Parents stop parking in disabled spaces outside leisure centres

[OutForBreakfast]

I am so fed up of people with no blue badge parking outside leisure centres in disabled spaces while they pick up their child. I am sure in their mind they think they are only going to be a minute. But every week we have to wait until a space becomes available and so are late for an activity. Parking further away and walking there is not physically possible, which is why we have a blue badge.

And yes it is always parents doing this, every single time. They come strolling out of the centre with running kids and if I say anything they always claim to have a Blue Badge although they never have one on display. There are three spaces so it is not like this is just one family. So selfish.

Noone should use those spaces if they aren't entitled to. So on that point YANBU.

Around where we are it's always older people in big/ expensive cars. Never parents. Therefore I think YABU to suggest it is exclusively parents who do this.

The leisure centre where DS has football training once a week employs a cone man. Anyone parking in a disabled bay without a blue badge comes back to find their car surrounded by heavy traffic cones. It's highly amusing watching them huff and puff and move all the heavy cones before they can drive away.

Of course cone man is super helpful to the genuinely disabled and moves the cones for them. Those who aren't disabled don't do it again.

Yes council run. I did not realise the councils parking enforcement team would do this, I will do that thanks.
The centre staff are mainly young adults who are not interested and say they can do nothing and I can't be bothered with a fight.

I have a blue badge and I use a walker like rollator thing as can’t walk far i find this at cinema they don’t seem to display the badges. However I am going to be controversial here since they opened up the criteria for having a blue badge aka could be because of mental health I can’t understand that . I am sorry if you are deaf but can actually walk why should you be able to get a blue badge as limited spaces it makes no sense when I see people with blue badges that can actively walk .
I don’t get how having a mental illness is stopping you walking etc. yes I may get that if your autistic child has a melt down I can see why being close then may help but there are other disabilities now allowed one I simply don’t see why

I am using examples not saying the op are these things

All council property car parking in places such as leisure centres (be they run directly or contracted out) should be treated at least for parking purposes as if on the public highway. Same goes for large supermarkets.

There would be no money grabbing private companies fining people who cannot contact them or appeal, a consistent set of rules to follow (or not), a proper appeals process, and even less excuse for the behaviour the OP described.

Those who park in such bays should not have this process, it should be criminalised, the offenders go to court, and have at least penalty points and preferably disqualification.

It should not be up to leisure centre staff to enforce such matters.

@Stopclutchingpearls The blue badge in my families case is because of a physical disability. It is why we can't just park elsewhere and walk. We have to simply wait until we can park in a disabled space or go home.

@Stopclutchingpearls Because the concept of accessibility isn’t limited to physical disability. Someone can be so limited by a mental health condition that the sure knowledge of being able to park close to where they’re going can be the difference between them undertaking that journey or not. Badges aren’t given out wily-nilly.

It shouldn’t be a fight between those with different types of disability; if more spaces are required then the non-blue badge spaces should be converted to badges ones.

My grandma once blocked a whole row of non-blue-badge cars in a car park and buggered off into the shopping centre after leaving HER blue badge on the dash.

It was a glorious half hour of listening to increasingly desperate tannoy calls whilst hobbling between shops to get her essentials. When we did, finally go back out to the car we were met by 3 very irate able bodied drivers who had had quite the bollocking from the security guard and had the decency to apologise for HER inconvenience. The security guard said they were inundated with complaints about disabled spots being taken and was mightily impressed by my grandma's balls for having blocked them in.

I dare you...

Hidden disability or not. If you don't have a blue badge you shouldn't park in a blue badge space.

It's awful. Everyone else's only five minutes adds up to a life of waiting in a life that's already very hard. I couldn't agree more.

Good for her!

I recently spent a couple of hours charging my car in a small motorway service station next to the blue badge spaces.

I could not BELIEVE the number of people who parked in them, looked importantly and self-righteously round, before going into the service station.

Then a SUV arrived and parked further up the row.

A woman got out with two boys, whacking each other with rhythmic gymnastic ribbons and generally causing a hullabaloo.

She opened the boot and began assembling one of those high backed padded wheelchairs.

Then she had to pull the massive car forward and stop it right in the middle of the road. The ribbon whacking continued as she eventually managed to get the back doors open, lifted a third boy out and strapped him into the wheelchair.

Then she had to reverse back into the space.

And then they were able to get into the service station.

Meanwhile a hoard of wankers (nearly all of them male drivers and nearly all of them overweight) were zipping in and out of the BB spaces clutching Burger King milkshakes.

My van has a ramp at the back for my wheelchair. It's an absolute nightmare at times getting in and out into a traffic lane especially at service stations. I've had people honking their horns numerous times because they won't wait a couple of minutes. I once had a woman drive right up so her car was nearly touching me and honk her horn and shout at me to move quicker.

Can you block them in without blocking others?

I have a BB and a marked disabled bay outside of my home registered with the council to my car.

If I have the audacity to use my car, I can't park when I get home because someone without a BB has parked in the space.

Apparently bays marked with white lines are a 'courtesy', bays marked in yellow are enforceable and fines can be issued.

@Can2022getanyworse Your grandma is a heroine of the highest order.

It's still. Strictly assessed so not everyone who has a diagnosis of autism ,or a mental illness Will qualify ,it's how the condition impacts them.

YANBU. We used to have this in the only two disabled bays at school too. It was a rural area so the car park was very busy. All the parents, grandparents and nanny/childminders - driving all sorts of cars, it has to be said - who were 'just popping in', 'will only be two ticks' or 'no other spaces free, sorry'.

Don't forget though that some large 4x4s are necessary to rural-dwellers and some 4x4 drivers also have a Blue Badge. That is the case for us. Many times I've had 'the look' and even awful comments for parking our workhorse in a disabled bay at a supermarket or wherever, only then to start getting the wheelchair out for my passenger. Occasionally I have forgotten to put the badge on the dashboard when in a real hurry or struggling with the wheelchair and passenger in the rain or so on.

Doesn't it also depend on the level of PIP someone receives too?
I have a friend who has never had any issue with parking, but when BB was opened up to people with MH issues, he automatically got a BB because of the PIP he was on.
I mean, I am happy for him, but it has no made no difference to his life except he can now park in BB spaces.

You only get a blue badge with PIP if you get higher rate mobility PIP.

Do remember not everyone with a disability looks disabled. My dd is entitled to a badge but would look fine to you. We don't actually have one as I don't actually need it, the criteria is met though

@gogohmm but you haven’t applied or paid for your badge so you won’t be counted when they decide how many spaces are needed and haven’t paid the admin fee to be part of the scheme.

@OutForBreakfast its annoying but you will just have to arrive earlier. I’m not sure why you feel your physical disability is relevant as those with invisible disabilities have passed the criteria and so must need the space.

@OutForBreakfast You only get a blue badge with PIP if you get higher rate mobility PIP. no, it’s higher rate mobility for DLA that gets you a blue badge, the PIP HRM is discretionary and councils can choose not to give you one.

He gets low rate mobility, but high rate care.

@Itisbetter I have not said invisible disabilities do not matter. But anyone with an invisible disability should display a blue badge like anyone else.
Getting there early would make things even more rushed. I can do it, but I think why should I. I think I will just take photos and send it to council parking enforcement team. Maybe they will send someone out to issue fines.