Blue Badge and Where Can I Park?!

Richie-from-the-Boro

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

And when (not if, when) you get a "ticket" from the PPC, just ignore it, and then the more threatening letter from the PPC pretending to be a debt collector, and then the even more threatening letter from the PPC pretending to be a solicitor. They give up after this one.

Only a local authority or the police can levy a fine or penalty. PPCs have no more right to do so than you or I.

Park properly, of course, but even this won't guarantee safety. If, for example, you have to visit twice in one day, they will have CCTV images (oddly never of you actually parked in two places) of you at one time and then another, and will attempt to "fine" you for clearly overstaying the time limit.

To the PPC any driver is a potential target and a BB holder is an easier one. The hospital doesn't care, either. It can "wash its hands" and say that its parking is being "policed". The more car park owners that get sued for their agents' harrassment, the more will sit up and take notice, though.

- thank you for that [#15] Stephen

On the subject of a discretionary form of parking being labelled as either Mother and Baby or Parent and Child parking in hospitals, some do and some don't, some charge and some don't but none are required by law. The boards of hospitals must consider that unlike supermarkets the provision of C&P parking may satisfy some Social Accounting needs but it also damages profit.

- the bays are normally of a similar specification to a standard disabled bay which is one and a half a normal space
- a loss of normal spaces in any of the parks that earn an income for the trust
- council car parks serve the town not the individual and so P&C spaces are not ordinarily made available
- the cost of sinage and legal amendments to the parking orders are [10k] prohibitive
- enforcing bays and the definition of a child under the parking orders with children
- enforcing bays and the definition of a child under the parking orders without children

NOTE : 3.6 m in width as apposed to 2.4 m in width

Denny_Crane

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

ASDA under 12 - Tesco under 5 - generally there is no strict cut-off for the age of a child in the car but supermarkets expect common sense and honesty to self-regulate who uses them.

Its come to a sad state of affairs when when both the disabled and the able bodied can't find an available empty space whilst passing empty 'reserved' spaces for people who are disabled by the very act of having a child under a certain age. Both the disabled and the able bodied are discriminated against by not having small children in the car.

Its a preference not a need, Blue Badge spaces are there to service a real need .. .. P&C places are there because supermarkets offer them as a marketing inducement, I've just checked and having children is not listed as a disability. There is no law to provide P&C places, quite why hospitals provide them I've no idea.

I would however apply the double standard, and use a Blue Badge to park in a P&C place without any compunction whatsoever if the BB spaces were full.

Have you ever gone shopoping with a small child Richie?
Then you will know that the very reason for M&C spaces the same size as disbled spaces is because you need that extra space to get the child out of the car easily and into a buggy/Pram.
You try getting that child out in a full car park in a nortmal sized space!

IU have seen perfectly able blue badge owners and yes, I have chekcked that the badge in in their name and picture, drive into the supermarket disabled space and RUN to the shop to do their chores! Not every disbaled person with a blue badge needs the exr=tra space and closeness to the main doors, yet they are equally responsible for taking these disabled spaces from other disabled who actually need the space and closeness!

sheeps68

I'm afraid the fight for the blue badge spaces is reality. I choose to shop etc at odd times in the hope of getting spaces. As for the close space yes it is so needed. I manage around a supermarket by using a trolley as a walking aid and rest stops. Not a lot of choice really as a single person. I cant afford on line shopping for food as I need the bargains and reductions to make ends meet.
Unfortunately people will always abuse those spaces and simply do not consider the implications on others. I recently looked into driving for a day out and then hiring a scooter. All fine until the website said drivers should drop disabled person then go and park as all car parking was a long walk even the disabled spaces. Not possible I was the driver so day out had to be abandoned. Thankfully original poster doesn't want to drop baby then go and park!

Richie-from-the-Boro

Denny_Crane wrote: »

Have you ever gone shopoping with a small child Richie?
Then you will know that the very reason for M&C spaces the same size as disabled spaces is because you need that extra space to get the child out of the car easily and into a buggy/Pram.
You try getting that child out in a full car park in a normal sized space!

I have seen perfectly able blue badge owners and yes, I have checked that the badge in in their name and picture, drive into the supermarket disabled space and RUN to the shop to do their chores! Not every disabled person with a blue badge needs the extra space and closeness to the main doors, yet they are equally responsible for taking these disabled spaces from other disabled who actually need the space and closeness!

