to love this disabled parking idea?

[Kladdkaka]

Because of this issues with non-blue badge holders parking in disabled spaces some Swedish municipalities are now replacing the usual disabled parking signs with ones that include the words 'LAZINESS IS NOT A DISABILITY'. I love it :o

I know parking in parent and toddler spaces is 'allowed' but i think when there are other spaces available, closer to the shop, and whoever it is can wander around the shops for half an hour, that its no real hardship if hubby parks somewhere else than the p&t space while his wife is in the shop. Its the same when I see people parked in the P&T spaces, and often the mum has gone into the shops and the dad is sitting there waiting with the kids in the back - why do you need to take up a massive space? I've seen it so many times, and I've been wedged into a silly skinny space trying to get 2 babies in and out of their car seats.

And no where we are it is the blue badges that park on the yellowlines out side of school, a very narrow road (and hence the yellow lines in the first place) on bend stopping people getting past. I know for certain two of them are the grandparents sitting in the car with the blue badge, while the daughter gets out and take the kids into school. In these cases they are abusing the system that it ewas desgined for.

My FIL has a blue badge and for good reason. But at least he uses it with consideration...

You're not actually supposed to stay in the car when using a yellow badge. That's one of the rules.

erm let's make that a blue badge shall we

Well then another rule broken!!

And back to my earlier point - i didn;t mean drop people off go away for ages and come back, I just meant park near the shop and find 'a' parking space to sit and wait. I have seen people do this in the disabled bays, sitting waiting - and so in effect they are taking a space from a blue badge user who is on their own and really needs the space.

Why should you only be able to park in a disabled bay if you have a modified car?

My car is automatic. That is all I need at the moment. I only drive it short distances, if I go any further DH drives me. That doesn't stop my mobility be limited. Why do non-disabled people seem to think it is so fecking easy to get the little "perks" that disabled people get?

If I go shopping with DH and he decided to sit in the car while I nipped in and all the disabled spaces were full, I am afraid he would park in a P&T space because unless I can open the car door fully I can not get out of the car and get my self up on to my sticks. Sorry!

Why should you only be able to park in a disabled bay if you have a modified car?

I don't think whoever suggested that had thought it through. Its clearly not a necessary condition. Nor a sufficient one - someone might need a modified car because of a problem with their hands, but othewise be perfectly mobile and happy to walk across a car park.

Trouble is there will always be people who abuse any system like this, and spoil if for the majority of people who behave correctly......there's always people who think they can do what they want and stuff everybody else......like the people that use our P&T spaces and disabled spaces at the large supermarket cos they're next to the cashpoint,

And i agree with the poster about temporary issues - i could barely walk, never mind get out of the car due to severe spd. And like you getting sticks, needed to open the door fully to get out of the car. But after 20 weeks of suffering and baby born i was fine.

I'm not sure if it is still the case now, but my daughter had a hip brace on, and i remember reading that children in spicas and hip braces couldnt get blue badges, and it was a temporary problem. Getting a baby in a car seat can be tricky enough, without having them is a cast. I suppose paperwork for people with broken legs and 'temporary' issues of mobility would be too costly and thats why it's not available??

well I have a WAV, I could park it anywhere as it has a lift at the back, but if I have dd with me I use a disabled bay(PT bay) as it makes life easier.
dd is 17, she has never walked and will never walk.
so if the mummies with little don't like it tough,
having a small child is a short thing, it doesn't last forever.
a disability like dd has is forever.

No, that's nots why. It because temporary conditions, no matter how difficult or inconvenient, are just that, temporary. Any difficulties and inconvenience will eventually pass. Blue badges are for when it isn't going to pass. So when it makes a difference between going out or never going out rather than going out and not going out today/this week/this month.

if everyone with a temporary condition was given a BB, there would never be a space for people with life long disabilities.

Can I ask your opinion without derailing the thread? I have a very bad back, broke in 2 polaces at the bottom, black disc in lower spine, herniated discs in mid spine and another black disc in my neck. I survive on painkillers, but generally live a normalish life. On bad days I struggle to breathe without pain, let alone walk, but also have uncontrolled epilepsy so have to walk the kids to school etc regardless.

DH says I should apply for a blue badge etc, but I worry that because I have to walk regardless of the pain I would get reported and end up on the front of The Sun under a benefit cheat type headline.

