ..... by and large they are lazieness.....

if you called them parent and buggy spaces it would be a different ball game.

But if we want to muse on semantics ..... its all about door space, so why obese spaces?

Riveninabingle · 30/09/2011 22:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cheesesarnie · 30/09/2011 22:01

im sure that any blue badge holders parking in same supermarket would have been sympathetic to op's mum.plus op asked inside the store,she didnt assume that it was her right to park there.
and to those who said she should have stayed at homeShock have you never been house bound and desperate to get out.

Pixel · 30/09/2011 22:02

"Hmmm interesting.... so what about someone recovering from major surgery who couldn't walk far?"
AuntieMaggie I see your point, and it is very difficult to have sympathy for one injured person without opening the floodgates and making the blue badge spaces pointless, BUT I have to say if I was recovering from major surgery then a trip to the supermarket would be my idea of hell, whereas a broken leg would probably make me stir-crazy and desperate for a mooch round the shops! Grin

Pseudo341 · 30/09/2011 22:02

Personally I think if you were going at a really quiet time, there were loads of free disabled spaces and you took one of the ones furthest from the shop then actually it's okay, though the people handing out tickets will disagree. If you took one of the one's nearest the shop or it was at all busy than YABVVU, either drop your Mum off and then go and park or get her to wait in the car while you go and fetch the loan scooter for her.

Even with a blue badge I try to take one of the furthest spaces since I've got my own scooter and some people really need those near spaces, as in physically can't go shopping without them, I just need the extra wide space.

Admittedly broken leg is a better excuse than only being five minutes or not being able to find anywhere to park which are the most popular reasons I hear from the people I accost. I'd say you're fairly justified in nicking a parent and child space, I did that with my Grandma once when my parents had cunningly taken her blue badge on holiday with them (before I had my own).

troisgarcons · 30/09/2011 22:02

*why not obese spaces?

SoupDragon · 30/09/2011 22:04

" either drop your Mum off and then go and park or get her to wait in the car while you go and fetch the loan scooter for her."

Surely this could be applied to any non-driving disabled badge holder though?

Sevenfold · 30/09/2011 22:04

oh yes lets leave disabled people alone in a busy car park,,,,, clever. like fuck

LittlebearH · 30/09/2011 22:06

What Pixel says. TBH in supermarkets there are millions of spaces for disabled people. And before I get flamed, two members of my family are disabled. If someone clearly cannot walk and needs assistance and therefore needs additional space then fair enough. It is the people that use them that are not disabled or needy that are ignorant. Ignorance is not a disability.

SoupDragon · 30/09/2011 22:06

Just as clever as leaving a temporarily disabled person alone in a busy carpark.

AuntieMaggie · 30/09/2011 22:07

pixel I asked because I used a disabled space after my major surgery. Walking was agony but I had to get food somehow but to look at me you may not have noticed how much I was leaning on the trolley for support or how much pain I was in.

I wouldn't have a problem with the OP parking in a disabled space if the supermarket said it was ok.

BeyondLimitsOfTheLivingDead · 30/09/2011 22:07

I think YANBU too. People can have mobility problems without having a blue badge...
At least a full leg cast is easier to explain than say, for example, my sciatica which plays up quite badly time to time (disclaimer, I dont drive, have never been in a disabled space!!)