To think if you’re a slightly more mobile BB holder you should park in the further accessible bay?

[FlooredByKindness]

My late mom had a Blue Badge as she used a walking stick so I do have experience of accessibility issues

Quite frequently I see people getting out of a car with a badge displayed and then heading easily into stores etc after parking in the closest bay.

if you have a reasonable levels of ability within the realms of BB wouldn’t it be more considerate to park in one of the furthest bb spaces in case the next bb holder who turns up is less able?

seems reasonable to me

Thats why it should be completely down to the individual. With absolutely no policy or guidance about it. My condition would have periods ie for three months where I could have a terrible flare up and not walk basically at all, and then have a period whereas absolutely fine for a few months. Some conditions the walking isn't the issue.It's other things such as being able to unload a large wheelchair, but once all that has been achieved, actually, the person doesn't need to worry about an extra twenty metres, because they're in an electric chair (not all cases again).

I’m a wheelchair user so where should I park? In theory i could park in the furthest BB space if i followed your theory because it’s easier for me to roll an extra 20m than someone less mobile. But then Id often be crossing more traffic which is bloody scary when you’re the height of a 7yr old in a car park and not easily visible. Also by parking further away and rolling further will ultimately cause me more pain and fatigue, but that’s not obvious if you saw me. Someone who appears reasonably mobile walking into a store might be in terrible pain within a few minutes of walking. It’s all very variable and no one can make a judgement on anyone’s ability just by looking at them! Ability can vary day to day, hour to hour.

The only thing that pisses me off with blue badge use was seeing a young fit man prance off into the gym, having parked on yellow lines and displaying a blue badge. The photo on the badge was of an elderly woman.

I struggle to get in and out of the car. If I’m having a good day I’m on crutches. That means by the time I’m coming back to the car I’m exhausted.

what bay am I allowed in your thought experiment? The one for my energy when I get out of the car, or the one for when I get back?

And How are you qualified to be the BB police exactly?

How ridiculous. My condition fluctuates. Sometimes I use the chair, sometimes I can walk a short distance, eg into the chemist, in a lot of pain. It’s easier for me to be pushed in the wheelchair than walk, but to Judgey McJudgeface they’d imagine that I wasn’t truly disabled if I was walking. People accept your disability if you’re in a chair.

Tbh it's down to whichever bay is available. I have never been in a position where there has been enough choice to use your kind of logic. Yes, someone may come along who is less able, just as likely as someone who is more able, then factor in the c**s who think "I'm only going in for one thing' equates to a blue badge.

That's a strange decision.

She's now unable to park in any BB bays at hospitals, in town, or anywhere else she might go 😳

Things work better if everyone is more courteous and thoughtful about other peoples needs than they currently are.

It's also nicer if everyone quits judging other people - none of your business why they've chosen the spot they have, perhaps they walk fairly well for a few yards, but only have a short time frame for walking before they need to sit down/get on a scooter/lean on a trolley.

We park far away if we can, in summer when its warm and light because my powerchair means the distance isn't an issue.

However if its cold and wet, and I get cold very easily and warm up very very slowly, I'll want to be much closer, to avoid triggering an autonomic crash (10 to 14 days of cycling through shivering so hard it hurts/pouring sweat is not fun!)

If its dark, particularly dark and wet - my main chair does not have lights on it, negotiating my way through a busy car park in the dark with lights reflecting everywhere off the wet ground isn't great, much higher risk of being hit by a driver whose brain switched off the second they entered the carpark.

Ideally of course, all accessible spots would mean I'd be out of the car and onto a walkway without going on the road at all but in reality, most spaces we can't reverse into due to the anti-ram raiding bollards, and many still require you to be in the road for some distance before you can get to a dropped kerb.

Im a blue badge user, you might see me do this but I only do it if im doing a very quick trip and just grabbing 1 or 2 things, any more and I need my wheelchair. Just because I am able to walk, I can only do very short walks but on a good day that walk will look fine to some. What they don't realise is that if the first few bays arent available, its then too much of a distance and I then need my wheelchair.

The point is you cant look at someone and decide they are more capable. Someone who can walk round an entire store can do far more than I can, but if im going in to grab a single item then I can look like im ok but I certainly couldn't walk for getting an entire shop. You just dont know anyone's circumstances so how on earth would you decide mobility order?

That doesn't work either. I need a wide space and to be near the door. I need to still have the energy to get myself back into the car and home again.

Not all wheelchair users are equal.

Just as well ignorance isn't a disability eh.

Would I have two bb then? One for the days I can walk and need to be close to the store and need to be able to open the door wide to get myself in and out and one for the days I’m in my wheelchair and can self propel across the car park but still need to be able to open the door wide?

Take a note of the BB number then, and report it. 🤷‍♀️

To be fair to the OP, I'm pretty sure that Melanie Reid (tetraplegic after a horse-riding accident) wrote one of her 'Spinal Columns' on this very subject.

Well able bodied people don't think "Best Park in the furthest space in the next town along because I'm 28, run marathons and I'm feeling particularly perky today, so I'll leave the closer spaces in case anyone older, less fit or a bit poorly needs them more" do they?
Whether disabled or not, we park where we're entitled to, concentrating on what we need to do rather than putting the hypothetical world and it's mother ahead of us in case they're worse off.

Half the bays usually have cars in without blue badges, so you park where you bloody can!

I’m sure that I’ve pulled into the first BB space in a car park at the hospital or similar, many times. My husband, who has the BB, is mobile. He also has advanced young onset dementia, has regular falls, hallucinations, is aggressive, has challenging behavior and can be difficult to keep safe when we have to go out. He also looks physically quite well. If I have to take him out, I try to get as close to the door as possible. Last time we were out, he became very aggressive in the car park, fell over and nearly got hit by a car.
I’d like to think that I’m a considerate person. The reality is that some disabilities are hidden and whilst somebody who has very poor mobility needs to be as close as possible, so do lots of others for different reasons.

It obviously wasn’t being displayed correctly either because the correct way to display a Blue Badge is photo side down not up

How did you manage to see the photo?

Cross post @ValleyClouds !

Bit of a hole in the story, methinks. He would have received a ticket for that.

This. I will park as close as humanly possible to wherever we need to go to minimise the danger.

@PandoraSocks i was going to leave it but the inaccuracy annoyed me too much I had to correct it.

Is it only disabled people are supposed to be so considerate? Or did you park the arse end of the car park @FlooredByKindness and walk across the whole car park or did you just choose a parking space that suited you wherever it was in the car park?

why are disabled people expected to be more considerate than the general public?

Not sure why you're asking me. I'm not arguing with you.

Exactly. I may walk perfectly well, into a supermarket, but it is a different story by the time I am leaving!