Grrr - blue badge

Babshubbie

mancitychick wrote: »

misunderstanding where?

If I take my wife, a Blue Badge holder, to the supermarket, I drive as close as possible to the entrance, put her in a wheelchair (sometimes the supermarket's wheelchair) then I drive to a Blue Badge bay, park using her Blue Badge, and return to push her around the supermarket. Afterwards I do the same in reverse.

Because we are over pensionable age we cannot get DLA, only Attendance Allowance, and so cannot get exemption from paying Vehicle Tax.

Tally-Ho_2

Babshubbie wrote: »

If I take my wife, a Blue Badge holder, to the supermarket, I drive as close as possible to the entrance, put her in a wheelchair (sometimes the supermarket's wheelchair) then I drive to a Blue Badge bay, park using her Blue Badge, and return to push her around the supermarket. Afterwards I do the same in reverse.

Because we are over pensionable age we cannot get DLA, only Attendance Allowance, and so cannot get exemption from paying Vehicle Tax.

Why, if you drop off and collect the disabled person at the front of the supermarket. do you need to use a disabled bay?

If your wife got into or out of the car at the bay fair enough, but surely in the way you describe you are using it for your convenience?

Tally

Babshubbie

Tally-Ho wrote: »

Why, if you drop off and collect the disabled person at the front of the supermarket. do you need to use a disabled bay?

If your wife got into or out of the car at the bay fair enough, but surely in the way you describe you are using it for your convenience?

Tally

To get back quickly to her, rather than find a spot a long way off, leaving her unattended.

debraladiva

I'm a 43yr old woman, who takes pride in her appearance and goes out to work, I also use oxygen and though I look ok, I can't go far without oxygen and have a spare in the car "just in case". Everytime I park in a disabled bay ( i have a blue badge) I get "the look". Even though people see me with tubes stuck up my nose, carrying an oxygen cylinder around with me.
A few weeks ago in my local supermarket I parked in a disabled bay and when I returned a man parked in the next disabled bay reading his newspaper challenged me and told me the bays are for the disabled. I pointed out my oxygen, and my blue badge, and asked why he was parked there. He told me he was waiting for his wife who was shopping. I then asked who the blue badge was for. He replied it was for himself. When I told him it was himself who was misusing the badge he became very angry. I left.

LucyToons

I was parked in the car park at B&Q in my nearest town one day when parking up besides me was a boy racer car complete with boy racer and his girlfriend. He got out to go in B&Q whilst she sat in the car.

I sat for a couple of minutes waiting to see if she put a badge up, and after she didn't I opened my car door and said to her (through her open window), excuse me do you know you're in a disabled parking bay. The reply I received was "I have a bad back", so I said you need a disabled badge to park in these spaces, to which she then replied "my doctor said I could park in a disabled space".

Since when were doctors able to give authorization to park in a disabled bay???

I think there needs to be more regulations followed in terms of what happens to those who park in bays when they shouldn't

As it is at the moment I am very annoyed with the council in my area as we are losing disabled parking bays to Taxi ranks, which has really got to me as I find the spaces invaluable for me to go shopping in town.

At the moment I am the point where I want to start a petition and send it to my local MP as the way disabled badge holders are being treated there will soon be no point to having a blue badge as there will be nowhere to use it except normal car parks which are too far away to park in to enable me to go shopping.

The only thing I have never done anything like this before so not completely sure where to start, the only thing I can think of is print out sheets for people to sign and show them a clipping from the local paper that clearly states that the people who authorize disabled parking bays have given permission for disabled spaces to be converted to taxi ranks as well as all the places I have found so far where disabled bays used to be, that have now been converted.

Any help or advice would be appreciated with this as I feel there are a lot of disabled people who are being pushed aside for the sake of extra taxi’s, that from what I can tell more and more people keep being approved as drivers, when there are already plenty of them in the town.

Rant over for now :wall:

chopperharris

half of the problem began when they introduced parent and child parking spaces , exactly why they were introduced I have yet to figure out.We can choose to have kids , some dont choose not to have them ,but no one would choose to have a disability.Yet there is those parents that deem the d bay as entitled to them if those pnc spaces are full.Here come those to !!!!! about the right to pnc park because they have children , and just whom am I to question it?

Why arent these pnc spaces put at the far end?It protects the kids if thats the point of them.It protects the shoppers cars from kids throwing open doors if thats the reasoning.It almost garuntees spaces as they are always the furthest ones away?What is the problem exactly with another minuites walk for those that are able bodied , you can see now why the older d badgers can easily resent them.Even those spaces arent free from abuse by the ignorant.Dont get me started on the abuse of even those spaces get with , ie "yes but he/she is my child" when their children are bloody teenagers , or not even in a pram anyway....and some ignorant d bayers themselves that think they have a right to them becuase their bays are filled.

