Grrr - blue badge

shazrobo

i'm one of those parents with teenagers who do use the parent and child parking spaces. both my sons have learning disabilities, and are on full rate of dla care as well as low rate mobility. i would never park in a disabled spot, but do use he parent and child bays, as it means the children arnt running in front of cars. yes i can hold there hands walking into the supermarket, but its a different story coming out with lots of shopping.

Unity

Altarf wrote: »

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.

An excellent point on car park design and something constructive that could be done if only the architects thought about it. Mind you I went to a university where the disabled parking spaces were next to a pathway of decorative cobbles (newly constructed, not left over from a bygone age:D) - visually pleasing, but try walking across them with crutches, or wheeling across them in a chair without a suspension :eek:.

shazrobo wrote: »

i'm one of those parents with teenagers who do use the parent and child parking spaces. both my sons have learning disabilities, and are on full rate of dla care as well as low rate mobility. i would never park in a disabled spot, but do use he parent and child bays, as it means the children arnt running in front of cars. yes i can hold there hands walking into the supermarket, but its a different story coming out with lots of shopping.

If the disabled spaces are nearer and you have blue badges for your boys I would use them. You have the right and it would be safer. Yet again no doubt you'll get the "look" from those who judge first and find the facts out later - if they can be @rsed! Of course most of them are happy in their ignorance .

colin13

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.

i sometimes wonder how i survived bring up my family without parent child spaces

and to say disabled people r abusing them tht is a big no where do u want us to park ,,we need the extra space and if we parked in a normall spacce and scratched someones car tht would b a fault as well

chopperharris

shazrobo wrote: »

i'm one of those parents with teenagers who do use the parent and child parking spaces. both my sons have learning disabilities, and are on full rate of dla care as well as low rate mobility. i would never park in a disabled spot, but do use he parent and child bays, as it means the children arnt running in front of cars. yes i can hold there hands walking into the supermarket, but its a different story coming out with lots of shopping.

My mother has never had a badge , she has a similar situation.Cant seem to get it into her head that what she thinks is a "handout" , is actually just a legal right to a benefit to "enable" some normality (or at least approach it) for the holder.

ALIBOBSY

I think I can solve this is one foul swoop, and make things easy (at not too much cost)for the store. My father in law ( in a wheelchair himself) suggests like the disabled "keys" for the (radar?) toilets. Couldn't an area be fenced off with a barrier controlled by the key or something simular (a fob that comes with the blue badge pehaps?).

ali x

peediedj

MY DISABLED SON(WHOM WE HAVE A BLUE BADGE FOR,AND HE,S IN A WHEELCHAIR)has numerous hospital appointments,the amount of people who stop behind my car(or the wifes car) when we get out to get his wheelchair etc ready,and either wave there blue badge about in the air or ask if we have one is unbeleivable,just because he looks normal,they think were abusing it,i usually just ignore them,which winds them up even more,as they dont know from behind the car if we have a blue badge,once i put my son in his wheelchair they usually drive off without saying a word

peediedj

ALIBOBSY wrote: »

I think I can solve this is one foul swoop, and make things easy (at not too much cost)for the store. My father in law ( in a wheelchair himself) suggests like the disabled "keys" for the (radar?) toilets. Couldn't an area be fenced off with a barrier controlled by the key or something simular (a fob that comes with the blue badge pehaps?).

ali x

very good idea,but would still cost money to set up and maintain,and iam not to sure supermarket want to discourage people,i think there not really that bothered if disabled or non disabled customers use the spaces,at the end of the day its a customer to them

peediedj

Altarf wrote: »

Like the person who skidded to a halt as I used the zebra crossing outside the front of the supermarket last night.

.

the crossing in our supermarket car park,99% of drivers who use it havent got a clue what its there for(nor do they have a clue what a no entry sign means in the car park)the amount of times i have been half way across the crossing and a cars just missed me,and they dont even stop once they see u,apart from the time i was half way across,a car just missed me so i kicked the side of his car,the guy soon stopped then,and go all agressive,once i told him he was breaking the law not stoppnig,and i could get him done,he drove off

Daisy_Dumpling

Pssst wrote: »

I could be wrong but i seem to recall that to get a blue badge you need to be in receipt of some level of DLA or something?

Time for my two penn'orth :cheesy:

I have had a Blue Badge for the last 15 years since I had to retire from work at the age of 30 due to psoriatic arthritis. I do not claim any sort of benefit. I don't need it. I have my pension from my old company which pays for the running of my car, and my husband is a high earner. I don't need to use my BB all the time - I have some 'good' days when I can walk more than the requisite 100m without the aid of my stick. I use normal bays then. On my 'bad' days I use a disabled bay.

I was honest about this on my renewal form about 10 years ago but because I was not in receipt of DLA I was refused. I appealed, explaining the circimstances and the decision was overturned and I got my BB. This, not money, makes my life easier and gives me the freedom to live a better, more independent life.

BB's can easily be applied for, and if the condition necessitating it is severe enough, one will be provided. There is no real excuse for parking without one.

Daisyxx

zzzLazyDaisy

My Dad has had a blue badge for years. He is 80 - way over the age for DLA. But he has Parkinson's and doesn't have good days, every day is a struggle to walk at all as the message doesn't get from his brain to his legs, so every step takes a conscious effort, but NO WAY will he use a wheel chair.

I also know a young girl who has ME, she has low rate mobility DLA, but she also has a BB, because although she has too many good days to qualify for HRM, she has enough bad days to qualify for a BB (she got it with support from her GP)

So yes, a BB is available for people who genuinely need it, and people who don't have one should not use the BB parking spaces.

I don't think the chains would work though - it is okay for people who are accompanied, but for people who have difficulty getting in and out of the car, it would present and extra obstacle. However, maybe a barrier and a swipe card might be an answer - I guess the extra cost of installation in existing supermarket car parks mught be a deterrent, but it might be considered for new car parks?