Parking in disabled spaces when disabled person sitting in car

[Mokel]

If the blue badge holder isn’t going to leave the car, the car shouldn’t be parked in a disabled bay.

The purpose behind disabled bays is for disabled people don’t have to walk far to entrances to shops, doctors etc. If not leaving the car, there’s no need to park up there.

If a non disabled person is going to leave the car leaving the disabled person in the car, they should be parking in a normal parking space.

I've given it some thought, I do feel that some posters on here are coming from a good place of wanting support disabled people to access BB parking spaces when they need them.

My suggestion would be, if you see a disabled person struggling to find a BB place, please do not berate another disabled person for using a space 'unnecessarily'.

Write to you MP, find and support your local disability activism groups. Challenge structural inequalities and lazy planning decisions while listening to the voices of the people that you are supporting.

If you see an problem, learn more about it before you jump in with a solution but thank you for taking the time to notice that there is a problem.

Omg, that's terrible. Hope you're ok and that you can start going out again?

It’s the same thing. The BB is to facilitate the disabled person by making it easier for them to get their shopping. If they don’t feel well enough to drag around the shop, I don’t see why the non disabled driver can’t get it for them, while the disabled person remains in the car, but they can’t be in a disabled bay , which another disabled person needs.
I’m not planning to challenge any disabled people, and never have.

Jealousy, resentment and bitterness.
Because that's how the world is today.

You realise you're talking utter nonsense right?

Why can't my DP stay in the car after he's parked up and helped me get out?

What difference does it make, that space is occupied whether he gets out and waits in the waiting room or trundles round the shops with me or not.

If those of us who do not drive are only allowed to use BB spaces as drop off points, there will be an awful lot of disabled people hanging around in the cold waiting for a space to be free and their driver to collect them.

The rules are that the badge holder must be getting in/out of the vehicle.

The rules say absolutely nothing about any non-disabled occupant of the vehicle, and rightly so, because it would be ridiculous if they did!

I'm a regular helper for a disabled friend and this exact situation has happened to us—where she's needed something from a particular store but hasn't the energy to be gotten out of the car, led (using her walker but extremely slowly) around to the store, found the item inside, queued to pay etc. . . you get the picture). I would take me over an hour to travel from her flat to the destination and back by public transport and, in her town, there's no central parking. So she rests in the car whilst I dash in, get the necessary item and run it back to her. Sometimes, I even take a choice of two and then return the unwanted one. I don't see a problem with this. I understand OP's frustration but there is sometimes a reasonable explanation

If you see an problem, learn more about it before you jump in with a solution but thank you for taking the time to notice that there is a problem.

And how would someone learn more, without interrogating the person using the space? This is what some posters are talking about. it is not down to random members of the public to question people parking in BB spaces.

Sorry, but you really shouldn't do that.
I"m disabled and ill so I know what it's like.

But you're able to walk yourself from a normal parking space.
Still taking the items to be looked at by your disabled friend if necessary.

The blue badge is only for the holder to use, to make the walk to the shop nearer and easier.

You say you don't see a problem with it.

Don't you realise you are taking up a space that may be needed by someone who can't walk far?

You can actually walk.

Utter bollocks.

The rules state that the blue badge holder must be present and planning to leave the vehicle. Nowhere is it dictated that everyone in the vehicle must leave it whether they want to or not and nor should it be. What a ridiculous insinuation! Are you actually thinking through the bullshit you are spouting or are you just trotting out anything that comes into your head?

In regular parking spaces there is no requirement for all occupants to leave the vehicle. No reason why that should be any different with regard to disabled parking spaces.

Italianita, I've drive two hours out of my town to my friend's town, I stay overnight (I take my own bedlinen as her housekeeping isn't good), I take her to all her medical appointments, help her around the house and, yes, take her shopping. Sometimes, when we arrive, she's unable to leave the car. I never leave her in the car for more than fifteen minutes and it's her blue badge and I'm using it to help her. If there were parking available a little further away, then of course I'd use that but there isn't

I meant learn more about a problem generally, not the specific incident that they believe that they have witnessed.

People could learn more by engaging with disabled activism groups and speaking to people about the issues that are affecting them.

If BB spaces come up as an issue, listen to the discussion and consider the opinions and experiences that are shared here.

Obviously, all of this takes a lot of time and commitment and doesn't give the same rush as having "called out" any BB misuse that they believe they have seen.

Nobody learns more by rushing over and accosting a stranger in a heightened emotional state.

You're breaking the law and could be fined.

That is sensible, and good advice. Thank you for clarifying@WasThatACorner

You couldn't have it more wrong. Totally the opposite in fact for first statement, because of second.

It is in no way the same thing.

The people who write these things do their absolute best to make them clear and unambiguous. 'The disabled person must get out of the car' is completely clear and unambiguous, and if that's what they meant then that's what they would have said.That would have saved all this debate at a stroke.

What they actually said was

1. You should not use the badge to allow non-disabled people to take advantage of the benefits while you sit in the car.

This allows for the entirely predictable situations where the disabled person intends to get out of the car, but finds at the last minute that they're not up to it. If that happens the non-disabled person would be getting an advantage, but that would be a byproduct of the disabled person's use of the badge, which was to try to get their own shopping. The disabled person would still be using the badge for their own benefit. Any benefit that accrues to the non-disabled person is accidental.

If the disabled person knows in advance that they don't feel well enough to get out of the car, then it's hard to see how parking in a disabled space could be for their benefit. But if they hope they will feel well enough and they want to give it a go, it's very clearly primarily for their benefit to park in a disabled spot - maybe especially so if they're uncertain about what they'll be able to cope with and they need the extra reassurance of being close or having more space on a day that's already a bit iffy for them.

There are lots of selfish people around. Some of them have a bb.
They often park across the bay where I should park at work. This bay clearly states you need the correct permit. I’ve lots count of the times when asking someone to move they wave their bb. They could move along 2 feet and park but no.
This world is full of self entitled people.
Oh and the bay is not close to anything other than my place of work AND not the closest space either.

That sounds inconvenient.

You are the one who is ill informed. The blue badge holder must be leaving the car if they are parked in a disabled bay and displaying the badge. It’s actually clearly stated in the rule book issued with the badge.

This really does my head in !! The rules are clear and it’s breaking the law. And it won’t be the able bodied person who pays the price if caught , it will be the badge holder. You are not entitled to benefit from the blue badge or a disabled parking space. If the disabled person is staying in the car there is no reason to be parking in a disabled space or displaying the badge. Yes, the friend is helping her, but is not disabled themselves so there’s no reason they can’t use a standard space if the badge holder is not leaving the car. If they are challenged by the police or a parking attendant there is no valid reason they can give, and ignorance is not an excuse because the information booklet issued with the badge is very clear. The badge holder stands to have the badge withdrawn along with a fine of up to £1000, and if she qualifies automatically for a badge by way of PIP mobility component, it could trigger a benefit review.

Your friend could have the badge withdrawn along with a fine of up to £1000, and if she qualifies automatically for a badge by way of PIP mobility component, it could trigger a benefit review.

Really?

I saw it as a benefit adviser - admittedly I’ve been retired a while, but it depended on how the person qualified for the BB. If it was automatic qualification via PIP, or legacy/child DLA mobility component councils would report the badge misuse to DWP, and in many cases it triggered a review in which the claimant would be interviewed under caution.

This allows for the entirely predictable situations where the disabled person intends to get out of the car, but finds at the last minute that they're not up to it.

No it doesn’t. It doesn’t allow for this kind of ‘by product’ as you put it. If the disabled person feels as though they can’t get out of the car, then they or the driver move to a standard parking place so that the non disabled person can run the errand. There is no ambiguity, it’s against the law, and for good reason - to stop able bodied people benefiting from something meant for the disabled.

Still doesn’t mean you are entitled to use the disabled space or display the badge. If she’s not getting out of the car, then it’s you who is benefiting from it and taking up a disabled space that could be used by someone who actually needs it.

It is just not worth the risk of being caught @Lovelysausagedogscrumpy . That would be a lot to lose. I wonder if there have been any instances where this has actually happened though.