People using blue badges in parent spaces, when disabled spaces are free!

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Hi all, I don’t want to start a debate. If all disabled spaces are taken I have absolutely no problem with somebody with a blue badge using a parent parking bay. They are in greater need but yesterday in the supermarket, the majority of disabled spaces were free. Only 2 were taken yet someone with a blue badge parked in the parent spaces. I’ve seen this happen in the same place a few times.

The disabled and parent spaces are opposite each other with a path in the middle and pretty much equally as close to the shop so no difference there.

Both my children have autism, we don’t have a blue badge so I kinda rely on the parent spaces to get my kids in and out safely and close to the shop as my son is prone to bolting off.

Aibu to be annoyed?

Like I said I wouldn’t bat an eyelid if the disabled spaces were free but they pulled in to a parent space rather than a disabled?

They would be able to park there if they wished. They have broken no law in doing so.

What if they were parents of DC with blue badges? That's ok, surely?

What if the disable spaces were all taken when they arrived at the supermarket? Should they leave their shopping part-way to move their cars once the disabled spaces became available?

What if the P&C spaces were closer to the doors and the person had mobility issues?

It's not something I think anyone ought to be getting huffy over, tbh, because you have no idea what lives others are living. And I say that as parent to a child with ASD who used to behave like a ninja in car parks given chance.

Maybe their child is disabled.. Do which space would you suggest they choose?

I have seen some places where the parent and child spaces are closer to the doors than the disabled and this doesn't seem right to me.

How do you know they don’t have a disabled child? Or the spaces were all full when they arrived? Or they felt so rough they just went into the first space they found? For some people doing s food shop will takes days to recover from.

I think that trumps children that may run off tbh. As harsh as that sounds,

You ought to know that parents with children have a bloody cheek to use P&C spaces... they are for precisely everyone else

They got out the car with no children. They were an older couple.

Did they have children?

Because perhaps they use parent and child parking as first choice leaving the disabled spaces for disabled non-parents who have fewer options.

I do understand, that must be really shitty for you. Could they have possibly parked there when there were no disabled parking spaces available? So they parked in a P&C spot instead? And then the disabled spots became available whilst they were still shopping? I don't know, just playing devils advocate. But I'm sure you encounter this quite often so it's probably a huge bug bear for you.

As stated the parent and child spaces were no closer to the shop. Same distance. The disabled and parent spaces are in line with each other with a path in between with a zebra crossing by the path to the shop entrance.

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At the end of the day they have a blue badge, and that trumps everything. So you can be annoyed all you like, but it’s pointless.

Cross posted, yes that's annoying.

I have three dc. One has disabilities and has a blue badge. If he's not with me I can't use blue badge spaces but will park in the P&C spaces with the little one. Blue badge is always on the dash as it's easier than having to remember to put it out when I park when I'm faffing with the wheelchair.

I would find that odd and somewhat annoying in your shoes

There are so many signs, symbols and restricted spaces at our Sainsburys it’s actually quite surprisingly easy to park in the wrong one. Perhaps that’s what happened here.

I do not begrudge a disabled person using any space if there was nowhere else. But the disabled spaces were virtually empty and the same distance to the shop. In fact they were at the end of the row on parent spaces. They could have parked closer in a disabled bay.

I’m not usually one to get annoyed by this. I have seen it a few times now. Like I said both my children have additional needs. We don’t have a blue badge as I would feel like we would be judged as to the outside my two Dc look ordinary but my eldest has no sense of danger, runs off, will bolt if he hears a noise he doesn’t like. It’s so hard.

As a disabled person with a blue badge I will park in whatever space is optimal for me. If that is a p&c space, so be it. Usually there are differences between spaces that able people don't even see which make a massive difference to people with disabilities. EG at our local supermarket there is an almost invisible incline near the disabled spaces but not near the p&c spaces, so if I'm struggling I use the p&c spaces as I don't have the strength to control a trolley on the incline. Able people don't even notice that it's there.

It could be something as trivial as they find reversing out of the parent bays easier than the BB bays if it means turning in the opposite direction.
BB holders have the right to be as arsish about parking as everyone else!

It is hard, but other people aren’t responsible for your children.

If you are eligible for blue badges for your children then you should get them to make their lives easier and safer. Who cares what anyone else thinks?

I friend of mine was yelled at for parting in a parent space by an elderly man who genuinely didn’t understand they were for parents and thought they were disabled spaces. Thought the pictures where of wheelchairs not buggies.

He was very nasty and had her in tears (she had recently Given birth, and to be fair she cried a lot then).

The couple may have genuinely been mistaken,

Blue badges and their spaces are covered by law.
P&C spaces are a useful 'extra' to have with no legal standing.

I have a blue badge..... and a child, guess I get my pick right?
For many of us with BB, just managing to get to the shops is an effort. My local supermarket has P&C spaces nearer than the BB spaces.... and I park in them, even when without child.
You mention your children who have additional needs and I wouldn't try and imagine what that must be like for you at times, so please don't judge what mine or the 'older couple' you saw lives are like.
For me, an extra few metres of walking with my sticks means the difference between independence and a life stuck at home.
HTH

Maybe they thought they were parking in a disabled bay. The bays do look very similar.

DD1 has a blue badge, and inter alia, she can walk into the path of cars, oblivious of the danger when she is pre-occupied, or run off when she is feeling stroppy!

I look after DGD, aged 21 months two days a week. Sometimes, I take them both to a supermarket. I frequently can't get in blue badge spaces in supermarkets round here.

Why shouldn't I use a parent and child space, considering I am also getting DGD out of a car seat?

When I still drove and had a blue badge, I would park in the spot nearest to the entrance, whether that be disabled or P&C. A few less steps was less pain so I did what was best for me.