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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Parents stop parking in disabled spaces outside leisure centres

135 replies

OutForBreakfast · 26/01/2023 14:42

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.

OP posts:

Againstmachine · 27/01/2023 21:13

JustABloodyMinute · 27/01/2023 20:34

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

Absolutely there seems to be a free for all at moment and people get annoyed when called out on it.

pocketvenuss · 27/01/2023 22:05

Quisquam · 27/01/2023 15:03

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!

That's really tough. I hope you and your dd get all the help you need in life

Yfory · 28/01/2023 14:08

I would park directly behind them, block them in and then sit in the car until they come out. They will get annoyed.........so you then point out how annoying it is for you. Very selfish of them. I hope you can get them to stop.

OldTinHat · 28/01/2023 23:19

OutForBreakfast · 27/01/2023 12:43

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.

I've only got this far down the thread after posting yesterday.

Just to reiterate, if you park in the street in a disabled bay marked with white lines and don't have a BB, then that's permitted. The space is marked as a 'courtesy' space. If the space is marked with yellow lines, then you will be fined.

I have a marked disabled bay outside my house and I have a BB. I had to send copies of my BB and V5 to the local council to have the bay allocated to my property and my car. It's marked with white lines. If I move my car, then someone without a BB takes the space straight away. They can be there for days leaving me with nowhere to park other than shifting my car every 3hrs on double yellows. Not funny overnight or at all really.

I spoke with the police and the council about ticketing them, but no, it's a 'courtesy' space because it's edged in white so anyone can park there.

ElspethsBreath · 29/01/2023 00:11

This is a problem for us too. Turned up and everyone is parked in the disabled spaces with no blue badge. We had a blue badge and had to park farther away and stressfully try and manage. It is a stress I don’t need.

Ditto taxi drivers sitting in the disabled spaces.

Again “only for five minutes”.

Praying4Memory · 29/01/2023 00:21

Stopclutchingpearls · 26/01/2023 17:49

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'm deaf. I've been hit by a car three times because of it because I can't hear them coming. Obviously I look where I'm going but there are times cars come round a blind bend where I couldn't see and couldn't hear it coming.

Missing a sense can be very dangerous around traffic so it makes total sense to allow them parking in places where crossing traffic isn't an issue.

The third time I was hit I ended up in a wheelchair so now I'm disabled enough to use the badge according to you. But if I'd had one before I'd still be able to walk.

Quisquam · 29/01/2023 09:30

That's really tough. I hope you and your dd get all the help you need in life

She gets a fair amount of help; but it is annoying when people look askance at us using a blue badge or disabled toilets with her; or they use BB spaces when they haven’t got a BB.

I had a DC, then twins. Having twins is hard work, but I used to park at the far edge of car parks, where there tend to be more empty spaces, when they were in car seats and I just walked further. I do not see having healthy, “normal” children as any justification for using BB spaces!

lieselotte · 30/01/2023 11:22

Toomuchinfor · 27/01/2023 12:59

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

Show quote history

I genuinely didn't know that. It's not a reason not to display them though.

Maybe they need to be tied to reg no, but that doesn't work if you don't drive yourself and travel with other people.

lieselotte · 30/01/2023 11:24

I spoke with the police and the council about ticketing them, but no, it's a 'courtesy' space because it's edged in white so anyone can park there

I thought anyone with a blue badge could park there. Not anyone at all. What's the point of bothering getting a space then. That really sucks, I am sorry.

Maxiedog123 · 01/06/2023 17:27

I had one with my severely autistic child, as he used to bolt, and wasn't very safe in carparks, so parking close to entrance was best. Doesn't run anymore, though still not safe in carparks or roads by himself, so no longer use it.

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