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.

No it doesn’t. If it is being used for the benefit of the disabled person and they are there you can rightly park in one.

I don’t drive, but I can hardly walk. My friend will sit there wait for me so I can get back and also because it’s a wider space it means they can get my equipment out that helps me.

It helps a lot. If we can park close it can make it much safer (and less painful) for DS to walk to wherever we are going. It actually means we may not need to use his wheelchair!

But if he needs a wheelchair, then obviously that’s because of mobility issues as well the point is I’m not saying about that. I’m saying majority of these hidden disabilities doesn’t need if you think about it to be closer.

Plenty of people without a wheelchair will struggle navigating a car park safely due to their disability

I never come across an empty space where I am. People have to queue for them.

Yanbu OP.

Fine that’s an exception but I think we all know that majority of these hidden disabilities are not like that. Let’s not think about that. Let’s think about the majority of the issues are people with mobility issues. I think the government was wrong to open the boundaries.

Yanbu. Both my DS have blue badges but not for physical reasons so often we avoid using them where it's busy eg supermarket as we don't need extra space around the car.

It obviously does depend on the area. I would say the right number would be at the fullest still have a couple of spare spaces, to make sure there will always be spaces.

Round here there's always loads of spare spaces. Sainsbury's Christmas shop with a queue into the car park, due to lack of spaces still had 1/3 the spaces not used for example.
And I think that doesn't help because people then think "loads of spaces, won't matter if little me uses one just for a quick nip in", but it does when lots of people think that.

I wish that it would be more rigorous on catching people who shouldn't be using them -with a helping of common sense eg if the passenger currently has a broken leg, they can use it.

Children's spaces don't need to be near the entrances. Actually it would be better if they were the furthest away.

This would mean, more space for disabled nearer the entrances. Mother's and babies can walk from the end of the car park, with bigger child spaces there.

Way back in time, I would park furthest away from entrances/shops. Also it was not uncommon to just take the baby out, without the car seat, or pushchair, and just plonk them in trolleys. Or, get the pushchair/pram out, and then the baby. All this from a two door coupe.

Too many big cars, too many child carrier systems, with complicated devices, all needing big cars to accommodate them.

Firmly donning my tin hat here but I do see the other side of the argument. With bricks and mortar retail on the bones of its arse at the moment, I can see why businesses wouldn't want to reduce the number of regular bays in their car parks. I also suspect the issue is very region specific which would make legislative change on minimum provision a rather blunt tool.

There may be mitigants like allowing blue badge holders to park across multiple regular bays and better enforcement but an actual solution would take some thought.

I agree OP and I think the number of disabled spaces is decreasing. My local Sainsbury’s has just converted 5 of them into Tesla EV charger spaces! I have seen this at services on the motorway too….entire rows of disabled spaces being turned into EV charger spaces. These are not disabled spaces with EV chargers, they remove the disabled signage so these are for anyone EV spaces.

As long as the BB holder has exited the car, then whoever else may be present in the car waiting, is doing nothing wrong! If you wish to struggle, that is your own affair.

@NippyCrab

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!

That is exactly what the spaces are for. DH has a BB, I drive the car. He gets out and then returns to the car when he is ready. It does not matter if I go with him, stand outside or sit in the car while he is at his appointment. He has used the BB appropriately.

we have increased the numbers of conditions that now qualify for a disabled space and we expect the same space to cope with this by magically producing extra spaces. It’s clearly something that needs to be incorporated into the construction of new services, existing ones are going to struggle. We want more blue badge areas and more parent/child spaces, all the while we are producing larger cars which need more room. It all contributes to these issues.

Unsure if it’s still the case but a colleague with bowel issues was given a card they could show to staff in any business premises which indicated they should be given access to staff toilets as they need to go as a matter of urgency.

It’s the opposite where I live-lots of empty disabled bays and nowhere to park for non-disabled drivers.

@Yellowpingu

Unsure if it’s still the case but a colleague with bowel issues was given a card they could show to staff in any business premises which indicated they should be given access to staff toilets as they need to go as a matter of urgency.

Nobody had the right to staff toilets. Urgency cards are not for that.

Whenever I go past a lot of spaces seem to have the driver's sitting in them, isn't that an abuse too?

I’m one of those drivers on occasion. My husband is disabled. Occasionally he wants to go into a shop or the pharmacy himself, so I need to park nearby.

If I’m going into the shop and he’s waiting in the car, obviously I use a regular space.

"Whenever I go past a lot of spaces seem to have the driver's sitting in them, isn't that an abuse too?"
My partner is the driver, blue badge holder. He likes to get his own toiletries, meds, underwear, use Max Speilman/Argos etc, so he'll partly shop with me, then when he's struggling (breathing issues) he'll go back to the car. Or sit and then join me. He couldn't do a full shop.

Bad driving is one of the things which I support AI for, it's starting to be trialled for bad driving. I think the fines should then be spent on the roads. I think cameras should be everywhere. It isn't difficult to drive/park safely and be a decent person.

My nearest Tesco has doubled the amount of disabled bays recently.
The town centre car park has reduced the number of disabled bays by 75% and made them electric vehicle charging bays.

There always seems to be empty disabled bays even when the rest of the car park is fit to burst round here.

Where I live, there is not enough BB parking. The local supermarket parking spaces are nearly always full. I have on occasion used a PC space, if all the BB spaces are taken.

Where are these mythical empty BB spaces? I think I've only come across them a few times. Certainly not as often as PPs claim!

Maybe it’s the time of day people go shopping?

A bit like the busses nobody who doesn’t need to be on them at 9am does as that’s when the disabled and oap free passes start to work for the day.