The only real way forward for this is to have true legislation protecting the d bays themselves , thus its users from being deied them.On the spot fines of 150 quid to release a clamp would just about stop the ignorant b's .It would make it profitable enough to enforce through a private company , if not the supermarket themselves , it would pay many times over for the inshop chairs.In these increasing unemployment days theres jobs that could be created at the council level to do clamping peaktime at least , 8-10 , 12-2 3-6.The only ones that dont benefit out of fines are the ones that are fined themselves , but hey manners are soon restored if its easily remembered the space costs them 150 nicker more than the one 150 feet away they passed by to get there.

I have a disability which although appears as none to even the average doctor.If your "young" , the sharp side of forty is young to whom exactly , and you're not in a wheelchair , it gets the "look" from other badge parkers even if they also arent in a chair.Some of those ignorant b's tutting are just as bad , they leave their trolley on the bloody path , in the next parking space , and it means no chairs can get past unless they are lewis hamilton.

Oh to add my two cents about those that think its ok without a badge if the passenger is old or infirm , ie your a granny taxi.Get the passenger a badge , its their right only if they have a badge , theres power in numbers to protect these spaces "FOR THEM".The more badges we have out there the more spaces we all get.Only those with it have a right to park in them , not those without it even if they are in a chair , so yes your still technically as ignorant as the rest of them regardless.Its a win for all in you having one for dear old granny.All it takes filling in a form and a doctor signing it....and then your in with us in the blue badge mafia....instead of taking a "badge scheme" space from us that you/they have no right to.

Local 24hr supermarket , I watched night staff park in d spaces at the evening shift ....so how can you expect them to enforce them?I complained to the manager , and weeks later same car same space.

What I am saying is there is ignorant b's no matter what.Even though I think as time has went by they seem to be gaining in numbers , and in their years. Unless you protect something , by a form of punishment that has a greater personal loss than the benefit from it , then there is no deterrent at all.It will only continue , and therefore worsen , thats how the "monkey see monkey do social virus" seems to work these days.

Start clamping someone has said.Yes it fills the occasional bay longer in the short term , but shows a sign to deter others , as I call it its the "plaster pull conundrum" applied to d bay abuse.How many d badgers would smile , rather than complain , on not having a bay free while seeing a car clamped in the spaces for abusing them?I supspect none of us would complain at all.

Vote for us in your next election , the disabled badge parking spaces liberation party.Free house brick note embossed with "disabled parking only" to every voter....to use as you see fit.

lil_me

Personally I don't like it but I do see more disabled/elderly abusing parent and child parking spaces than I do other people abusing disabled spaces.

Babshubbie

lil_me wrote: »

Personally I don't like it but I do see more disabled/elderly abusing parent and child parking spaces than I do other people abusing disabled spaces.

This puzzles me a little bit. Disabled people cannot "abuse" other parking spaces, in my view. If the disabled bays are full, they should be able to park in any other bay and also on yellow lines, within their legal limits (ie. loading restrictions, etc.)

PinkJenn

Its always puzzled me why parent and child spaces are so close to the store. They need a safe route to the store rather than a quick one.

Don't start me on cashpoint 'cripples'

I think I'm in a ranting mood...:o

Altarf

PinkJenn wrote: »

Its always puzzled me why parent and child spaces are so close to the store. They need a safe route to the store rather than a quick one.

And which do you think is cheaper, redesigning the car park to create the safe walking route, or simply placing the parent and child spaces as close as possible to the store entrance so the "time exposed to danger" is minimised.

There are two problems with most supermarket car parks.

The first is design, most have traffic driving past the store entrance, so wherever you park you have to cross that traffic. Why? It is simple to design a car park to remove this problem. For example one supermarket locally has designed its car park as radial spokes away from the entrance so there is no traffic to cross and it works very well.

They also try to squeeze in too many cars without allowing for any pedestrian walkways, so pedestrians have to walk behind the parked cars or in the road at the ends of the parking rows.

Secondly it is the @~&%$ who drive around the car park without any thought for anyone else. Like the person who skidded to a halt as I used the zebra crossing outside the front of the supermarket last night.

Anyway supermarkets don't have parent and child spaces because they are concerned about the safety of children. Parents with children spend more money, so the supermarkets will do what is necessary to attract them. Just the same as having trolleys designed to carry a toddler.