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

Exactly, I do wish some posters could try to understand how hard it is to get a blue badge

Don't feel guilty, your need is different, but just as important!!

Thank you so much :)

Their is no hierarchy of disabilities. You aren't just unreasonable, you're also deluded to think you can judge someone's disability and how able they are by looking at them. Shame on you.

You are a moron

Sigh some disabilities are not visible. I have 2 walking sticks sometimes I need both, sometimes 1, sometimes none. The further I walk in one given period of time the worse the pain and stiffness is later. Yes I have a BB

How did you know this? Blue badge photos are deliberately on the back of the badge

You have no idea how that person feels! My disabled husband has learned to mask his chronic pain over decades for a short while in public. He cries behind the closed door. YABU.

I think some bays should be reserved for wheelchair users. There’s a very practical reason why they need a bigger parking space.

I can't believe that it's a thing to study BB holders when they get out of their cars to see whether they should be further away. It wouldn't even cross my mind.

I think some people could do with living with the disabilities these BB holders have.

Recently on MN I've been absolutely disgusted with some of the attitudes to disabled people.

Didn't you know that us disabled people just need to put up and shut up, and deal with our disabilities?! (Sarcasm, of course).

What people don't seem to understand, and this includes some disabled people too, is that disabilities affect every disabled person differently. You can have the same exact disability as someone else, but it could affect you differently to another person with the same disability.

And it's so heartbreaking because we didn't ask to be this way. If I could get rid of my disabilities, I would, because they affect EVERYTHING I do. I can't work because it makes me suicidal. Therapy also makes me suicidal, and medication just makes me more angry than I am when I'm NOT on it.

Obviously this comment isn't aimed at you, it's just a rant based on the point you made because you're absolutely correct

Fair enough, and thank you for thinking it through a bit more.

I have a Blue Badge and would give precedence to someone in a wheelchair, yes, in theory. But in real life, it would be hard to know they were in the car park and needed the space iykwim.

There is very practical reason many blue badge holders need the extra space. Plenty of posters on this thread alone have explained that.

Fucking hell.

One of my friends has a prosthetic leg. You wouldn't know as he tends to wear long trousers. He probably looks quite mobile. Another friend is mobile but has a bowel condition which results in an instant urgent need to empty them so needs to park quickly and get to a toilet without delay.

One of my parents is elderly and has advanced dementia. I'm not sure how experienced you are with trying to wrangle a strong adult across a car park but it isn't easy so I'll park as near the door as I can.

My other parent will look absolutely fine getting out of the car if the air is quite still. But after walking around the shop they'll be gasping for air and need to get to the car quickly.

The blue badge isn't a tiered system, and nor should it be. Everyone who has one has been assessed and deemed to have a need and therefore can use it whenever they want to park in any bay that suits them.

You have no idea what that person's ability level is by looking at them. I might be able to walk into a shop but the heart condition I have often limits my ability to walk far and when I come out I need the car to be close by.

And if you'd bothered to read the thread you'd see why some non wheelchair users need the extra space as well. 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

I am a BB holder but to meet me, you’d never know. Yet there are days I can barely walk the length of myself, hence the BB.

i don’t take the mikey when I use it but preserving energy is simply too important sometimes.

anyone questioning it can FO frankly.

To be fair, I don’t think OP is suggesting a formal system. Just that some BB spaces are further away than others (simply because they can’t all be equi-distant) and she thinks it would be nice for people to think “well I don’t need to be in the one right in front of the shop, I’m fine to use the one 20m over, so I’ll do that”.

Not a goady thread. Not in the slightest.

Perhaps we should do this for pushchair spaces on buses. Perhaps someone without a newborn should think ' there might be someone with a newborn wanting the space so since mine is 6 months, I should fold up my pushchair or maybe not get on the bus'.

In fairness. If I could fold up the pushchair (eg preschool age child) then I did.
That's just human decency. Take what you need. Don't take things you don't need just because you can

I only use the blue badge spaces on days that I need to

Exactly, that's a decent thing to do.
If I am in my electric wheelchair I don't even need the space to be close. Just wide and with a safe route

I agree it would be better. Unlikely to happen, because many people think differently when behind the wheel and the law/society supports this.

In some cases I expect some people park in a certain place because reversing out (or in if they do that) is easier.

And how would you police that?
BB spaces are limited enough anyway
Can we not just accept that if someone has been issued a blue badge it will be for a very good reaon.

Yes we know what the op is suggesting, it isnt a parkers fault that her mother was elderly and she wanted other BB holders not to park so she could get closer, then she came up with the brainwave of a tiered parking system for BB holders.