AIBU Parent & Child Space

[Noapologiesthisisme]

My DD (8) Is recovering from a dislocated knee. She is able to go out tomorrow and I have borrowed a wheelchair. Any twisting to her knee is very painful. Would I be unreasonable to use a parent and child space so I can help her out of the car into the wheelchair?

Anyone is allowed to park there. Just not in the disabled without a badge

By the way, I’m not advocating the OP use a disabled space, she’s entitled to use a P&C anyway.

But I am saying that as a family with a blue badge holder, we wouldn’t object to someone with a temporary disability using a disabled space. Apparently others do not agree with that.

The person with the broken leg could use the p and c space thus definitely avoiding creating additional problems for disabled people.

As a family with a blue badge holder, I too would object to someone without a blue badge using a disabled space. As Sockwomble says, they could park in P&C.

@Sockwomble

The person with the broken leg could use the p and c space thus definitely avoiding creating additional problems for disabled people.

We have found P&C spaces massively oversubscribed at our local Tesco, while the whole bank of disabled spaces to be largely unused. Hence I wouldn’t object.

@Ileflottante Disabled spaces are planned according to the number of Blue badge holders in an area. If people with temporary conditions used them, then there will be insufficient for those with actual disabilities.

(A temporary condition is not a disability, it's a temporary condition.)

But where do you draw the line? There's Sue with a broken leg, doesn't have a blue badge but uses a disabled space. Then there's Dave with a sprained ankle, doesn't have a blue badge but uses a disabled space. Then there's Jack with a pulled muscle in his leg, doesn't have a blue badge but uses a disabled space. Then there's Connie who doesn't have any sort of injury or illness but wants to park closer to the store so uses a disabled bay and if she's challenged she plans to tell the parking attendant she has a slipped disc in her back.

Then there's John, had his left leg amputated a few years ago and is partially sighted. He does have a blue badge but his wife Jenny can't get parked in a disabled bay because they're all take up by the people with "temporary disabilities" and the chances who are going to pretend they have a "temporary disability".

There is a reason the spaces are protected and that gatekeeping in the form of the blue badge system exists (which is not a perfect system but better than a free for all).

These are not legally enforced spaces. park where you need to.

Of course you can use it - you need the extra space at this time. I wouldn’t use a blue badge space, she’s not disabled, but a P&C on this occasion is fine.

We have found P&C spaces massively oversubscribed at our local Tesco, while the whole bank of disabled spaces to be largely unused. Hence I wouldn’t object.

Our local Tesco the P and C spaces are closer than the disabled ones and so they are often used by BB holders who need to be close.
As well as huge SUV drivers who can't park as well as P and C.

They are purely a marketing tool, and you're well in the right to use them.

Almost all of them say parent and child not parent and baby/toddler so it's fine even if she wasn't using a wheelchair.

I think it's ok for anyone with a disability that would benefit from using one to park there if the disabled bays are full or they don't have a blue badge. I have a baby and a child and these spaces are nice but not essential unlike disabled spaces which are a necessity.

We used them until dc were about 12. As a blue badge family I certainly wouldn't begrudge anyone with a broken leg using a disabled space

@Ileflottante That only applies to on-street parking. In a supermarket or other private car park, if an adult with a broken leg (or some other temporary disablement) utilised a disabled space, I really can’t see anyone objecting. My husband forgot to display his blue badge in a supermarket car park and got a £100 fine, I think it was reduced to £50 if he paid within 7 days or something.

[quote ancientgran]**@Ileflottante* That only applies to on-street parking. In a supermarket or other private car park, if an adult with a broken leg (or some other temporary disablement) utilised a disabled space, I really can’t see anyone objecting.* My husband forgot to display his blue badge in a supermarket car park and got a £100 fine, I think it was reduced to £50 if he paid within 7 days or something.[/quote]
Same here it's my son's blue badge and my husband forgot to display it and had to pay a fine ,it's a mobility car too,!

