IWBU but by how much?-waiting in a disabled space?

[CrohnicallyAnxious]

Mitigating circumstances:
Waiting for a family member who has recently had serious surgery and can't walk far, or stand for long and isn't supposed to be out in the cold/wet to come out of the doctors
I knew she was on her way out so would only be there a few minutes at most
The only other available spaces were on the other side of the car park
There is no designated waiting or pick up area, and narrow lanes/one way round the car park meant nowhere to pull over and wait without blocking any other drivers
There was more than one disabled space so I wasn't depriving anyone of the ability to park
I waited in the car and would have seen if the other spaces became in use and would have moved to allow a bb holder to park in mine if need be

I pulled into the BB space as it seemed the most sensible thing to do at the time, but in the maybe 2 or 3 minutes I was there (same song was still playing on the radio) 3 people came past and gave me dirty looks. So how unreasonable was I to have used the BB space to pick up my family member?

X-posts, Bourdic. Sorry!

I actually still defend my use of the space. I am 3 months into my injury and still non weight bearing. I use a wheelchair for outdoor mobility and do not know when I will walk again.I will find out on Monday if I need further surgery. Those spaces are for people who need extra space to get out of a car and who need to park close to where they are going because they cannot walk further. I have been in that position for 3 months now. Now I have my own wheelchair,of course I get my husband to drop me off with the chair somewhere and then wait for him to park but at that time I could not walk and did not even have a wheelchair.Because I did not have a wheelchair and my mobility was restricted,my husband was not able to drop me off no, he needed to be with me to assist me. At one service station the toilets were too far for me to get to and we drove an hour to the next one. As I said,we explained our situation everywhere we went and they all said we could park there.

as long as you have BB you have every right to park there

Then apply for a badge.

Where I work staff with injuries, temporary mobility problems etc can get a dispensation to park nearer the building but not necessarily in wider spaces.

Would it be rocket science to have a similar scheme for doctor's surgeries etc where you are bound to get individuals who are not eligible for a BB but need extra space or are temporarily unable to walk any distance if at all???

If the patient doesn't need the driver to go into the surgery with them then a drop off and pick up area would suffice but there will be some cases where this isn't an option.

OP

Sometimes it isn't just a disabled space, it is sometimes a specific space. And whether you would move out of 'your' space is irrelevant, asking someone to move sometimes results in abuse, sometimes physical threats and on one memorable occasion the police being called.

What would you have done if a space wasn't available? Would it have made your relative miss their appointment?

If I misuse my blue badge I can be fined £1000, I think it should be the same for misusing the space, would it be worth £1000 to you to park there?

Vdb, yes, why don't you apply for a badge?

Re the OP..obviously not a crime of the century but there is a huge blue badge abuse problem in general. We can hardly ever get parked in disabled space due to people without badges parked there. So many people don't give a stuff but also some people think they have the right to decide their needs overrule the scheme for spurious reasons.

The things I have issue with on this thread more than OP are Rivertams comment that it's OK as the spaces are just a courtesy,also that all elderly people should use them

And Andrewofgg's proud assertion that he used them after his wife had an op and "the hooting stopped when I got her crutches out". To be fair it should have only stopped when you got her blue badge out.

Many people think it's OK if its not illegal..as evidenced by the gym goers who fill up the disabled spaces at the local beach only after traffic warden clocks off. It causes us a big problem. What happened to decency as well as the fear of punishment?

Sorry Andrew I reread and see you were just next to the spaces. .in which case they shouldnt have hooted anyway.

But crutches shouldn't be some go anywhere pass either, unless you get a temporary badge.

My DH (BB holder and wheelchair user) and I would dearly like to be able to go out for an evening meal in the nearby town. However, every evening the bb spaces are taken by non-bb users once the traffic wardens go home. What I would like to see is the traffic wardens out there one or two random evenings each week ticketing people in these spaces so they can't park there secure that they won't get caught.

Honu..yes that works..have seen it happen. Worth asking the council about it.

Tough one.
There were other BB spaces available and you were in the car, so able to move if someone else needed the space. And your passenger would have struggled otherwise, which is surely the point of the BB scheme, to prevent undue suffering and provide more equal access.
So i think yanbu Because you did not deprive someone of the space.

However, there is always the point that "if everyone did it" then a person with a bb might not get a space. On principle, I feel that we shouldn't use spaces that have not been allocated for our use as its inconsiderate to those for whom the closer/ larger spaces are intended. So if we're using a space not intended for us, as it were, then its up to us to check our own moral compass as to whether we need it iyswim.

