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.

@girlfriend44

Maybe people aren't displaying them because they got stolen.

That's not even slightly true.

Thank you for educating me rather than abuse me. I genuinely wanted to know. Apparently I am the rudest most obnoxious person on the internet.

@pocketvenuss why not educate yourself? Comments like yours hurt a lot of people.

Highly unlikely!

OP I'd be blocking them in, they're beyond unreasonable.

Did doing that make you feel better? Did you even bother to look to see if they had a Blue badge on display? Parent and child bays are not a right.

Get over yourself

This is so patently absurd @girlfriend44 i would be embarrassed to post such a thing.

So let’s get this right people of Mumsnet. Anyone who is in a blue badge space without a blue badge is highly likely to be without one because theirs is stolen .. 🤔

This is just whatabouttery at its finest, designed to discredit an entire argument by bringing up the most irrelevant specious example

Exhibit no 73 of why I increasingly hate this forum.

Isn’t it illegal not to display a blue badge anyway?

It’s also illegal to use someone else’s BB. I was furious when I found out a friends mum was using her husbands BB, but it was Ok because she had a “bad hip”. They just kept it in the car and whoever was driving used it, regardless of whether the BB holder was with them.

they also seem to think the legal aspect only applies on public highways, not car parks like supermarkets and leisure centres. I would think it does, but am not a lawyer.

What does this have to do with blue badge spaces? there is no comparison

Probably because they remember a time when there were no parent and child spaces and think they are unnecessary.

I work in a very busy environment with lots of people coming and going throughout the day and a car park that is often full (though there are nearby residential streets with free street parking for those who are able) It isn't unusual though for people to think themselves too important and park outside the bays, or in the disabled bays. There are only a couple of disabled bays.

Not long ago someone started at work who uses a motorised chair indoors.

Quite often people would park in the disabled spaces if the car park was full, so this worker just started parking behind them, blocking them in. Which also meant blocking a large number of other people as its a tight car park with one narrow exit.

Cue lots of angry people walking around the building demanding to find who was blocking them, at various points during the day. The look on people's faces when she cheerily waved. It was helpful that the peer pressure (from those who had legally parked but were still blocked) caused extra embarrassment for those responsible.

I am glad the worker had the balls to do it. I honestly think some people assumed that there couldn't possibly be people with disabilities who would work here who would need them.

OP I hope the staff at the centre help out with this. For those saying just turn up early - remember how easy it is when you have kids, then think about how much harder that might be with a child with additional needs.

Did you park in a blue badge space?

Exactly this - I am only 50 and never needed P&C spaces for my ds who is now 20. Mind you, we didn't all drive ridiculous tanks back then, there were just a few people carriers (which people couldn't drive properly either).

I also wonder how you knew that none of those "elderly" people had grandchildren with them.

Nonsense. They sit in the windscreen. Unless you travel in lots of different cars, your blue badge will stay in your car. I doubt people smash windscreens to steal blue badges!

In some areas blue badge theft is a real problem but that’s not an excuse not to display your badge when parked in a disabled space.

To try to combat this Haringey started a new virtual scheme so the blue badge didn’t have to be displayed but the traffic wardens would know the car had a blue badge. I don’t know how the scheme has got on.

Legally if you park in the street in a disabled space you have to display a Blue Badge. You will be fined otherwise.
In private car parks they decide the rules, but some will fine.
So you just have to risk theft. We have never had any issues but we do not live in a high crime area.
People who display Blue Badges have been fined for displaying them incorrectly, there are clear rules.

This thread isn’t very nice.

If someone has a BB, they’ve gone through a process and are entitled to it whatever anyone else’s opinion.

People who don’t have one but used disabled spaces are twats of the highest order. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them about.

You'd be surprised. They have serious resale value.

What is not nice, is some people's attitude towards people with a disability. The parking bays are there for a reason, to make that person's trip to the shop, doctors, cinema, whatever, that little bit easier, and more accessible. It is therefore very selfish for people to decide for whatever reason that they are just going to park in them. Unless you have a blue badge, you should not. If people feel that they need one, by all means apply for one.

This is a forum. Forums are one way of discovering new information. I AM educating myself by asking people with knowledge. That's how learning works

They do, it's a serious problem. Though I agree that's unlikely to be a reason that someone with a BB wouldn't display one in a BB space.

I couldn't find the post but just going back to the point about blue badges and mental health - it is hard to qualify but if someone does it's for good reason. Safety and a quick exit are often key. If someone is overwhelmed/dysregulated then navigating a car park or even just being outside can be very risky. I used to support adults with severe/chronic issues with as psychosis or bipolar disorder and having a blue badge could mean the difference between going out or not leaving the house.
They're not given out easily.

Why does someone who can walk for half an hour doing shopping need a
disabled space?

DD could walk for an hour or two. Equally, 5 minutes from the car, she could fall down unconscious in a seizure and wet herself (this despite wearing incontinence pants); and she could lie unconscious on the ground for some time. Then, she might come round and feeling wet, strip off from the waist down, so she is standing half naked on the high street in February. She’s only partly conscious - it’s as if she is drunk, and I have to try to pull her trousers up to protect her dignity, and get her back to the car, while she is fighting me off, because she’s confused! Alternatively, she could have done herself an injury and is screaming her head off in pain, such as broken teeth, bones, head injury, etc. I have a choice - to wait for an ambulance or get her back to the car, and take her myself, depending on where the injury is. Ideally, the car is as close as possible!

Taking her out by oneself is extremely stressful; and most people don’t want to do it!

Sorry to read of the difficulties you face with your daughters condition @Quisquam . Hopefully having the BB makes going out a little bit easier for you both.

Some drivers think they can drive/park wherever it suits (pavements, car free zones etc) regardless of the rules. Never fails to amaze me.