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

Never understood why P&C places are needed, and if they are, why they can't be located further away from the front door of the shop. I walked through the car park when mine were babies/toddlers without any issue.

@limeebergomotti you really aren't being empathetic. That's why your comments keep being deleted.
There's a clue… when you say "you guys" about a group of people, you generally aren't being empathetic.

I have done and will currently use a P&C space, but only when there are no available disabled bay. Shoot me if you want but I'm on crutches struggling to walk until I get shiny new knees. Even with these spaces it's still struggle to even just pop into a shop.

PIP is not an out of work benefit and has nothing to do with the ability to work . It assesses the overall impact of disabilty and translates it into the extra cost of living with it. You have no idea of what it’s like to live as a disabled person and no appreciation of the fact that P&C spaces are provided as a concession only - disabled spaces are protected by law because being a parent is in no way comparable to living with a disability.

Yep. The Sainsburys local by me has a small car park and standard bays are nearer the door than the minimal required disabled bays.

BB spaces absolutely are protected in private car parks. There is a legal obligation to provide reasonable adjustment for disabled people to access goods and services whether the car park is private or public. In every private car park I’ve ever seen there are disabled bays and signage warning that abuse of them will result in a fine.

Best comment I’ve seen on MN for a very long time. Well said.x

Let’s be honest, most car parks need to be redesigned to make the spaces larger due to the size of cars these days.
I do get frustrated when people without children park in the P&C spaces and I can’t get one myself. I would probably grumble if I saw a BB holder in one but only because I’d been inconvenienced by not getting one, not because I actually begrudged them the space.
In my experience where I live (and the shops I go to!) there are always lots of BB spaces available but P&C spaces are always filled. I have twins, so I have to park miles away so I have room on both sides to get my boys out, but every single time I’ve had to do this, some idiot always parks right next to me anyway (including one time at IKEA when I’d parked next door but one to a trolley bay thinking no one in their right mind would slot in there… alas when I came back there he was!). I do prefer being closer to the store too, as it means I can get my boys inside safely, but I’d be happy if they were further away and there was a pathway to the store.
The best place near me is a supermarket where each space has a section between them so there is plenty of room in every single parking space. They still have P&C spaces but they’re often not full because Mr Flash Car doesn’t need to park there because his precious car won’t get bashed.

One could argue that having three young babies is your choice. A disability isn’t.

plus you were on maternity leave you say? Possibly reliant on the state, or at the very least your employer, to pay you while you enjoy your time off? Yet you are also showing an attitude that you are owed something to make your life easier.

so maybe rather than begrudging those who don’t have a choice, you could show some empathy.

The reasonable adjustment provision is an entirely separate thing & doesn’t change the fact that blue badge spaces on private land do not have the legal standing of those on public land.

All the private car park operator can do is issue a PCN which is essentially an invoice for breach of contract. These are weak legally unlike those issued by a local council.

There is no special “parked in a blue badge” PCN, it’s the same fine for overstaying, parking in an EV space without charging or any of the other myriad ways a private car park operator may issue a PCN.

This is probably area specific but they really shouldn't in our area. There are about 50 (always empty) disabled spots to every parent and child one. And yet some still choose to.

No it isn’t. The Equality Act 2010 makes it illegal for retailers to make it difficult/impossible for disabled people to access goods and services. Private car parks have just as much of a legal obligation for reasonable adjustment under the Act by providing adequate and accessible parking for disabled people. I have appealed tickets on behalf of claimants on that basis. As I said upthread, most providers rely on people not knowing their rights.

Theres nothing more irritating than someone like you who has no regard for those with young babies in car seats and pushchairs and young children below the age of 6 I’d say.

@Brightpurplerain2 If that is the most irritating thing for you, then consider yourself blessed. I can, and will continue to use a P&C space if all available BB spaces are taken.

That certainly is not the case where I live, and several other posters have said the same thing, about a lack of BB spaces. I guess it really does depend on what area you live in, as you have stated.

Legally, no idea. Ethically, I can't see a single reason why someone would begrudge a blue badge holder a parent and child space if the disabled spaces are all full.

Nobody with a blue badge would choose to park in a parent and child space if there disabled parking spaces available that are nearer to the shop.

Of course they should be able to regardless if they have children or not

Only entitled selfish twats would think they shouldn’t and sadly there are a lot of them around

This thread has been enlightening, as usual, and highlights some of the attitudes that disabled people have to deal with, in their lives.

It's the opposite here. Council car parks have loads of PC places near the exits while there are just a few BB places much further away. It is nuts as many people with BBs have them cos walking a distance is a problem with breathing or pain.

Well they've shot themselves in the foot there because being near the door also appeals to the "just nipping in" brigade, which is, as other people have pointed out, disproportionately made up of fit and able young men wanting to by a Mars bar, a sausage roll, a bag of crisps and a can of belchy pop, which they tend to sit and eat in a leisurely way, then sit some more to belch their way through the pop, still in the P+C space.
I'm disabled but I've never applied for a badge because I know from experience with other family members that driving around looking for disabled parking is just as stressful as what we do now, looking for a space that will just about do.

Yes, we had this in a supermarket once. We forgot to display the BB, I received a fine for £60 when we got back to the car. The manager of the supermarket signed a letter saying he saw the badge and badge holder and the fine should be rescinded. The private company refused, so we appealed to POPLA, who denied the appeal and said I need to pay. I refused to pay and said I'm happy for them to take me to court. They then reduced the fine to £10. I still refused to pay and they disappeared into the mists for 5 years 10 months, at which point they sent a last gasp fine again for £60. I refused to pay.

But it's usually yummy mummies. Although they are probably using an oversized car that their husbands insisted on buying as a status symbol and can't park it in a normal space (despite the parking assistance you get with modern cars). But you can always park in the further reaches of the car park if you are worried about space.

And they are entitled because they use them with 12 year olds, even though they are very obviously targeted at parents with small children who they need to get in and out of car seats.

The assumption is if you’re disabled you haven’t got a job - don’t you know PIP makes you rich 🙄. I came across the same thing when I worked in a city centre. I’m in a wheelchair and used to pop to the shops or sandwich shop in my lunch hour. Couldn’t tell you how many people used to make shitty comments about being out shopping ‘in the middle of the day, when other people are working’. Once again a well known two word phrase put paid to the conversation when I couldn’t be arsed responding. I’d say that the majority of people I’ve met are only too willing to be kind and helpful, but there are a very vocal minority just as determined to be shitbags.