Woman shouted at me for parking in a disabled spot

[AusMumhere]

I parked in a disabled spot at the supermarket today. A woman about four cars away shouted at me and said 'that's a wheelie spot'. I shouted back 'I have a permit'. She then yelled 'where's ya walker?'. I said 'not all disabilities are visible'. I hate confrontation of any kind.
Should I have walked away or should I have responded? I'm still in shock that I shouted.

And the application for a blue badge, and disability benefits and concessions in general will consider that. You’re generally not eligible unless the effects of the disability are present for 50% or more of the time. So it is factored in.

Some types of disabled parking bays on private ground are not enforceable. They are just a concession and technically anyone can park in them. You need to make sure that the blue and white wheelchair plate is displayed in the signage. For example our Sainsburys Local only has six parking spaces. One of them is wider and has the white wheelchair marking on the floor within the bay, The signage at the front of the bay just says Disabled Parking, but there is no wheelchair plate, so it’s not exclusively for disabled use.

They sell them on Amazon. My late DH worked at a well known car factory and the security patrol used these stickers to police the few disabled spots they provided in the car parks and around the perimeter. They placed them right in the middle of the windscreen on the drivers side and they were a nightmare to scrape off. Once word got around, it soon stopped.

I agree. The provision across England is patchy and not well policed. The criteria for blue badges has widened considerably, and inevitably it becomes a matter of supply not keeping pace with demand. Supermarkets in particular seem to want to cram as many bays into the available space as possible, so despite car sizes getting bigger, the spaces are becoming smaller, which makes the provision of wider disabled bays even more important as standard spaces are useless for wheelchair users and others who use equipment. I don’t park in standard bays any more because I always seem to find that on return, the vehicle in the next bay has been parked way too close for me to even get into the car !!

Yep, agree. My point was that it’s misuse of the badge if the disabled person themselves is not getting out of the car. Really annoys me with P&C spaces too - the child is left sitting in the car while the parent goes into the supermarket or whatever. Not what the spaces are designed for.

I have an artificial leg. When challenged for parking in a disabled bay, I tap on my leg with one of my crutches while the complainer is banging on about how I don’t look disabled. Eventually they cotton on to the metallic sound, the light dawns and they scurry off. I find it very therapeutic !!

I’d have asked her when it was she realised she was psychic !!

Never respond. No good ever comes of it.

Rubbish. How do you think they get into the car then? I park in the bay, using the badge, then go to my mum's house to assist her. That's allowed. But on return from our trip, I take her back inside, then go and repark before getting her shopping out.

You are nit allowed to use a Blue Badge to park unless the disabled person is getting out of the car. Blue Badge parking though is poorly enforced.

Absolute rubbish @JoyousGreyOrca

Many a time I’ve nipped back to the car whilst my DH and DS have been in a shopping centre or cafe.

I also use disabled spaces at the school. They’d never get used if this was true 😂

How do you think they get back in 🤣

People keep quoting my comment. I was responding to someone. You are allowed as a non disabled person to park in a disabled space to pick up or drop someone off who has a blue badge.
You can not as someone with a blue badge drive a passenger somewhere and sit in a disabled space whilst someone non disabled does errands.

I have a stoma - just the one in my case. Some years ago, before I became a regular wheelchair user I remember going into a disabled toilet to change it in an emergency leak situation. I was in there a little while as it does take some time to sort, and someone started banging on the door. I shouted that I wouldn’t be a minute and when I finished, I opened the door to find a very irate man standing outside. He yelled at me that the toilet was for disabled people (this was before the more inclusive accessible toilets) and that I should be ashamed of myself for using it. He disappeared inside and locked the door before I could reply.

It was only afterwards that I realised the irony of the situation. He had no visible disability himself but was berating me because I didn’t look disabled !!

Yes you can 🤣🤣🤣

Do they HAVE to be doing errands?

What if they’re doing cartwheels?

Yep, this. The latter is misuse of the badge and it can be withdrawn if you’re caught.

Appreciate the humour, but wrong. The disabled badge holder is misusing the badge if they allow someone else to benefit from it. It’s intended for the use of the disabled person themselves, so if they’re not actually getting out of the car the badge shouldn’t be on display and they shouldn’t be in a disabled space.

Not wrong. A quick goggle will tell you blue badge holders can stay in their car. As long as the badge holder is present

Yes, this!
Years ago, a friend took me to Tesco in her car so I could get my meds. She parked in the BB bay, using her husband's BB. So wrong from the get go (he was not with us).
She asked me to pick up something for him. And said because I was getting something for him, then her parking using his BB badge was justified, as it was "running an errand" for him.
I am pretty sure that is wrong, but I have seen people on MN say if you are running an errand for a BB holder, then you can use their BB. I don't believe it tbh.

It’s not illegal. You shouldn’t do it but it’s not illegal.

You should not as a blue badge holder stay in the car parked in a disabled space, while you are picking up and dropping off an able bodied person.
Anyone with a blue badge who thinks you can, needs to read the conditions that come with it.

From the Gov website....

The badge is for your use and benefit only. It must only be displayed if you are travelling in the vehicle as a driver or passenger, or if someone is collecting you or dropping you off and needs to park at the place where you are being collected or dropped.

Not sitting in the car.

Sorry @JandamiHash but it is illegal.....

The Blue Badge and its concessions are for your use only. It is a criminal offence for you or anyone else to misuse the badge, and doing so could lead to a £1,000 fine and confiscation of the badge.

If you are the badge holder and return to the car and sit in it while your able bodied companions continue to shop or whatever they were doing, you are allowing them to benefit from your badge. If you’re the driver, you should remove the badge and park in a non disabled spot if you’re not intending to get out of the car again. Similarly, if you’re not the driver then whoever is should accompany you back to the car and move it out of the disabled bay into a standard one. Anything else is misuse of the badge. If you’re not the disabled person and you nip back to the car to wait for the disabled person to return, then you’re not doing anything wrong.

Similarly if you are out with an able bodied companion and not intending to leave the car you shouldn’t be displaying the badge or parking in a disabled bay - even if your companion is running an errand for you, they are not allowed to benefit from your disabled concession. That’s the law, misuse of the badge can lead to a £1k fine, withdrawal of the badge and a review of any connected disability benefit. This is all detailed in the rules and regulations leaflet issued with the blue badge, so ignorance is not an excuse. No amount of smiley faces can change that.

Yes it is. £1k fine and withdrawal of the badge, as well as triggering a review of any connected disability benefit. It can also, in certain circumstances affect an application for a motability car or impact an existing lease. All of this is detailed in the accompanying leaflets issued with the badge. Maybe you should dig it out and read it before you get yourself into trouble.

You actually shouldn’t be using the badge or parking in a disabled space if you’re picking up or dropping off someone able bodied, or even someone disabled who doesn’t have their own blue badge. The concession is personal to you.

If that was me the word fuck would definitely have come out of my mouth somehow, so I think your ok.