Of course I have shopped in a car with multiple small children. Its been happening since cars & supermarkets became prevalent in the late 60's and the beginning of the out-of-town retail park sites in the 1970s. No non-disabled person with or without children needs anything of the kind, they may want / wish / prefer / covet / fancy / crave / hanker for / lust after or yearn for .. .. .. but they don't need one.

If you see a """BB owner RUN to the shop to do chores""" use the video cam on your mobile, photograph the car / reg / badge and athletic owner and submit your evidence to the local BB issuing authority. If they are guilty then both the BB and any relevant benefits authority should informed and all benefits withdrawn immediately. That's for the authorities to decide, I would have no problem whatsoever with that happening.

Mojisola

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

Of course I have shopped in a car with multiple small children. Its been happening since cars & supermarkets became prevalent in the late 60's and the beginning of the out-of-town retail park sites in the 1970s. No non-disabled person with or without children needs anything of the kind, they may want / wish / prefer / covet / fancy / crave / hanker for / lust after or yearn for .. .. .. but they don't need one.

Looking at the new "travel systems" that babies and young children are moved around in, you do need to be able to fully open the car doors to get the car seats in and out.

janninew

Mojisola wrote: »

Looking at the new "travel systems" that babies and young children are moved around in, you do need to be able to fully open the car doors to get the car seats in and out.

Agree with this, my car seat is so bulky that my car door needs to be opened fully and this is quite difficult (or impossible) if you are parked in a regular spot between 2 cars.

My plan (before I had a baby on oxygen with medical equipment) was when taking baby shopping to park at the end of the car park that is always empty and park over 2 spaces - naughty I know, but the end of the car park is always empty when I go shopping and I have a new car which I don't want denting by other shoppers!

As said before I have never taken my daughter shopping (yet!) and I always park far away in the empty end of the car park to avoid dents in my door! Yet funnily enough when I come back to my car there is nearly always somebody parked right next to me even though we are surrounded by empty spaces! :rotfl:

Richie-from-the-Boro

Mojisola wrote: »

Looking at the new "travel systems" that babies and young children are moved around in, you do need to be able to fully open the car doors to get the car seats in and out.

- travel system is just another marketing name for a pushchair
- there have always been small average and large buggy's
- there have always been 'transformer' buggy's that are child car seats

Most people are not stupid enough to buy a washer that won't fit under the worktop, why people would buy a buggy they can't safety fit in and out of the car beats me, but yes I've seen it.

Its 30 years since parking spaces became 7 feet and 10.4 inches, unless people have been in gestation for 360 weeks instead of 36 they really can't claim they didn't know their buggy wouldn't fit before they bought it, no its not a need its an oversight on their part.

Mojisola

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

- travel system is just another marketing name for a pushchair
- there have always been small average and large buggy's
- there have always been 'transformer' buggy's that are child car seats

Most people are not stupid enough to buy a washer that won't fit under the worktop, why people would buy a buggy they can't safety fit in and out of the car beats me, but yes I've seen it.

Its 30 years since parking spaces became 7 feet and 10.4 inches, unless people have been in gestation for 360 weeks instead of 36 they really can't claim they didn't know their buggy wouldn't fit before they bought it, no its not a need its an oversight on their part.

But they can get baby plus seat out of the car because there are wider, child-and-parent spaces.

It would be perverse not to buy a modern travel system because it can't be taken out of the car without the wider spaces when most car parks have wider spaces.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Mojisola wrote: »

But they can get baby plus seat out of the car because there are wider, child-and-parent spaces.

It would be perverse not to buy a modern travel system because it can't be taken out of the car without the wider spaces when most car parks have wider spaces.

Look my friend I'm not here to debate the efficacy of pushchairs, and I'm not quite sure what you are getting at, are you saying """perverse not to buy a modern travel system because it can't be taken out of the car without the wider spaces when most car parks have disabled bays they can park in without being a BB user ?"""

Or are you saying that if supermarketeers are prepared as a marketing ploy, to make available 3.6 meter wide Child & Parent places you should be allowed to use them ? - if you are - then I agree, of course you should be allowed to use them.

This thread was about Hospitals and Blue Badge parking, it was first dragged into the P&C topic by : - 'Soapn' in #18. For myself as stated I'm not getting into the 'equivalent~to~disabled rights for people who have children'

Soapn

how did anyone ever manage to function without disabled spaces, child spaces, buses where you could get prams on and the like? We just got on with it. And my oldest is only 19.