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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to get annoyed at parents who treat disabled parking bays as de facto parent & child bays?

116 replies

MsHighwater · 21/08/2007 21:52

Our council-run local leisure centre, where I take dd to a toddler group, has several disabled parking bays but no parent & child bays. I NEVER park in a disabled bay - I work for the council and used to issue the blue parking badges so am very aware of the rules - but I've noticed that a lot of the other parents with toddlers treat the disabled parking bays as de-facto parent & child bays. I think it's wrong. What do you think?

OP posts:

tori32 · 22/08/2007 13:44

Oh and if a Pand T bay is available of course I would use that instead of disabled regardless of the distance.

haychee · 22/08/2007 13:46

tbh tori how difficult is it actually to remove toddler from the car in a "normal" space? Yes its a little more awkward but not impossible.

whiskeyandbeer · 22/08/2007 13:46

"I have disabled relatives with both heart conditions and severe latter stage MS and neither would condemn me for parking in a space in that context."

oh well that makes it ok then. because quite often one or two people can speak on behalf of a whole section of soceity.
it sounds like someone using the "i've got black friends" argument to duck accusations that they are racist.

aloha · 22/08/2007 13:48

Surely if you can get in, then a toddler can?
My dd is two and significantly smaller and slimmer than I am.

haychee · 22/08/2007 13:52

If im forced to park in a "normal" sized bay, i tend to park slightly further over in the bay so i can open the dc door more easily.

littlelapin · 22/08/2007 13:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OrmIrian · 22/08/2007 13:55

tori - how would you have cope 20 years ago?

haychee · 22/08/2007 13:56

Absolutley littlelapin. I cant see the difficulty that tori experiences. Its just not that difficult to cope with.

Wisteria · 22/08/2007 14:07

You could obviously get into the car to 'rearrange' it, therefore you could have put your daughter into the car the same way, no? We've all had to do that at times.

Sorry, but there is no excuse for using a disabled bay unless you are disabled.

I have a sporadic condition which is not always visible and so have every sympathy for those who suffer from people assuming they are not really disabled and a fraud.

It's really difficult to get a badge even if you are a genuine case so please don't judge people who have one, as the other poster has said, until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

tori32 · 22/08/2007 16:52

haychee this is also what I do when I only have 1 child to consider. But on the occasion I explained about I had two under 2's in the back and 1 in the very back and 1 in the front passenger seat so it would not have worked. The reason that I could get in is that the car parked on my side didn't park straight and was closer at the rear of the car than my front seat. I don't exaggerate that I COULD NOT OPEN THE DOOR WITHOUT REMOVING HIS PAINT WORK!

2shoes · 22/08/2007 17:06

is this still going on?
surely it is simple. if you don't have blue badge or a blue badge holder in the car you CAN NOT park in a disabled bay for ANY reason. simple thems the rules.

tori32 · 22/08/2007 17:06

Have you never noticed the size difference between a morris minor and a zafira!

Chirpygirl · 22/08/2007 17:41

YANBU

but it's deja vu all over again.

tortoiseSHELL · 22/08/2007 17:42

In that situation tori, you could have put the children on the floor in the front, backed the car out of the space far enough to open the back door, then rearrange the children into their seats. Would have been fine.

LadyVictoriaOfCake · 22/08/2007 17:44

heck if i can squeeze my kids in side doors (my car is as wide as a zafira but not as long) and strpoa them in whilst kneel;ing o nthe front seats then i;m sur emost people can.

there is NO excuse for parking in disabled bays without a blue badge

IncredibleShrinkingMumbletonia · 22/08/2007 17:52

Honestly, until I started visiting Mumsnet I had no idea P and T spaces even existed. In the US, parents with small children park in the regular parking area and are towed if they park in a disabled space without a blue card. I can't imagine how luxurious it must be to get to park in those spaces when available! I understand that perhaps your local governments or the individual businesses that provide P and T spaces give more consideration to parents with small children than I am used to, but speaking as someone with a small child myself and a disabled dh who has a hard time if the disabled spaces are taken legitametely, I have a hard time feeling sympathy for anyone who parks in a disabled space because it's easier for them than doing as the rest must do.

tori32 · 22/08/2007 20:19

at last thank you tortoiseshell! Now you have given me a workable solution to my dilema I shall no longer consider using disabled spaces!!!!!LOL Byeeee!!!

redtoenails · 22/08/2007 20:22

omg who cares! far too many disabled spaces at our local shopping centre imo.

SofiaAmes · 22/08/2007 20:37

redtoenails, aren't you just so lucky that you have your health and all your limbs and can begrudge a few parking spaces to those who aren't as fortunate as you. Pathetic.

Saturn74 · 22/08/2007 20:43

"omg who cares!"
People with any normal level of emotional intelligence.

SleeplessInTheStaceym11House · 22/08/2007 20:43

redtoenails, now that is just rude immature and dumb if i must say so!

i thank god that me and none of my family need a blue badge! but i would never say there were too many disabled spaces, they are there for people that need them because they aren't fortunate enough to have perfect health as i assume you have to be making such a callous comment.

i do hope you never end up needing one to understand the reasoning behind them!

redtoenails · 22/08/2007 20:43

sofia I've never used one and I couldn't give a t=ss about who uses them or doesn't use them.

SofiaAmes · 22/08/2007 20:48

So pathetic it doesn't even bear responding to.

aloha · 22/08/2007 20:50

Mind you, after 101 threads on MN, all which are exactly the same, I have some sympathy with the 'who gives a toss' view
At least it's different!

Original poster

MsHighwater · 22/08/2007 21:10

I feel I have to weigh in in defence of tori32. I have had a similar situation when I parked in an ordinary space, went into the shop and then came out with my 2 year old to find that the car now parked on the same side as her car seat was so close that I could not get the door open at all. However, on that occasion, there was space on the other side of the car so I put her in on the seat on that side, backed the car out until there was room on the other side and then got her strapped in properly. I moved maybe about 4 feet.

I still won't park in a disabled space on principle but even I might have reconsidered that position if I'd been in the fix that tori32 found herself in. Of course, if the spaces are dual purpose then, although I don't entirely approve of that, she was within her rights to park there anyway.

OP posts:

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