Apparently there are always billions of disabled parking spaces and it's a disgrace

[daisy5678]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252452/Revealed-Why-disabled-bays-stay-empty.html

2 empty parking spaces in the photo does not a good article basis make!

Cyber the need for them is for people like us who live in areas where people with psychologoical problems cannot get a Blue Badge

Although TBH I officially gave up even trying to get out last week, DS3 did a bunk for 20 minutes at school, I am officially too scared

Wales is apparently reviewing their Disability parking; I may just rattle off a begging letter email.

oldenglish - thanks for the warning but i am not going to shy away from this one as i have a right to my opinion even though i am able bodied!!

cory - i need more space as i have to lean in at 6 months pg and stretch across to unbuckle children and then lift thme out. it is not the same as an adult who can squeeze out in a norrower gap. if i can only open the door partially i cant get the one year old out. she is only just out of baby seat thath needed lifted out as well.

i am not saying that disabled shouldnt have enough spaces but that parents and BABIES and TODDLERS need spaces too. i fully accept when they are about 3 they should be capable of squeezing out.

bing pregnant or having a shmall child(unless either is disabled) is a short term thing, yes akward ad sometimes a bit hard going, but not the same as a lifetime of disability.
I can well remember having to lift my 10 yr old out of the car(before we got a wav) and even now pushing her wheelchair is bloody hard.
any mummy who wants to say that there slight problam ias equally hard, can come and do it and then I bet they will then shut up.

i am NOT saying it is the same as a lifetime of disability and fully accept that i do not need p and t spaces for long.

neither am i saying my "slight problem" is equally hard i am just saying in my town disabled are well catered for and that parents of babies and toddlers should be too.

disbled people have far more rights than babies/toddlers and i am not arguing with that or saying they shouldnt have special spaces but i am just saying some parents do need p and t spaces.

Err, you're wrong. Parents don't actually need parent adn parking spaces. Millions of parents in the past and the present have managed in your circumstances perfectly well without a parnt and parking space.

rainbow - parking spaces are now much narrower than years ago and cars are wider. i have a 4 x 4 and in my local m and s you simply CANNOT open both doors in a regular space if cars are on either side. i DO need a bigger space. if it is not bsuy then can manage to find quiet part with empty space but not on a sat.

WHy do you need to open both doors? Do you mean at teh same time? No, don't buy that you need a parent and child space. Really, people manage fine without them.

why on earth would i not open both doors? getting a 2 year old out can be difficlut enough without making him climb across middle and squeeze out past other car seat.

people may manage without them if they are not heavily pg with a 1 year old and a 2 yr old. i need one and dont see why there should be loads of empty disabled spaces - have never ever seen then all in use and only about 6 p and t spaces.

How do you imagine people do exactly the same thing but without a wider space? Do they just go home?
I am sure htey are convenient but really, you cannot compare this need to a need for a disabled parking space.

I have never heard of someone in your situation having to go home because there were no p and t spaces free.

Why can't your 2 year old climb out and squeeze across? How did people manage when they just had cars with no back doors?

the worlds gone mad...

THIS IS THE SN TOPIC BY THE WAY

MummyAnnabella come to my local shops, disabled bays are like gold dust.

Sorry I still don't get why a 2yo can't climb across the middle. Compared to the complicated manouevres I had to do taking mine on public transport (in the days before pushchair access) it really doesn't sound like a big deal. And that was still a piece of cake compared to having one disabled teenager.

The thing is, we have all been pregnant; many of us have been pregnant and dealt with toddlers- we know what it's like. You do not know what it's like to have a disabled older child.

And as Riven points out, if you are not disabled, then you have a choice about the kind of car you buy. Disabled people have no choice.

"I need one" : - I have a giant WAV van and I still manage to park it in "normal" spaces when I don't have dd2 so can't use the Blue Badge spaces.

You will get over being pregnant. Your toddler will grow up. I had my 3 kids in 3 years, managed on the bus and in car parks.

My dd2 will NEVER WALK, will NEVER STAND UP. You cannot compare a temporary condition such as being pregnant or having a toddler to life-long disability. You have absolutely no idea how incredibly difficult it is to get around. I have been known to give up and go home when we couldn't park with dd2.

Besides, we are all approaching this on the assumption that the disabled bays are being used by fit people helping a disabled child. But a lot of them are being used by disabled people. And even 9 months pregnancy is not the same as being severely disabled.

For those who are saying they need one with a P&T / there are too many etc are you aware how hard these things are to get access to?

OK (sorry those who know it) my story:

I have 4 kids, 2 have been diagnosed with ASD (broad spectrum autism). One has Asperger's but becuase of other buits he has attahced we get highest rate DLA for him and he is very demanding- quite likely to push a siobling under a car in a car park for example. The other is mroe severe and bolts at no notice and with no regard for safety, the youngest is in a buggy so that to contend with also.

We don't qualify for a badge under Welsh rules, we don't get HR mobility DLA (we should but it's a lottery with Autism and DLA at the moment), the Council won't award a blue badge for anything other than a physical disability. Yert it doesn't imo take a lot of imagination to see how ahrd it is to battle across a car park even with 2 adults, with one there's no options, stay at home. I once accidentallyused a poorly signed disabled space thining it was P&T and was threatened with a fine. T ome that was taking the piss at teh very highest level.

When dh is out we are totally confined to home, can't even go to the post office any more. Having a blue badge and therefore access to a space would chnage my life quite dramtically. It would allow me to be able to buy a pint of milk in the holidays without needing an extra adult, or be able to do basic things that seem so banal in RL.

The usefullness of that badge however depends on a space being available when you need it, what is the point of getting your child out if the space is taken and you either have to wait with a scremaing child quite possibly tearing at themselves, or just give up?

Obviously I quite often go out in termtime with only my toddler and our wide car and yes, P&T spaces are damned useful and I think a good thing. But the PITA of using a normal sapce (which I usually do, P&T spaces very few here) and the situiation when all the boys are here is unimaginable.

Riven stop showing off
we have one disabled bay out side the childrens hospital(which of course can be used by anyone using the main hospital) bit of a bummer for me as we can't get our WAV into the multi story car park.

too tall for most multi storeys unless you get the lowering suspension option!

I have a renault master, it is the biggest WAV you can get,
couldn't see the point in a small one where you could only just fit her in.