Btw:Its not illegal to park in a disabled space at the surgery.

Amanda has it spot on.

If everyone did it, like disabled toilets..the spaces would always be full.

So people shouldn't.

Well i think if there are other spaces available and also, you're ready to move if someone else's need is greater than yours, that is very different from using a space thats been designed (even as a courtesy) for someone's need and depriving the rightful person of the space. So if it was the last space, or if you were gone for a long time (longer than escorting your poorly passenger to the car) or not ready and willing to move then ywbu.

You really mustn't take the last bb space though, imho, even if you are in the car and willing to move because it means the if the "rightful" user comes along they face a possible altercation before getting the space, which would be potentially upsetting/ embarrassing/ stressful.

But in this case I would say ywnbu.

The lack of spaces in Doctor's surgeries is another issue.

Yes I agree with all your points Amanda :)

Perhaps there should be a 'pink badge' scheme where, a bit like a sick note, a doctor could sign a form to be displayed for a limited period of time. Say, two weeks or one month in the case of a longer term but temporary condition.

I'm with Amanda - rules are for the benefit of people not the other way round. There are rules and there are jobsworths!

It could be argued that if everyone waited in disabled spaces they wouldnt be available to BB holders but if other people were doing it the OP wouldn't have. Where does one draw the line between waiting in a disabled bay and pausing whilst driving through one whilst circling anyway???

Also, the car park is on private land. Are the bays for blue badge holders only or for the disabled (including temporarily disabled)?

I do think its a bit odd that there is such a "trumping" of "my disability beats yours" though. If you have a condition due to surgery or two broken legs or whatever, is it REALLY so unreasonable for them to use the spaces in those circumstances? Maybe it should be easier for drs to issue BB for people in that situation with an expiry date on them (that could be renewed if problems went on longer than expected). I totally totally get that there are many bastards who do genuinely abuse the spaces but I don't think that means we can't be understanding of people who do have a genuine, albeit temporary need. If the temporary BB thing happened, then anyone without one of those could be deemed to be abusing it. Just curious - what would happen if you took a photo of someone's numberplate, in a BB space with no badge displayed and sent it to the parking wardens? Could that be chased up? Might deter the casual chancer who risks there being no warden about. If ANYONE could effectively "catch" them..just a thought.

There is no "trumping" bloody hate that word. And if you think about it a permanent life limiting disability does "trump"a broken leg, if you wish to discuss in such awful terms. I don't as the use of the word is pejorative to those with blue badges who only want a space to park.

Just people with blue badges annoyed that the spaces are usually full of random who decide it's OK to use them for whatever reason.

A temporary scheme would help as at least then someone medical.could make the decision. But then I think there needs to be more spaces as there is already a shortage, certainly in this area.

There is a huge difference between someone who has a blue badge and someone who temporarily on crutches with a broken leg.

DM has a blue badge due to COPD and can only walk a few feet (atm she is in hospital and permanently on oxygen).

I was on crutches for months after breaking my leg and having 2 operations. It never crossed my mind that we should park in a disabled space. I was dropped as close to the door as possible and then the car was driven off and parked elsewhere. It's not rocket science. I could still walk even if it took me ages. I did use the disabled toilets because I needed the extra space.

I think as there were other BB spaces free and you were in the car prepared to move if required you were not being unreasonable.

I agree that a permanent disability trumps a short term injury but wouldn't the ideal solution be to accommodate both where possible?

The OP was not stopping a BB holder from parking and we don't even know if the space was designated for them.

I have waited in a disabled spot a few times, and for no good reason tbh - other than it's closest to the store if dh nips in for instance.

I'd only do it if there is more than one space free. For anyone that comes along needing one there is still a space left so I really don't see any harm in it. I wouldn't particularly care about any dirty looks either.

We have two cars in our family, and one disabled badge, so (as I am a bit scatty) the situation has occasionally arisen that we go somewhere, only to discover the blue badge has been left in the other car.

Now I am properly, obviously disabled, long gone are the days when anyone would challenge me for parking in a disabled slot, with or without a badge. But I would not do it. It is a thin end of the wedge thing once people see cars parked in a slot without displaying a badge. What normally happens is DH drops me off and parks the car elsewhere. And we try to remember the bloody thing next time.