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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To block in cars parked in disabled bays?

67 replies

RainingHens · 05/04/2013 16:04

I know, that old chestnut and i've namechanged!
DS had a session at a local authority owned sports centre today he has severe disabilities and uses a wheelchair.
There are five disabled bays, none were available and none had a blue badge showing.
We need to use a larger bay to get him and his chair in and out of the car so I blocked one car in went to reception told them why I had done this and that I would only be a couple of minutes.
Got back to the car and it has been keyed all down one side, was defo ok when I left the car.
Was bu to block them in, really? There was nowhere else to park (because all the bays had been used by non- blue badge holders)
Honestly what would you have done?

OP posts:

storminabuttercup · 05/04/2013 16:06

I would have reported as vandalism to the police and got them to check CCTV, if this did happen

YouTheCat · 05/04/2013 16:07

I think I would have done what you did but also made a note of all the number plates of the cars in the disabled bays.

I can't even begin to imagine what an utter pain in the arse it must be to absolutely need a disabled space and not be able to use it because of such thoughtless, self-entitled twats.

MissyMooandherBeaverofSteel · 05/04/2013 16:08

Is there any cctv around?

Thats bloody awful, even if someone was genuinely parking in a space surely they would understand your need to park there given that your badge was on display.

There are some utter wankers in this world, I'm sorry you encountered one today

idococktailshedoesbeer · 05/04/2013 16:08

Yes, I was going to say if it's a council building there may well be CCTV and you could catch them...

nancerama · 05/04/2013 16:10

Fuming on your behalf. You did nothing wrong. Check the CCTV at the sports centre and report the damage to the police.

lunar1 · 05/04/2013 16:15

I parked in disabled once when MIL had forgotten to put my first DH's badge back in my car. there would have been no way to use a non-disabled space because of the chair. I would have just waited though if we had been blocked in. Hope they catch them on cctv.

insertname · 05/04/2013 16:20

How did the car owner you blocked in go out, key your car and then not be blocked in so could escape? I don't understand what happened. Were you parked there the whole time so blocking part of the road or just a few minutes?

FeckOffCup · 05/04/2013 16:25

Wouldn't it have been possible to park across the line in the middle of two spaces to get extra room rather than block someone in? It was wrong of them to park there without a blue badge and very wrong to damage your car though, what an arsehole.

Pendeen · 05/04/2013 16:30

As above, your tale doesn't add up somehow...

LRDtheFeministDragon · 05/04/2013 16:32

I don't know how it is where the OP is, but where I am, it'd be easy to do this.

You park in a disabled bay. Someone blocks you in by parking alongside. You come back to your car, reverse back towards the junction or forwards where a car in normal short-term parking has left, and you're away.

If the parking time limit is 20 minutes it would be easy. And shitty.

Original poster

RainingHens · 05/04/2013 16:36

Why does my tale not add up?
I was taking my child to a session at the sports centre. It was a drop off pick up 2 hours later.
I walked into the centre with ds, told the staff at reception that I had blocked one car in and that I would be back to move the car in a few minutes. When I got back to the car several minutes later the car had large key type scratches all the way down one side.
If you doubt my story please report to mnhq who will varify I am a regular long standing poster.

OP posts:

ChessieFL · 05/04/2013 16:40

insertname the OP didn't say that one of the drivers parked there keyed her car. It could have just been someone walking past who thought she was out of order to have blocked someone in who did it.

undercoverSAHM · 05/04/2013 16:41

How frustrating!

Obviously nobody should ever have keyed your car and I hope you catch whoever did that.

YWNBU if you were not parking in order to deliberately block anyone but if you stopped there as that was the only place you could stop.

If others in the disabled bays were not disabled then they were being vv U. Does the sports centre have no policy for fining people who park without a badge? Getting them to take that seriously is a good first step to avoiding this happening again.

I am so sorry about your car. I hope it doesn't put you off going out and about again.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 05/04/2013 16:44

You're being completely unreasonable. Even a blue badge doesn't give you the right to obstruct - and you did.

What would you have done had all five bays been 'legitimately' used? Blocked them in? No - so this was all about your determination to assert your perceived rights.

Pendeen · 05/04/2013 16:44

as above...

"How did the car owner you blocked in go out, key your car and then not be blocked in so could escape? I don't understand what happened. Were you parked there the whole time so blocking part of the road or just a few minutes?"

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 05/04/2013 16:44

Why did you namechange if you're so sure that you were right...?

It is Friday, after all, I guess...

saintlyjimjams · 05/04/2013 16:48

Don't be ridiculous lying. If you park in a disabled bay and a blue badge holder then needs to use it tough if you have to wait a few minutes for them to get the wheelchair out etc. If you don't want to get blocked in park where you should.

Maybe the keying was done by that princess mumsnetter who keyed a blue badge holder to parked in a P&C space because all the disabled bays were full.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 05/04/2013 16:51

What are you talking about, saintly? Did you read the post?

cumfy · 05/04/2013 16:51

CCTV ?

crashdoll · 05/04/2013 16:53

That person was an arsehole and you did nothing wrong nor does your story 'not add up'. I would urge you to report this is a disability hate crime.

"So what is a hate crime? They are an incident or crime which as been caused, or perceived to have been caused by the perpetrator?s prejudice towards a group of people. It would also be a single person ? but for it to be a hate crime the prejudice needs to be a factor as to why the group or person was victimised.

This means that any crime perceived to be motivated by the fact that someone is disabled, or even just thought to be disabled for whatever reason, by the victim or any other will be a hate crime. This crime could be committed against the person or their property, it does not matter."

AThingInYourLife · 05/04/2013 16:58

Presumably the crime was motivated by the fact that the person was pissed off that they were blocked in.

For it to be a hate crime they'd have to have keyed the car because it had a blue badge.

KansasCityOctopus · 05/04/2013 16:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KansasCityOctopus · 05/04/2013 17:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

RainingHens · 05/04/2013 17:02

Pendeen, no where have I said that the owner of the car blocked in keyed my car
My car was parked there for as long as it took to take ds into his activity and sign him in with the support workers. .
Lying, as far as I know namechanging is allowed, do you know different? Thank you for reminding me that it is friday.
If all of the blue badge spaces had been used legitimately then obviously I would have parked elsewhere or in this case driven around for goodness knows how long until one of the ilegially parked cars moved. Ther was nowhere else that I could park!
Perhaps you have no idea of the frustration of having to park in a disabled bay but being unable to because someone has decided their need is greater. If you park in a disabled bay then it is blindingly obvious that you should show a valid blue badge.

OP posts:

crashdoll · 05/04/2013 17:04

AThing You are wrong. It a person perceives it to be a hate crime, then it is.

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