What do you all think?

I think you should apply for one

I think you should apply for one too, Pantaloons.

"I like the French disabled bay notices which say ?Take my parking space, but take my disability with it?."

I like that too and it really works. I live in France and the French are amazing for parking all over the place (up on pavements, over crossings, etc.) but even when the pavements are heaving with parked cars ( when you've got a pushchair) the disabled spaces are left empty.

I think you should apply for one too.

I think it's quite common for people to normalise their disabilities and so no see quite how disabled they are. I didn't apply for my badge for years because I didn't think of myself as disabled and thought I'd be a bit of a fraud (I still feel like that). I was totally honest on the application form and was really surprised when it went through so easily. My occupational therapist and physiotherapist think I'm bonkers :o

I feel like a fraud too, and sometimes wonder if I'm exaggerating, even when I'm in hospital

I wouldnt bat an eyelind and someone with a disability parking in a p&t space if they needed it. What i object to is people parking in disabled spaces & p/t spaces, sitting in the car while the blue badge owner wanders around tesco for half an hour. I suspect in that case they could walk a little further ie from the non-disable bay right next to them, or hubby could move the car while he waited to give others a chance to use it.

People with a genuine need on this thread - would you really be happy to pull up and see all the bluebadge and p&t spaces taken up with blokes reading the paper, when you really needed the space - cos thats what happens week in week out at one of my local supermarkets. And that is what I object too....

No one in their right mind would begrudge someone with a genuine need a parking space

I would report them if parked in a disabled bay, not a PT bay though

You need to loosen your judgeypants feelinghappynow. You are passing judgement on people when you are not in full possession of the facts. Both my parents are blue badge holders. My mum likes to go the shops but doesn't drive. My dad hates shopping. He drives her. Parks in a blue badge space. Sits in the car and reads the paper for a while and then goes in to get a cuppa in the cafe help mum with her bags.

Do apply for a badge and use it when you need to/can. I only use ds's when I need to, ie when he's in his walker or I need to carry him (can't carry him far, he's 4), but if I'm just going to put him in a shopping trolley I take a P&T space or normal space, as there's nothing wrong with me.

Should say, my last post was how things used to be. Dad no longer drives and is completely housebound. Mother now relys on kind neighbours sitting and waiting while she dashes (in mobility impaired way) in to get her bread and milk.

"I saw a bloke in Weymouth park in a disabled space who clearly was not disabled. He got out of his unmodified Jag, walked briskly round the harbour, went to lunch for a few hours at a local restaurant, walked back to his car, got in drove away. I really think unless you have a modified car and limited mobility you just don't need a disabled badge. He didn't have a modified car and he just didn't have limited mobility and I suspect it was a relative's badge."

But you can have absolutely no idea what that man's health is like. What if, like me, he has MS, or a myriad of other invisible disabilities? What if that outing was the first time he'd been well enough in days, weeks, months, years, both mentally and physically, to attempt that trip? What if being able to use his legally obtained blue badge to gain easier/closer access to where he wanted to go was the only way he would have the strength to take that walk around the harbour and have lunch out? Perhaps that was his energy and fresh air quota for the month?

This is why I haven't even bothered to apply for a blue badge - because I simply can't face the glances, the stares, the whispering, the 'she hasn't got a modified car'. Frankly, I'd rather struggle on in silence, looking 'clearly not disabled' than feel I have to defend myself against ignorant attitudes to visible and invisible disabilities.

Sorry. Rant over. In fact I'm so ranty that I've just managed to post this on a completely unrelated thread...

Its not judgy pants at all, and I am not judging everyone - it's what i've seen, and I think there are people with a greater need than others that don't get the chance to park because others use it when it's not absolutely necessary. I have seen the people shopping, and have left the supermarket at the same time as them. The men are only helping put the bags in the car boot at the end. Not in store. There is also ample 'drop off' space next to the door of the shop, that would enable people to be helped in and out of a car. I have seen grandparents parking on the yellow lines, pulling out the badge and then the kids have been taken into school by the younger adults. Why do they need to park there and obstruct the road? They don't - they can park 20secs-1 min away and walk while grandad stays in the car.

When spaces are so few and far between a bit of common sense wouldnt go a miss. Just as i dont park in P&T with just my 6 year old in the car as there is no need.

And yes Pantaloon,I think you should apply for one.