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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Telling people to move their cars

26 replies

Tir3dToddl3rMum · 16/06/2023 19:09

I'll preface this by saying I am physically disabled. I have been for 20 years and I'm now 29. I have had a blue badge for a decade now and I walk with a stick.

Anyway, I went to pick my son up today and the only two disabled parking spots were taken by two cars. The people were just sitting in their cars, windows open and chatting to each other, and not a blue badge in sight. I stopped in front of them and held up my blue badge before asking them if they had a blue badge - they did not - so I asked them to move as I did have one. They said they needed the space and motioned to their bodies - they were plus-sized. I again said that no, I did and to move their cars but they refused.

I ended up having to park elsewhere. They weren't even going into the nursery. They just sat in their cars with their dogs. They do this every single day despite the nursery telling them not to park there.

AIBU to tell people to move their cars if they don't have a blue badge? I also wanted to take pictures of their cars and blast them on social media, but DH stopped me so I just went in to get my son.

This is a serious pet peeve of mine. I have had entitled parents say they need to Park in blue badge bays because they have two children. Just do not Park in blue badge spots and stop being ignorant.

OP posts:
TrishTrix · 16/06/2023 19:11

Who does parking enforcement in your local area. Can you contact them.
if they are there everyday it would be an easy win for the enforcement team.

Sigmama · 16/06/2023 19:11

Fuck me, they are using their weight as a disability? Cfers

Comedycook · 16/06/2023 19:12

Yanbu!

GoodChat · 16/06/2023 19:13

Should have parked behind the fuckers and blocked them in

SammySays · 16/06/2023 19:14

I’d have parked behind them and blocked them in. I’m a big girl and wouldn’t dream of doing that!!

Ilikewinter · 16/06/2023 19:15

Can you take a covert photo every day they are parked there and report them...although im not sure who you would report to...is there a council department for abusing blue badge?

Superdupes · 16/06/2023 19:18

Wow I can't believe they were so rude to say they needed to park there when the only one with a blue badge was you! What a couple of assholes. There must be someone you can report this to if it is being done repeatedly.

ChocolateCoveredCookie · 16/06/2023 19:19

You can report misuse of a disabled parking space if it’s not the nursery car park. Google your area, an email address or other contact details should come up. They might stop if a traffic warden starts making a regular visit.

Superdupes · 16/06/2023 19:21

Oh also are the parking spots on private or public land - if it's private then contact whoever owns them and get them to enforce it, if it's the nursery then they should deal with it. If it's public then tell them next time that they're breaking the law if they don't have a blue badge and so you're going to call the police - then call the police. Bastards.

ItsaPeppaPink · 16/06/2023 19:24

GoodChat · 16/06/2023 19:13

Should have parked behind the fuckers and blocked them in

This!! Was it an option to park whereby blocking them but not other traffic??

Bobbybobbins · 16/06/2023 19:35

Yanbu. CFs!!!!

Timeforchangeithink · 16/06/2023 19:39

Sadly not surprising these days. If its private land disabled spaces aren't legally enforceable but if its public land speak to council and police as they may be keen to ticket and get £££? Public land however I would block them in tbh.

CrotchetyQuaver · 16/06/2023 19:40

Are the parking spaces on public roads or private land? I would find that out and then speak to the council/landowner about enforcement. If it's private I'd be quite forceful and in this instance I'd be quite ok with fat shaming the people involved and being as rude as I liked. They are literally fat lazy people parking in disable bays they have no entitlement to. It's a statement of fact!

Original poster
Tir3dToddl3rMum · 16/06/2023 19:47

ItsaPeppaPink · 16/06/2023 19:24

This!! Was it an option to park whereby blocking them but not other traffic??

Show quote history

No unfortunately

OP posts:
RaininSummer · 16/06/2023 19:51

That's really bad of them. If they do it regularly I wonder if you can contact whoever monitors such things and get them to swing by at the right time and fine them or something.

WonderingWanda · 16/06/2023 20:16

Lazy bastards. I don't usually condone fat shaming but I think I might have been tempted to tell them the walk would do them good!

Original poster
Tir3dToddl3rMum · 17/06/2023 07:07

WonderingWanda · 16/06/2023 20:16

Lazy bastards. I don't usually condone fat shaming but I think I might have been tempted to tell them the walk would do them good!

I don't condone fat shaming. I say plus-sized as my husband is on the large size but I can't fathom some people using it as an excuse

OP posts:
Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 17/06/2023 07:34

WonderingWanda · 16/06/2023 20:16

Lazy bastards. I don't usually condone fat shaming but I think I might have been tempted to tell them the walk would do them good!

Lazy bastards does sound a little fat shaming. Obviously not in this situation but do remember that sometimes the disability comes first. I have one condition that makes it harder to lose weight and a different condition which makes it hard to exercise beyond a walk. Neither make me eligible for a blue badge and I would never park in such a spot but do remember that situations can be more complex than you might at first think.

In this situation I would be talking to the nursery if they are private spaces or to the council if public spaces about how they can be enforced.

olympicsrock · 17/06/2023 07:40

Photographs and community policing

WonderingWanda · 17/06/2023 07:44

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 17/06/2023 07:34

Lazy bastards does sound a little fat shaming. Obviously not in this situation but do remember that sometimes the disability comes first. I have one condition that makes it harder to lose weight and a different condition which makes it hard to exercise beyond a walk. Neither make me eligible for a blue badge and I would never park in such a spot but do remember that situations can be more complex than you might at first think.

In this situation I would be talking to the nursery if they are private spaces or to the council if public spaces about how they can be enforced.

Show quote history

I appreciate that being very overweight can be disabling but if that's the case then surely these people would have blue badges themselves and be entitled to park there. The fact they didn't suggests they were just being lazy as are many people who park in disabled bays and parent and child bays. I firmly believe it's unacceptable to take a blue badge bay if you do not have a blue badge.

wildfirewonder · 17/06/2023 07:47

Yanbu to be annoyed/frustrated/enraged but I think you are foolish to persist in trying to reason with unreasonable people. Report them to the nursery and request that the nursery enforces its own rules.

Don't start posting pictures on SM, that is just pointless escalation of an argument. People who do that are not cool.

Ariela · 17/06/2023 07:55

Just report it to the community policing officer, they'll go and ticket/move on erronously parked cars

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 17/06/2023 08:05

WonderingWanda · 17/06/2023 07:44

I appreciate that being very overweight can be disabling but if that's the case then surely these people would have blue badges themselves and be entitled to park there. The fact they didn't suggests they were just being lazy as are many people who park in disabled bays and parent and child bays. I firmly believe it's unacceptable to take a blue badge bay if you do not have a blue badge.

Show quote history

You are misunderstanding my point. My point is that they may not be overweight because they are 'lazy bastards', they may be overweight due to other disabilities, but the threshold for a blue badge is higher than would be justified by their disability. I do not qualify for a blue badge however some days I find it hard to walk more than a short distance, other days I can walk a few miles. Obviously I would never park in a disabled bay - I just don't go out on a difficult day, and indeed I am also not even clinically obese however by calling someone a lazy bastard without any knowledge of their background you are making a lot of assumptions about them and their lifestyle. Sometimes it is important to reflect on the impact of the words we use.

WonderingWanda · 17/06/2023 08:08

Unexpecteddrivinginstructor · 17/06/2023 08:05

You are misunderstanding my point. My point is that they may not be overweight because they are 'lazy bastards', they may be overweight due to other disabilities, but the threshold for a blue badge is higher than would be justified by their disability. I do not qualify for a blue badge however some days I find it hard to walk more than a short distance, other days I can walk a few miles. Obviously I would never park in a disabled bay - I just don't go out on a difficult day, and indeed I am also not even clinically obese however by calling someone a lazy bastard without any knowledge of their background you are making a lot of assumptions about them and their lifestyle. Sometimes it is important to reflect on the impact of the words we use.

Show quote history

Fair point but I wasn't calling them lazy because they were overweight. I have a disabled relative who cannot walk and struggles with their weight. I was calling them lazy because they wouldn't move from the disabled bays and from op's description they were just sat in their cars chatting not actually walking anywhere anyway.

girlfriend44 · 17/06/2023 10:49

People are so selfish today
Hope you get ot sorted.