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Parking with a blue badge when looking "normal.."
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I used to get this all the time, when I took my mother anywhere. OK, it must've looked odd, when I got out of the car. The offenders always shut up and crawled back into their hole when she got out of the car on two walking sticks and I lifted her wheelchair out of the car. Some even apologised.
For your information ...
The Blue Badge scheme does not apply to private (ie. supermarket) car parks. If you do have a badge, you don't need to display it.
Anyone, who is disabled under the terms of The Equality Act 2010 ...
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents
... can use a disabled parking bay. They may, or may not, also be Blue Badge holders.
But, The Equality Act doesn't say that able-bodied drivers can't also use disabled parking bays. OK, they shouldn't, but they can.
This probably contravenes the contract terms & conditions for the car park. However, they usually state that you shouldn't park in a disabled bay without displaying a badge. But, this contravenes The Equality Act.
Even if we assume that the T&Cs constitute a legally binding contract, all the car park owner can claim in damages for any breach of contract is their loss as a result. If it's a free car park, this is £0.00.
Only councils, the police and Transport for London can impose legally enforceable fines of penalties for parking offences. Private parking companies can't.
Therefore, a, for example, £85 "charge" is unreasonable, is an "unfair contract penalty" and is legally unenforceable. Any Parking Charge Notice is a "speculative invoice" and can and should be ignored. Any subsequent threatening letters have been judged to constitute harassment under the terms of The Protection from Harassment Act 1997.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/contentsThe acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in my life.0 -
I usually say "no but of you watch long enough my heart might stop".
I consider myself disabled and I'm no longer a wheelchair user, 6 weekly visits to the hospital will make anyone feel that way.0 -
The Blue badge holder is my daughter and I've had the looks - I've even had an old bloke wave his badge at me when I've parked in a disabled bay that I've been waiting 5 minutes for at the hospital. Thing is she looks completely normal as I lift her out of the car but she has a rare genetic disorder which causes ataxia and she cannot walk. I need to be able to open the door right the way to get her out of the car as her poor co-ordination means she can 'lurch' as I am lifting her. It is impossible to get her in and out otherwise as she is in danger of bashing herself. It is ok if I can find a space with an empty space on her side when I park but there's no guarantee it will still be empty when I get back and then I can't get her back into the car. Just because I am putting her into a pushchair (big double one with her little brother as we are saving to match funding on a special needs buggy with a tandem seat as DS is not yet 1) does not mean her need is any less valid.0
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i have the same issues with the radar toilet key, just because my dd doesn't look disabled doesn't mean she isn't! most of the comments and filthy looks are forum the over 60'sThis is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0
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I get the same grief from people in the 30 seconds it takes me to get to the rear passenger door of the car and start unloading my partner's wheelchair, then suddenly the people mysteriously disappear!
Before we got the current folding chair, she'd get the same in the time it took for her to manoeuvre to the rear of her car on crutches to unpack the chair from the boot and assemble it. Apparently needing to move around on crutches isn't disabled enough, despite the obvious difficulty of getting out of the car in a normal sized space.
I think half the problem is people are conditioned to believe that disability = wheelchair. The fact that the disability logo, the one you see on every blue badge, is of a stick figure in a wheelchair just reinforces that.
Time for a new symbol perhaps? Maybe a picture of a Tory MP stamping on someone's face as this can represent every disabled person in this country.0 -
This kind of behaviour really disgusts me, and I cannot believe people in this day and age still take this attutude!
I am 24 and spent 4 years (straight out of college) working as a support worker with disabled adults and time and time again would receive dirty looks and comments from complete strangers!
The worst I heard was ''how can they let people like that out in public!!''
I've never been one to talk back but on several occasions I could not hold myself back.
The majority of comments were from people over the age of 50 and I hope that younger generations do not take this point of view.
I'm sure that if these small minded individuals were to be in some accident or (with old age) require care, that they would not take anyone talking to them in that manner!
Please stand up for yourselves and don't let this small minority of people put you down!
Sorry, rant over!Sealed Pot Challenge 5 #1806 / £159.18
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If it were me i would have had a wee word with the chap and made sure he thinks before he speaks next time, wouldnt think a formal complaint where the person could lose their job would be the route to go down.
As much as it is discracefull that any genuine disabled person is subjected to any sort of abuse in these circumstances, if it were me i would be more annoyed with the many abusers of the system, who give those genuinely in need a bad name, than the misguided moaners who vent their feelings to the wrong people!!0 -
I get treated like that, except with me I get the stares and the looks of "She's not disabled!" on their faces.I hardly go out as it is as I'm housebound alot so when people say something to me or stare at me in that way, it does upset me.
Of course, when I hobble to my wheelchair with my stick they don't know where to look, and I hope that they feel bad for treating me in that way.
I'm 25 and we have quite a throaty car so people assume that means that I'm able-bodied. I wish I was. I miss being able to just take a walk outside without feeling so exhausted, in pain and ill.:(
Not all disabilities are obvious. I just wish more people would see that!
As for what I'd do? I agree with kingfisherblue and I'd complain to head office. It sounds like they need disability awareness training!
My husband once left me in Tesco to go and get the bags from the car that we had forgotten (that was a scary experience being left on my own but that's another matter!). My BB was in full view in the window and some guy came up to my husband and said "Are you disabled?", to which my husband replied "No, but my wife is". The guy asked why my husband had parked in a disabled space when I wasn't with him. Well, I was with him. My husband had just nipped out to get the bags as I obviously couldn't! It's moments like that that cause judgment too. We were clearly displaying the BB and my husband said that the guy had seen it but had decided to make his own judgments anyway.2019 Wins
1/25
£2019 in 2019
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I get it alot, I'm able-bodied but have a hearing impairment, I care for my brother who's blind, a mother who has a mobility disability and a father who is terminally ill (dying) with cancer.
Depending who I'm with I get different reactions. Once with my mum I got pulled from behind and shouted at, "Are you deaf or something, I've been calling you, to tell you that you can't park there!" Which inturn I replied, " Yes I do have a hearing impairment thankyou for noticing." Then my mum whilst leaning on the car raised her walking stick towards the man and said, "Also we can park here the BB is in my name!"
When I was with my brother, a woman said, "can't you see the sign?" To which my brother turned to face her and replied, "No!" It was the first time I saw a woman do a 180' spin on her heels and walk off once she saw his white cane.
Strangely we never get a sorry.0 -
Brassedoff wrote: »Hmm, are you not claiming to be disabled when the person has a condition or illness? Not saying an condition or illness is less deserving at all, but to claim a disability and then using "limp" or "wheelchair" offends me! And before anyone jumps on me. Wheelchair user=disabled. Heart condition or agoraphobic = Ill or suffering from a condition.
I would do anything not to be disabled, but years ago after suffering from meningitis, which left me feeling depressed. Back then I was ill, not disabled. Next they'll be saying a slipped disc is disabled!!!!
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.
Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.
—World Health OrganizationLoyal to those deserving!!.0
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