Money Moral Dilemma: Would you park free if it blocked wheelchair access?

terryya

I'd park in it definitely. Surely if you need that much space you should park in a more sensible place! Everywhere I drive there are loads of empty disabled spaces whilst the 'normal' pay and display spaces are full of blue badges.

dbfisokay

Instinctively, no, I would not park. If only for a minute or two, I would consider it but I'd like to see if the wheelchair user was available to inform them that I would only be a minute or two.

I don't know the legality of this matter so won't comment on that. However the morality is clear - giving priority to able bodied's convenience over disabled bodied's inconvenience (possible or probable) is clearly immoral.

nathanhill69

dbfisokay wrote: »

I don't know the legality of this matter so won't comment on that. However the morality is clear - giving priority to able bodied's convenience over disabled bodied's inconvenience (possible or probable) is clearly immoral.

Nicely put, couldn't agree more.:T

A.Jones

dbfisokay wrote: »

I don't know the legality of this matter so won't comment on that. However the morality is clear - giving priority to able bodied's convenience over disabled bodied's inconvenience (possible or probable) is clearly immoral.

The legality of it is clear and simple. It is not illegal to park at the side of the street behind a vehicle displaying a sign saying they want extra space for whatever reason.

sweetcarer

A few years ago when my husband was still alive, he was a disabled guy and we kept the wheelchair in the boot of the car.

One night we went to Asda and it started to bucket really heavy rain. We went up to front of store to find a disabled parking place - none. So it wasn't that busy we waited to see if anyone left. Within a couple of minutes a disabled person left and we waited to let them reverse out so we could drive into their place.

Just as I put my car in gear some person drove in front of us and parked. They were able bodied. So I put on my hazard lights and went out in the rain and asked "what were they doing?". I got the reply it is pouring of rain and they just had their hair done for a night out and cost them £50 and they needed to get the drink in for a party they were having.

I went back to my car noting their registration. My husband suggested we park in the car park and not the disabled bit as we had to get on as we were on route to visiting some friends. So we did - got out - by this time I was soaking wet with talking to the person and removing wheelchair, lifting him into it and taking him into the the shop.

We went to customer services, who were apolgetic but said the places are only there out of courtesy and couldn't do anything. We left the store without anything vowing not to go back.

So in view of your question, no I wouldn't block the space. It is nice to know now some places fine you if you do park in the disabled spots. Wish my husband was alive to see it.

nathanhill69

I find it really dis-heartening that so many posters will argue the legality of the issue whilst totally ignoring the morale aspect.

Rotti

Surbybird.......Of course you don't see Porsches at Sainsburys........That's because Porsche drivers shop at Waitrose!

sweetcarer

[QUOTE=

Assume there is a disabled passenger/driver and let's take this to an extreme; how would you feel if every free/normal space was taken up by a blue badge holder while the disabled spaces were all empty? Who's (are) the selfish one(s) in this situation? This is partly how I see this. The blue badge holder could probably park in the NCP car park (or a similar council run one) for free anyway - so while hog 2 "normal" free spaces?

[/QUOTE]

I don't know if it is the same now as it was when my late husband was alive but NCP carparks and other multi storeys wanted you to pay in them as well.

A.Jones

nathanhill69 wrote: »

I find it really dis-heartening that so many posters will argue the legality of the issue whilst totally ignoring the morale aspect.

People's morals are different, so it is not ignoring the moral aspect. For me, the disabled person wanting to block other people's access to a free car parking space just so they can use at some point in the future it is morally wrong. If they want to ensure they have space for access in a busy area where there is not likely to be any extra free parking, they should wait until there is a parking space where the can guarantee the space they need, for example, backing up to double yellow lines.

It would not be so bad if they put the time they wanted access to the empty car parking space to help people decide whether they could use it, but it sounds like they just leave a basic sign in the window saying don't park behind me as I want to use the space for access.

If it is OK for disabled drivers to do this, then it is OK for all other drivers, white-van delivery-man, etc who also require access to space to open doors and load up.

Katita

Yes... probably. The point is, the owner of the car will have taken their chances just like me. They too could have paid and parked in a space in the NCP, but they chose not to. Therefore they should accept the risk that someone may park in front of/behind them because they do not want to pay.

The whole point of a notice politely requesting is just that - it's politely requesting. They have no right to claim a specific amount of space around their car. It's not a designated disabled space (and I would personally never park in such a space as I have no right to.).