I used them all the time with my first husband's blue badge, they are often better spaces for some reason and assembling a wheelchair needs space!

Why is this even a question? at 8 you can use it still anyway even without the knee, just because you stopped using them doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed you’re choosing not to

x2boys It is maddening isn't it.

[quote CorrBlimeyGG]@Ileflottante Disabled spaces are planned according to the number of Blue badge holders in an area. If people with temporary conditions used them, then there will be insufficient for those with actual disabilities.

(A temporary condition is not a disability, it's a temporary condition.)[/quote]
By that logic then, seeing as I live in an area saturated with supermarkets, if each private car park has a provision of disabled spaces based on the number of issued BBs by the local authority (I’ve never heard of that before), and with no way of knowing who of those will be shopping where and when and if at all, and with the likelihood they use just one of the many supermarkets, it stands to reason that many of the spaces will go unused on a daily basis. So someone with a broken leg will likely not be preventing a disabled person from using a space.

It’s my personal opinion that it’s ok if someone is temporarily in need and uses one of a raft of unused disabled bays. I certainly wouldn’t go running inside to report them and hope they get a fine. Unlike some posters here.

That’s not to say there shouldn’t be some sort of scheme whereby temporary badges can be quickly issued. If there were or there is (as I said, I’ve not heard of that) then I wholeheartedly support it.

@Ileflottante

Incidentally, before posters come for me, we’re a blue badge family (disabled family member who lives with us) and I don’t think any of us would mind someone with a broken leg making use of a convenient space to help them during their time of need.

We're a blue badge family too and I agree with you @Ileflottante. Having a blue badge just means a longer term disability and time to have gone through the paperwork to get the permit.

Someone with a temporary/short term medical issue could have just as many mobility issues - if not more. They have a temporary need for a disabled space.

There's definitely a gap in the legislation for situations like this.

@SpidersAreShitheads I agree, I think there should be some sort of fast tracked temporary blue badge scheme for these sorts of situations. (I say that as someone with a blue badge).

[quote Bagelsandbrie]@SpidersAreShitheads I agree, I think there should be some sort of fast tracked temporary blue badge scheme for these sorts of situations. (I say that as someone with a blue badge).[/quote]
Agree.

My mum has weeks at worst (cancer) and even the fast track says it can take weeks!

There should be something that hospitals can give with an expiry or that can be renewed for people that need them.

I keep ds BB on the dashboard.

Some self imposed BB police person decided to have a go at me for parking with a BB when I clearly didn't look disabled.

They totally couldn't get the point when I pointed it it was a normal space so I wasn't using a BB space - just had forgotten to shut the t I last used it.

Parent and child can't be enforced so many use it as they are often near the front and may also stop their shiny cars being dinged

Park there if you want.

Why is it that threads like this always result in blue badge holders having to defend their right to their own spaces? On trans threads, the consensus (rightly) tends to be that women have the right to our own spaces, no questions asked, regardless of whether using the men's facilities makes trans people feel scared, dysphoric, invalidated, etc. But then on threads like these, blue badge holders aren't afforded that respect. Same with threads about buggies in wheelchair spaces on buses.

Anyway, OP, of course you should use the parent-child spaces. It's just a marketing con, it's not legally protected like disabled spaces are.

@Radziwill

Why is it that threads like this always result in blue badge holders having to defend their right to their own spaces? On trans threads, the consensus (rightly) tends to be that women have the right to our own spaces, no questions asked, regardless of whether using the men's facilities makes trans people feel scared, dysphoric, invalidated, etc. But then on threads like these, blue badge holders aren't afforded that respect. Same with threads about buggies in wheelchair spaces on buses.

Anyway, OP, of course you should use the parent-child spaces. It's just a marketing con, it's not legally protected like disabled spaces are.

We have a blue badge and some of us are just saying we’d be happy to share our spaces with someone with a temporary impairment and even better if there was a temporary badge scheme introduced.