To find this odd ? Disabled parking spaces.

Choice4567 · 20/11/2021 18:21

I’m not saying I agree with him at all, but is it possible his fair comment was because there are fewer disabled parking spaces compared to able bodied? I’m clutching here!

tallduckandhandsome · 20/11/2021 18:22

YANBU, that’s discrimination against disabled people as it’s forcing them to leave much earlier than able bodied people.

I would complain via letter and social media.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 20/11/2021 18:22

Sounds bonkers.

ThePants999 · 20/11/2021 18:24

Chances are the attendant was talking rubbish.

SnackSizeRaisin · 20/11/2021 18:26

I suspect the attendant is wrong. I'd just pay for anything over the 3 hours and contest it if they fine you. As it isn't clear (or fair!) they can't enforce it. So in your case I'd pay for up to 4 hours and leave the car there up to another 3 hours. Seems like a weird system though.

BigFatLiar · 20/11/2021 18:26

Are you sure he didn't mean you can park for 3 hours free but if you want to park longer then you should get a ticket for the full period.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 18:27

@ThePants999

Chances are the attendant was talking rubbish.

No he wasn't. The sign did say 3 hours free. Make sure you set clock.

You couldn't then pay for longer.

And I saw wardens circling this car park all day so they clearly are hot on it!

OP posts:

kowari · 20/11/2021 18:29

@BigFatLiar

Are you sure he didn't mean you can park for 3 hours free but if you want to park longer then you should get a ticket for the full period.

That's what I'd think too. That you can have longer but need to pay for the whole time.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 18:32

@BigFatLiar

Are you sure he didn't mean you can park for 3 hours free but if you want to park longer then you should get a ticket for the full period.

No - that's what I thought I could/should do and asked how it works (Eg pay after 3 hours or pay amount needed minus 3 hours).

I'm glad it's not just me who found this more unfair than the fair system he was trying to tell me it made it into.

I also asked if after 3 hours I could move into a normal space and pay and then pick ds up from the centre doorway when done - but he said no because the van is too wide for the spaces and I can only have 1. And I couldn't park over 2 and pay for 2 tickets.

The whole set up seemed very behind with inclusivity and equality compared to my county.

OP posts:

pinkpirlie · 20/11/2021 18:33

Private car parks don't always give time free for disabled.
I think as someone else has said your options are:

three hours free with blue badge
pay for the full length of time you want, no blue badge necessary.

Private parking companies do make things complex and slightly ambiguous to help them get more money from the invoices they dole out.

Don't risk not paying for the full time, as you'll end up having to deal with the fallout which can be very stressful (but there are some excellent groups that can help with defences, but also some dodgy ones too).

purpleme12 · 20/11/2021 18:34

There's no way he can be right on this
He must have got it wrong
Just email whoever's in charge of the car park

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 18:36

@pinkpirlie

Private car parks don't always give time free for disabled. I think as someone else has said your options are:

three hours free with blue badge
pay for the full length of time you want, no blue badge necessary.

Private parking companies do make things complex and slightly ambiguous to help them get more money from the invoices they dole out.

Don't risk not paying for the full time, as you'll end up having to deal with the fallout which can be very stressful (but there are some excellent groups that can help with defences, but also some dodgy ones too).

It was a county car park.

I wanted to pay for I needed and wasn't even worried about free 3 hours.

But I was told categorically I could not stay in the blue badge space for more than 3 hours.

OP posts:

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 20/11/2021 18:36

I reckon the attendant either doesn’t understand the rules or is just an out and out dickhead who doesn’t like anyone getting something for free if he can’t get it.

ftw163532 · 20/11/2021 18:38

Sounds unlawful.

MurielSpriggs · 20/11/2021 18:40

@itsgettingwierd

So today ds and I travelled to a sporting event for para sport somewhere we've not been before.

We knew there were lots of public car parks.

So we arrive, park, and I do to the machine to buy a ticket for 4-6 hours.

Note: car park is 24 hours and all ticket options available.

At the machine it says blue badge holders get 3 hours free. Fab I think and ask the attendant if I have to come back after the 3 hours to pay for the remaining time or how does it work.

Nope - I'm allowed 3 hours in the car park only. That's it.

It seemed really odd to me. My county allows 3 hours only if you park on double yellows which I've never done but all car parks you've paid as everyone does and can have as long as you need. At sports centres we've never been limited to time and it's been free like it's free to everyone.

The attendants reasoning was "to make it fair". But I don't get that. How's it's fair if you're disabled you can only stay somewhere for 3 hours but if you're able bodied you can stay all day?

I'd be happy to pay as don't think disability is a reason to need free parking - but it is a reason to need accessible parking so you can actually get out of the car!

You can stay all day, but you have to pay, which seems fair to me.

rifling · 20/11/2021 18:42

I can sort of see their point as it would be confusing to have some people adding on extra time in the disabled parking spots. Easier to make it completely free though.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 18:43

Can I make it clear.

You cannot stay all day.

I've also just doubled checked the car park website and it's clear. Max stay in disabled bay is 3 hours.

I'd be happy to pay.

But that isn't an option unless you use a "normal" space.

If we could use a normal space we wouldn't have the blue badge

OP posts:

Whitefire · 20/11/2021 18:45

I would contact the council in the area and ask for clarity. It does seem very confusing.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 18:56

Ive been on their website.

It is 3 hours only. That's it. That's their rules.

They said you can use on street parking spaces for free with blue badge for unlimited time. Which will work for some but if you have a tail lift it very unusual for people to actually leave space behind you to use it. Disabled bays give that guarantee.

I think I've just had such bad luck the past few weeks with disabled bays I'm at the end of my tether.

Last week at another leisure centre we got back to car to discover someone without a blue badge had park next to us and not in the bay. So they were half in the bay and half over the yellow widened lines.

We went back in and asked reception to make an announcement to get them to move the car so ds could get in.

The guy came out yelling at me he was just picking up his dd from gymnastics and was only going to be 5 minutes.

A) like I knew how long he'd be and
B) like that was ok he'd parked like a twat so ds couldn't get in the car because he'd only be 5 minutes.

It's so frustrating to find everything such a fight when it's already difficult.

OP posts:

knittingaddict · 20/11/2021 19:04

If you were wanting to come back after 3 hours to pay for more parking then you can move your car to a regular space and pay for that. They aren't refusing to allow disabled people to park in the car park. They possibly limit the use of disabled spaces for longer than 3 hours because they are limited and they want to make them available to the most people.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 19:08

@knittingaddict

If you were wanting to come back after 3 hours to pay for more parking then you can move your car to a regular space and pay for that. They aren't refusing to allow disabled people to park in the car park. They possibly limit the use of disabled spaces for longer than 3 hours because they are limited and they want to make them available to the most people.

Brilliant.

Do you have a suggestion how a wheelchair user who has a blue badge and needs the wider spaces moves to a normal space and then gets out of the car to pay?

Because I'm genuinely all open to suggestions how I can make ds disabled just for 3 hours at a time.

I'd happily pay for the space. I usually pay for parking.

I usually pay and actually he gets equality and access to things for the same timescales as abled bodied people.

If I could use a normal space with him none of this would actually be an issue 🤦‍♀️

OP posts:

knittingaddict · 20/11/2021 19:08

Just a minute, there are no disabled spaces and the free parking was in reular spaces? That is odd. I would imagine somethings been lost in translation.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 19:08

@knittingaddict

If you were wanting to come back after 3 hours to pay for more parking then you can move your car to a regular space and pay for that. They aren't refusing to allow disabled people to park in the car park. They possibly limit the use of disabled spaces for longer than 3 hours because they are limited and they want to make them available to the most people.

Also then - limit able bodied people to just 3 hours too.

It's called equality.

OP posts:

Leftbutcameback · 20/11/2021 19:09

That seems really unhelpful, especially if it’s a venue where people may well need to stay half a day or more (unlike a supermarket for example). This tends to happen when decisions are made by people who have no experience of the situation. That’s why it’s so important to employ people with disabilities (and other protected characteristics) to make sure policies are inclusive and make sense!

Can you feed back to the governing body OP who should have some say in venue choices as this one clearly isn’t suitable.

Original poster

itsgettingwierd · 20/11/2021 19:10

@knittingaddict

Just a minute, there are no disabled spaces and the free parking was in reular spaces? That is odd. I would imagine somethings been lost in translation.

No the disabled spaces were limited to 3 hours parking but are free.

The regulator spaces you could park for 24 hours or longer and pay the fee.

My issue is I need the disabled spaces for ds to be able to actually get out of the car. I'd be happy to pay. But pay for a space he can actually use.

OP posts: