To think there is not enough disabled bays for how many badge users there are

[thecherryfox]

I have been disabled my entire life, as a kid and even as a teenager getting access to a disabled space was a lot easier than it is now. I believe now with the intake of how many people can access a badge with many different conditions - the amount of disabled bays have stayed the same but the influx of badge holders have risen.

Between 2021-2022 there was a 25% increase in blue badge holders from the previous year, but there wasn’t a 25% increase in disabled parking spaces. It’s rising each year, but there is no increase in parking spaces.

I’m physically disabled and the difference between me not getting a close space often means I cannot physically go. I know people with ‘hidden’ disabilities like bowel diseases would feel the same about accessing a close space. I’m truly not blaming individuals for getting badges because if they at eligible they are entitled to one - but it’s within the government to know that an increase of blue badge holders should mean an increase of spaces for people to access.

I know of three examples. One of these who parks up in a disabled bay and the BB holder sits in the car used to live opposite my parents. They moved a bungalow around the corner from DS. The man has given up driving due to declining health. The DS parks up in a disabled bay, displays BB whilst his DF sits in there - unsure if his DM is disabled. DS goes into chemist to get prescriptions.

DS is not disabled as he runs 100 miles a week.

Where I live it is fully controlled parking but blue badges can be used in all residents' bays for an indefinite length of time

That's very unusual - the guidance specifically says that BB cannot be used where there are restrictions such as resident permit parking. Are the bays private land?

they said "all but resident parking bays"
its the same in brighton. I can park in a pay and display(did think it was only for 3 hours) without paying. obviously only when I have the bb person with me.

No they didn't - re-read it three times because I thought I must have misread it! There was no "but" in the original sentence and they said that their street is full of BB parkers due to being near a hospital. I was suprised because I understood that BBs cannot be used where there is resident parking controls. And I double checked the guidance just now to make sure it hadn't changed.

@DinosaurMunch

I mean, as the parent of a non disabled child, if there was an activity they were doing that resulted in multiple A and E trips, fractures, stitches, ambulances and me being knocked out, I wouldn't let them do the activity. Especially if they didn't want or need to do the activity. Surely you minimise the risk of harm to your child? If that means not taking them shopping then that's just how it is?

I mean, as the parent of a non disabled child, you have no idea what it is like. It's not up to you to suggest that poster should not take her child to a supermarket.

@DinosaurMunch

Going out to for example a park with grass might be a better idea in this specific scenario.

I bet that poster is glad you turned up today or they would never have known what was better for their child

In Birmingham they removed the payment exemption for blue badges - which reduced abuse overnight. There was a case in Brum where a solicitor saved £46,000 in parking charges over a period of years pervious to this which may have prompted the change,

Blue badges may also permit you to park where others can't for on double-yellows for example. (Which is another incentive for their abuse.)

However it does say in the guidance and on the badge itself that it is not a license to park where you like and you must obey any local restrictions as well as park safely at all times. So no parking on the brow of a hill or on the corner of a junction.

Blue badges may also permit you to park where others can't for on double-yellows for example. (Which is another incentive for their abuse.)

Disabled drivers and those who drive disabled passengers, need to use some common sense when it comes to parking on DYL.

The public library is on a dual carriageway (DYL for a good half mile or so) with the library on a hill brow. There is an elderly couple who park on the carriageway at a spot you can't see the car. I have no idea why they insist parking on this when there is a car park at the back of the library with spaces for disabled customers. Plus a disabled entrance to the back. There is a ramp to the front.

@EmmaMaria it is the London Borough of Camden. There is a central area (Covent garden etc) that has extra controls otherwise BB holders can park in any residents' bay indefinitely. Each London Borough is different, Westminster is the toughest, but many have the same rules

I did wonder if it was London. It does seem unfair that the logistics of the area mean that people who live in a place can't park for this reason. Places I have been do not permit BB hoolders to park in resident restricted areas - although I have often wondered what disabled visitors do. There was such an area where I used to live, and it covered several streets, so had I needed to visit someone there I couldn't have done because of the distance to walk.

That isn't even in the uk

I think I recognise the signage - they look like Fremantle EasyPay signs. And the buildings look right for Fremantle.

If you look at the number plates inn the cars, they are not UK number plates