Who do blue badge holders think they are.

Paul_Varjak

I am a blue badge holder and I want to ask what it is about Joe Public that thinks they have a right to park in disabled bays when they are not disabled?

Some while ago, I was driving into a car park, parked my car in a disabled bay and put my blue badge in the window. Almost immediately a very irate delivry driver banged on my window demanding to know why I had stolen his parking place as he was waiting to park there!

I asked him if he was disabled and he demanded to know if I was - I just poionted at the blue badge I had just put in my window! He then uttered some bad language and left.

sarahg1969

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I am a blue badge holder and I want to ask what it is about Joe Public that thinks they have a right to park in disabled bays when they are not disabled?

Some while ago, I was driving into a car park, parked my car in a disabled bay and put my blue badge in the window. Almost immediately a very irate delivry driver banged on my window demanding to know why I had stolen his parking place as he was waiting to park there!

I asked him if he was disabled and he demanded to know if I was - I just poionted at the blue badge I had just put in my window! He then uttered some bad language and left.

How do you know who is and isn't disabled, though? Of course, the delivery driver would be obvious, but what about a disabled person who doesn't have a blue badge, but needs to use the disabled bay? You can't assume that because someone doesn't have a blue badge, they are not disabled, just as you cannot assume that someone is not disabled because they seem to be walking normally.

covlass

I have a blue badge for my daughter she has no visible disabilities & I have been challenged by an older man for parking in a disabled bay even though the badge was clearly displayed. I was told there is nothing wrong with 'that' child so i do not have the right to a blue badge. I just called him uneducated and went on my way.

gregg1

burtons wrote: »

I had the 3 kids in the car so if i decided to find another space it would have been where there was 2 spaces as i could get the baby seat out because of the small spaces.

Ridiculous! When my kids were young there were no parent/child parking spaces and we managed perfectly well getting car seats in and out of cars along with the other kids.

caz2703

gregg1 wrote: »

Ridiculous! When my kids were young there were no parent/child parking spaces and we managed perfectly well getting car seats in and out of cars along with the other kids.

I don't know where you used to shop back then but these days the spaces in some shopping centres/supermarkets are so small I can barely manage to get in and out let alone getting a child seat (I'm 5'8" and a a normal weight for my height before anyone assumes it's my size that prevents me). Asda seem to be the worst and their P&C spaces are no bigger than normal spaces so I just drive around until I can get a space at the end of a row instead.

Salz

olias wrote: »

Think back to maybe 20-30 years ago. There were no disabled bays, and certainly no 'parent and child' bays and yet everyone managed to survive. I was not aware of disabled people starving to death in their thousands for want of a parking space a bit closer to Tescos front door, or hoards of kids getting trapped in their cars because the gap just wasn't quite big enough to get the baby seat out, so they'd have to stay in there forever entombed.

The problem is the more you give people, the more they expect and the more they demand...

Olias

30 years ago out of town supermarkets were only just beginning - most people did their shopping in the local shops, mothers worked part time and used their buggys to carry the shopping. We have pictures of my parents road in the 70's with 3 cars parked in it. Now there is never space to park.

I use P&C space because I have a 3 year old still in a strap in car seat. You need to open the door wide to get the straps undone and lift her out. I would have no problem with these wider spaces being away from the store as long as there was a proper path from them - and I think most parents would agree on this.

With regards to the OP, if your kids were not getting out of the car, why did you need a P&C space anyway?

emma-uk

My Dad is a Blue Badge holder. He has Leaukemia so no missing limbs. Believe it or not this is not a box that needs ticking to qualify for a Blue Badge.

sarahg1969

Why do all these parents want to leave their children stuck in their car seats while they cart them round the shops? Take them out, and let them stretch a little.

Paul_Varjak

sarahg1969 wrote: »

How do you know who is and isn't disabled, though? Of course, the delivery driver would be obvious, but what about a disabled person who doesn't have a blue badge, but needs to use the disabled bay? You can't assume that because someone doesn't have a blue badge, they are not disabled, just as you cannot assume that someone is not disabled because they seem to be walking normally.

sarahg1969...

I do not, as a matter of course, challenge whether someone is disabled or not. But when I am challenged with a blue badge in my windscreen by a burly delivery driver who claims I have pinched his parking space, I am bound to question if he is disabled too!

caz2703

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Why do all these parents want to leave their children stuck in their car seats while they cart them round the shops? Take them out, and let them stretch a little.

Really? Do you have any kids?

I'm lucky that the big Tesco near me has lots of trollies that are suitable for a newborn but the shopping centre I use most of the time rarely has them. Given a newborn can't hold their head until around 4 months and even then may not be able to sit unaided in a trolley seat, just where do you expect the little one to stretch out ....... inbetween a bag of spuds and the toilet rolls in the trolley :eek: