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.

Regarding parking on double yellows, when all the BB spaces at our hospital are full (and I often arrive an hour before our appointment to try to park) I end up having to park out on double yellows on a (wide) road outside of the hospital grounds in order to make the appointment. I don't obstruct driveways, make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get past or park too close to junctions, if BB holders are having to park on double yellows we are still not allowed to cause an obstruction.

There are also car parks my vehicle won't fit into because of height restrictions, what should I do then? If I parallel park on the road side I can guarantee some numpty will ignore the large stickers that ask you not to park too close so I can still get to the ramp to get him in and out of the van, putting it on double yellows helps me to keep the rear door free of those who like to park up close and leave me no room for the ramp.

Must be area dependent then. Shops near Welsh border have double the number of parent child ones and are 90% empty.

@ridl14

We know someone who has one for PTSD

You don't really get a BB for a condition, it's about needs/ability.

My mum has a blue badge. If there are
limited disabled bays and lots of places in the ordinary bays, we will use one of those ordinary bays, so as to leave the disabled bays for those with worse mobility than mum.

Our local high street has just 2 disabled bays for the whole of the high street. (There are some more on the top floor of the shopping centre but the car park is expensive).

I’ve complained to the council but they said they can’t make more disabled bays on the streets.

I get back - we've provided enough by law.

Yes I think you're right, I googled it after I posted as was curious and it does seem to be about meeting the criteria of extreme difficulty completing journeys etc. That's how she herself describes it though, as for her PTSD but I wouldn't expect someone to go into precise detail like the gov.uk website does

Floranan I'm so sorry you've experienced such ignorance.
My ds refuses to use his current wheelchair while we wait for his active user one from wheelchair services for the very reason people can and do use the handles and push it.

His new one has a low back and he'll wear a backpack on him rather than the chair. Also has a fixed base so people don't think they have a right to just fold it up if he sits in a chair etc.

The ignorance of just why taking a space that's designed for someone with a disability affects them is disgusting at best.

Access is important so would it be an idea to allow blue badge holders who need wide or long access to the car to park across or over two non blue badge two parking spaces? Park over the space line that divides the parking spaces - longways or across. The car could have a sign up that says I need access. Put this in law - and this would increase parking availability right away.

Exactly.

my father is oxygen dependent and I will often him drive him to the supermarket and wait in the car for him while he puts a lottery ticket on etc. it’s important for him to be near the entrance to lessen the walk.

For the number the OP is referring to, probably not enough. Though I suspect the issue is the number being granted.

I agree with PPs about hospital parking

Our local hospital is awful for parking. It’s bad enough when you’re able bodied, I don’t know how people with disabilities cope if they haven’t got lots of people to help.

They've recently done lots of building work up there and the parking has halved, along with the already limited blue badge parking. There used to be a drop off point outside the main doors, but this has been removed so you can’t even drop someone off and then go and park. The taxi pick up/drop off is quite a distance away from the entrance

My daughter has had a lot of hospital appointments the last couple of years and if DH can’t drop us off or pick us up, we have to arrive an hour before the appointment to park and walk back to the hospital in time for our appointment.

My friend has a lot of appointments with her son who has quite severe and complex disabilities - getting him to appointments is a nightmare and involves a small army

The hospitals response to complaints is to suggest visitors use public transport - which is fine, if you can. The hospitals is slightly out of town so involves changing buses, a lot of this area is rural with 1 bus an hour that stops at 6pm and some areas have no bus service at all.

It’s just rubbish, people with disabilities are struggling to access it. I’m not entirely sure how the plans for the building work were passed

YADNBU! I have a physical disability along with other broken body issues 😂 and I only use a space if I am majorly struggling with my mobility that day. It annoys me when I make the effort to use a normal space and the disabled spaces are used up by people sitting in their cars waiting on either the driver or passenger to return. That's not what the spaces are for!

It states in the booklet that if you are driving a disabled person you are not entitled to use the space, you drop the person off and park as normal.

The ignorance of just why taking a space that's designed for someone with a disability affects them is disgusting at best.

For reasons that aren't relevant I have spent the last five months visiting a fracture clinic. I travel there by taxi as my mobility is very poor and there are never any disabled bays empty. However, I know why. My appointment time is always the same - 8:30 am - so to be sure of getting there I usually arrive about 8am. The doors for the clinic don't open until 8:30 so I sit and wait. And what I see is NHS staff putting their cars in the disabled spaces, not displaying a blue badge, and sprinting in to work. This is like, yes I will repeat it, taking up the blue badge spaces at the fracture clinic, so we are talking about spaces that are primarily designed to cater for people with disabilties who also very likely have a fracture of some sort! It's often the same cars every time. I have reported it but nothing changes.

And yes, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, I am looking at you....

Are all disabled people in wheelchairs? That’s news to me.

It annoys me when I make the effort to use a normal space and the disabled spaces are used up by people sitting in their cars waiting on either the driver or passenger to return. That's not what the spaces are for!

Yes, it is! DD has a blue badge but she can’t drive. If DH and I took her out somewhere, one of us could take her into an appointment or shop, and the other stay in the car - say they are feeling ill. It’s a legitimate use of the space, because she’s the one who could easily not be able to walk back to a faraway space. What is not allowed is if the disabled person stays in the car, and their able bodied companion goes off shopping!

How does that work? My 4 year old IS the blue badge holder, I can't drop him off and park 'as normal'.

Planned by people who have no concept of disability beyond somebody with a carer pushing a wheelchair - if somebody is as disabled as to require a blue badge, they're significantly less likely to want or to be able to access the 'ride' or to wait for it to come.

After all, if you're able to stand and wait for a bus for an indeterminate period of time, get on the bus, stand on the bus, fit on the bus with three buggies or a bunch of schoolkids already in the disabled space, (assuming they're allowed on the bus with a mobility scooter), go and do your thing and then repeat all that in reverse, you'd be doing that and not need the blasted blue badge in the first place, wouldn't you?

All the 'we need to encourage the use of public transport' excludes many disabled people - and when it comes down to it, councils aren't making money from having disabled on-street parking.

That's such a good idea.

A blue badge scheme with symbols explaining need and increasing access.

Well obviously you wouldn't be letting your 4 year old our the car on their own lol ffs! 🤣 you would be accompanying your child 🙄

I've been known to park across the empty normal spaces, get ds out and his mobility stuff and then reverse into space.

Repeat when we return in reverse.

I've had people beep and abuse me for holding it up - or move as they want the space.

I simply tell them we'd be grateful for the email I'm sure they send to our MP about needing more wide BB spaces so the disabled population have more access and don't inconvenience the non disabled population trying to access the same things!

You are very correct and it often annoys me when I see people that can actually walk alot more than I can. You can see them they don’t need anything to help them to walk. People keep saying oh well it might be hidden disabilities well I’m not being funny, but half of these hidden disabilities really if you think about it do not need to be close to the front whereas people with mobility issues do and I have noticed it’s very difficult to find car park spaces.
I think they widened the scope too much and I’m sorry but people don’t like that it’s unpalatable but that’s the truth. There is a difference between not being able to walk very much and those who can

Mobility isn't just about walking though. It's about doing it safely too

Being closer isn’t really going to help that if it is that unsafe then get help the point is to people who literally cannot walk very far that little bit of extra walking is a big thing and I wouldn’t think that majority of the hidden disabilities are because of unsafe

No it doesn’t.