AIBU to think Blue Badge holders can use parent and child spaces?

[winterwonder1]

This article says that Blue Badge holders can't park in P&C spaces but I thought they could and that they were a legal requirement whereas P&C was a courtesy? Have I been wrong all these years? Can Blue Badge holders park in parent and child spaces? | Oxford Mail

Young families take much more from the system than they contribute.

Anyone who thinks blue badge holders shouldn’t park in a p and c space needs to make a trip to the Norfolk and Norwich hospital. I am a BB holder and there are about 15 bb spaces near the front of the hospital for the entire hospital (this is a major hospital serving Norfolk and Suffolk, the next nearest large hospital is Addenbrookes, there are smaller ones but anything major gets referred to NNUH). There is a multi-storey car park and several open air car parks, I estimate around 1000 plus spaces but only a very small amount of bb spaces. If you are disabled and have a lot of consultant appointments like me (under 5 specialists, average 2-3 appointments a month) you have to allow at least 45 mins just to park in the hope you can get a bb space. I cannot park in a normal space because my lupus related joint issues mean I need to be able to fully open the door. So if there are no bb spaces I do park in a p and c space because otherwise I would simply miss my appointment. I do feel bad about using a p and c space but until there are more bb spaces what can we - as bb users - do? It’s an awful situation and I’ve complained about it many times.

What have blue badges got to do with benefits?!

As a blue badge holder I would never use a P&C space.

Supposing the BB places are full? And there are p and c places sitting empty?

Nope, I wouldn’t use them. In car parks you can’t guarantee a blue badge space nor a P&C space, it’s luck of the draw when you arrive. What would happen if they were all full? Us BB holders and parents with children in the majority of circumstances would find somewhere else to park . Plus I can’t be doing with the potential confrontation or snide comments from the self appointed car park police.

Exactly.
The only place Blue Badge holders can’t park is a loading bay.
Other than that if it is safe it is permitted.
Parked in one myself recently because all the disabled spaces were full.

More fool you.

That's true and, looking on the bright side, maybe you will lose a couple of limbs tomorrow and will get to experience the life of unimaginable luxury and privilege all disabled people apparently live. No need to be so despondent is there?

But the spaces are right next to each other so this makes no sense. I’d get it if was actually closer and I’d never dispute that. But the case that I’m talking about wasn’t

So you are entitled to park in BB bays and P&C bays and are sorted yourself.

You're not actually thinking of BB holders.

But the OP Is about when the BB bays are full.

How many BB holders are you seeing park in P&C bays? I never see this.

The point is that some disabled people would need to use a P&C space if the BB ones were full because a standard bay simply isn’t big enough if you have to get a wheelchair out or you need to open the door fully to get out. There’s a simple answer to the self appointed car park police. No need to explain your disability, no need to argue, and they are definitely not entitled to handle the badge. Just point out that you are a BB badge holder and entitled to park there. If they carry on, give them the badge number and tell them they can report any concerns to the issuing authority. In my experience any further discussion can be ended with a well known two word phrase !!

I don’t look disabled behind the wheel although I’m a wheelchair user, and I’ve had some fun with the car park home guard over the years. I don’t keep the badge on display permanently, and on one memorable occasion I pulled into a parking space and before I’d even turned the engine off an elderly woman was banging on the window. I rolled it down and it was the predictable ‘you can’t park here without a badge’.

I opened my handbag, took out the badge and put in on the dashboard. Next up was ‘well you don’t look very disabled, why have you got a badge’? I politely told her that my disability was none of her business and she launched into a rant about people having no respect !!

The whole time the discussion was going on, the top box on the car roof was winching down my wheelchair to the driver door. It was only when I uncoupled the winch and started to get into the chair that she realised what was happening. Before she could open her mouth to say any more I asked her ‘how disabled do I look now ?’ It was worth the exchange just for the look on her face as I rolled away !!

Sometimes the P&C spaces are actually closer to the entrance than the BB bays. Our local supermarket is like this. There’s a bit of a walk from the nearest BB space to the entrance but there’s a bank of P&C spaces right opposite the door. Before I was a full time wheelchair user I had very limited and often painful mobility and I didn’t hesitate to use them rather than the BB spaces because the access was easier.

Something I’m seeing more and more are disabled spaces specifically reserved for wheelchair users. They are no different in layout or size than standard disabled bays but are invariably the ones closest to the door. I can see the logic in making sure there’s always a spot available for a wheelchair user but given that they are mobilising in a chair I can’t quite see the logic of putting them right next to the door when someone who may have a great deal of difficulty in walking has to park further away.

Is there something I’m missing?

So by not taking up a P&C space that either a parent with a child or another BB holder could use means I’m not thinking of other people? Ok, not sure I understand the point you’re trying to make.

I’m not saying BB holders can’t or shouldn’t use P&C spaces. Just that I wouldn’t. Would loved to have seen your encounter referred to.

I took the comment to mean in respect of the car park police - in which case I agree. In my experience they are more about bullying and nosiness than they are about genuinely protecting disabled spaces. I tell them once that I have a badge issued by the LA and if they have a problem here’s the badge number, take it up with them. If they don’t like it, tough. l’m not hanging around to argue the toss.

Obviously it’s a personal choice but I do think it’s acceptable to park in P&C spaces if there are no BB available - clearly it should be according to individual need and not just because you can. The law - specifically the Equality Act 2010 - allows for this because retailers legally have to make reasonable adjustment for the disabled, whereas there is no such requirement for parents with children. It’s a concession.

How would they know? And they need to take photo evidence for a fine to be valid so what would they take? @Honeyhonayboo

How would someone know whether a person was parking in a P&C space without children? Eyes work pretty well I would imagine, the exact same way they could fine people parking in a disabled bay without a valid in date badge on display.

“Eyes” aren’t sufficient ground for a fine to be valid!

there needs to be photographic evidence

of what?

and they can take a photo for en car in the disabled bay NOT displaying a blue badge. Obviously (one would think!)

I’ve found that these encounters have become much more frequent since Covid for some reason. Maybe people still have pent up anger to vent !!

Abuse of the P&C spaces works the other way too. Rather than people using them without children being present, I’ve seen many more leaving their children in the car while they go into the supermarket. They could do that in a standard space.

There isn't a parent and child badge though. So they wouldn't be able to issue a ticket while you are in the shop. They would have too wait until you arrive at the car and have a confrontation.

I think it’s more about whether you’re inconveniencing yourself by thinking of others. Before I was permanently in my wheelchair, if there was a standard space near the door I’d use it rather than take up a BB space. I was never an advocate of using the badge just because you can, if there’s a viable alternative that doesn’t cause you any difficulty.