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

Rotti

They didn't have parent and child bays when my children were small but I didn't need them because I walked to the supermarket, giving them fresh air on the way. When they grew older they learnt to be good pedestrians too, something children now don't learn as they are driven everywhere! Fresh air and exercise........what will they think of next?? The really good thing about those bays though is that they keep the doting mothers and their little darlings a good distance away from my car! We returned to our car one day (echelon parking) to find a hippy earth mother in a beat-up old Volvo estate loading her kids into the car with both doors touching the side of our brand new car. when we dared to mention it she said "It's only paint"!! When I and mine were growing up we were taught to open doors carefully and not hurl them into the next-door car. My dad even used to hold the door with his hand between us and them!

My husband has a disabled badge but is not in a wheelchair. Our pet hate is people who park in disabled bays to "pop to the shop" as they think they will not be in anyone's way. If you need a space while they are "popping" and are in a big one-way system, you cannot easily get back to it. Another one is where the bays are simply marked and do not have the extra width. People park so close to the driver's door (sometimes on adjacent DYs) that you can't get in. Can they not stop to think that someone who is disabled might need a bit more room to manoevre into their car? Oh no it's that same selfishness that creeps into every walk of life now, be it dropping litter, yelling into mobile phones or riding a bike on the pavement. It is illegal to park in a disabled bay without a badge and it is also illegal to park outside a marked bay, so why are these people not getting tickets? Well in our City it is because our council-employed CEOs (Civil Enforcement Officers.......can't call them wardens any more) find much richer pickings in the car parks booking anyone who has overstayed by a couple of minutes!:mad:

nancey wrote: »

It's good that you're highlighting the topic - but perhaps you could also get disabled contributors to make other suggestions for similar topics.....

What about overcharging for items associated with disability (a bit like red roses on Valentine's Day!). We have a leather cover for our blue badge purchased on eBay for £2. At the mobility shop the same thing was £13.99!!!! we recently bought a fully kitted out 2-person picnic rucksack for £14.99, but a friend who has breathing problems needed an oxygen carrier to put over his shoulder. Couldn't find on on the net so had to go to the mobility shop. It is a simple open tube of standard canvas with two long straps and it cost a whopping £33!! Outrageous!:mad:
Check out the prices of gadgets "designed to make life easier" in these insert magazines and you will find it applies across the board.

Top Tip: never buy from those mags until you have Googled for a cheaper option. We saved £30 on the Radio Times price of a steam mop (exact same model) by buying on eBay.

Beaulygirl

No - If someone has had to make the effort to make a sign for his car in the first place, then it is obviously a porblem he had come across before. I have two legs so can walk in to town if I choose to park further out, or just pay the £5 knwoing that I am not contributing to the low lifes this country endures on a daily basis.

unicornstar

No I wouldn't, unless I was just nipping into a nearby shop for a minute.

Regarding the parent and child spaces, its funny how ignorant most people are about this, the idea isn't that they are close to the shop, in many supermarkets they aren't even the closest spaces to the shop, the whole point is that they are wide so people can get baby car seats in and out safely and easily and also with slightly older children so that you don't have to put their buggy in the road while you are strapping them in etc. For example in a normal space, say you're using a double buggy with 2 toddlers in, you take one out and put it in the car, where do you leave the buggy with the remaining child in??? behind the car in the road??? Do people really not understand this??? It's quite simple really. The spaces are not designed for people with older children who walk all the time, these people abuse the spaces too.

Also I can sympathise with the pregnant lady, when I was pregnant I was huge from early on and there were several times I came back to my car and couldnt' get in because someone had parked ridiculously close to me. It's not easy climbing in the other side and hauling yourself over the hand brake and gear stick with a huge bump and severe pelvic pain!!!! Some people are so selfish to say these people shouldn't be entitled to special spaces. Why should pregnant people and people with young children not be allowed to go shopping?!

I love Asda where they have the pregnancy bays as well as family ones and I think all the supermarkets should fine people who abuse the spaces.

A.Jones

I would park there to save the money. There is no law against parking behind another car. Why should I pay to park somewhere more expensive to save the disabled driver / passenger money?

But given the number of responses saying that they would never ever park (legally) behind a car with a sign like that in the window, maybe I will put one in my car. The extra space will make putting shopping in the boot and backing out a bit easier.

Solomon_Broad

I think we need clarification on a couple of points:

Is this a disabled bay that the disabled person has parked in?

And

Have they paid for two parking spaces, seeing as that is what they're using?

donna1976_2

I would do it- if I didnt park there somebody else would! They would have a disable badge themselves and therefore be able to park where they were guaranteed access. Its like askin the q 'if u found a purse full of money wud u hand it in' (which i ave and did). If u knew people wud u wud do the same but in this day and age people arent like that anymore

scrobble

Solomon_Broad wrote: »

I think we need clarification on a couple of points:

Is this a disabled bay that the disabled person has parked in?

And

Have they paid for two parking spaces, seeing as that is what they're using?

I think the answers to your questions are no, it's not a disabled space they have parked in - and I was assuming that it was on-street parking (I guess disc zone or similar) so the issue of paying for spaces wouldn't arise. I might have got the wrong end of the stick, though.

Summer76

BigSky wrote: »

Absolutely NOT! Only the most ignorant lazy !!!!!! would do that.

I’d park in a “family” parking bay though even if I was on my own. Why should people that decide to bring their screaming, fat, badly-behaved kids round the supermarket get special parking bays?

With regards to the family parking bays. Can we not just accept this as good customer service gesture by the supermarkets. OK it does not benefit everyone (me included) but if they did not at least make the effort to satisfy customers then we would shop elsewhere were they do make the effort. I am sure we all benefit from some other gesture. Can't please everyone all the time. Sorry if I have gone off the track a bit.

unicornstar

Rotti wrote: »

They didn't have parent and child bays when my children were small but I didn't need them because I walked to the supermarket, giving them fresh air on the way. When they grew older they learnt to be good pedestrians too, something children now don't learn as they are driven everywhere! Fresh air and exercise........what will they think of next?? .

I love this! What alot of people forget is that alot of the big supermarkets are in the middle of nowhere meaning you have to drive to them. Back in those days life wasn't as fast paced as it is now. Women now often work as well as being mothers and wouldn't have time to walk to the supermarket. Life was very different years ago so it's not really a good comparison is it?

simond001

Cloudane wrote: »

No...

Parking in a disabled space is illegal, I think? Even if this is a loophole since it's not a designated disable space, no. I'll leave that to the 4x4 and Audi drivers.

As an Audi driver (A4 Cab) and a 4x4 owner (Toaureg) I find this insulting.

I would never park in a way to block the rear entrance to a disabled users vehicle.

maybe thats because I have a heavily disabled mother in law, and dont live the the pathetic stereotypes that you seem to.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Idiot.