Disabled parking, is it fair?

Auntieflo

*parent+child spaces are just a courtesy offer, they are not generally enforceable. ie anyone can park in them*

I have a blue badge, and one time could find no parking bay, but, there were a few Mother & Child spaces. So I used one, only to be told, by a shop (Tesco's) assistant, that if the parking attendant saw this, I would be fined?

I did manage to move the car, but do not know how true this was.

Yes, you are correct, Auntieflo
The car parks are operated by a different company and they threaten blue badge holders with fines if they park in parent and child spaces, even if all the disabled spaces are full.

DH says he would see them in court. 🙂

Primrose53

Auntieflo

parent+child spaces are just a courtesy offer, they are not generally enforceable. ie anyone can park in them

I have a blue badge, and one time could find no parking bay, but, there were a few Mother & Child spaces. So I used one, only to be told, by a shop (Tesco's) assistant, that if the parking attendant saw this, I would be fined?

I did manage to move the car, but do not know how true this was.

That’s a lie. I was in a Tesco once and a woman was complaining that she had seen someone clearly not disabled using a disabled space. The Tesco Manager told her they can do nothing about it. He wouldn’t even send somebody out to check. They certainly have no authority to fine you either.

They do in fact have the authority to fine people parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge, it’s their carpark so they make the rules. I know somebody who was fined in my local Tesco, quite rightly too.
www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tesco-fine-people-parking-disabled-14248411#:~:text=A%20spokesman%20for%20the%20retailer,charge%20notice%20(fine).%22

Luckily I can (& do) walk for miles, but what I can’t do, and the reason I have my blue badge, is to get in or out of my car in a tight parking space, I need to be able to fully open the door. People probably wonder about me as I stride confidently into the shop, I do always try to park in a blue badge bay as far from the shop as possible to save the closer spaces for those that have mobility issues. If I use a ‘normal’ bay and someone parks very close to me I can’t get back into my car.

I was once coming out of hospital and had to go into the pharmacy in person to pick up a prescription. The only parking space available was a disabled space and so my husband pulled in there and waited. As I hobbled out of the pharmacy, on crutches with my leg ankle to thigh in plaster I was harangued by another motorist because I didn't have a blue badge! I think people need to be sensible about this.

When my husband was terminally ill with Leukaemia the hospital arranged for us to have a blue badge. He obviously couldn’t drive so I only used to take him to hospital or doctors. Once on the way back from hospital we called into a supermarket, he at the time was looking reasonably well. A lady came up to me and said I obviously wasn’t disabled so why was I using a badge and taking up a space for someone else. My husband started to explain until I butted in and said it has absolutely nothing to do with her and we didn’t have to explain.
We then got back to the car to find I had a fine on the windscreen - it said I had illegally displayed the badge upside down. The supermarket wouldn’t do anything as they say the parking is run by a different company so I had to pay up.

If you have a disabled badge , display it !! It's courtesy.
I haven't got it on me - rubbish ! !!!
If you have a badge you know the importance of displaying it.
I required disabled parking while caring for my dad , without it his ability to be part of every day society was severely restricted.
I did then and continue now, after he has passed , tochallenge people if they don't have badge .

Casdon

Primrose53

Auntieflo

parent+child spaces are just a courtesy offer, they are not generally enforceable. ie anyone can park in them

I have a blue badge, and one time could find no parking bay, but, there were a few Mother & Child spaces. So I used one, only to be told, by a shop (Tesco's) assistant, that if the parking attendant saw this, I would be fined?

I did manage to move the car, but do not know how true this was.

That’s a lie. I was in a Tesco once and a woman was complaining that she had seen someone clearly not disabled using a disabled space. The Tesco Manager told her they can do nothing about it. He wouldn’t even send somebody out to check. They certainly have no authority to fine you either.

They do in fact have the authority to fine people parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge, it’s their carpark so they make the rules. I know somebody who was fined in my local Tesco, quite rightly too.
www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tesco-fine-people-parking-disabled-14248411#:~:text=A%20spokesman%20for%20the%20retailer,charge%20notice%20(fine).%22

But is it right that someone with a blue badge cannot park in a parent and child space if all the disabled spaces are full and there are several empty parent and child spaces?

It really is a difficult situation nowadays, so I hope this makes sense. DD2, as a full-time Wheelchair user needs the extra space to get car door wide open to transfer to her wheelchair, after which, she is able to self propel and says she’d be happy to do that from further away and leave other normal sized, but designated as disabled bays immediately outside a venue for those who are able to walk, but with difficulty/sticks/crutches, etc.
I think she is sort of advocating an overhaul of the Blue Badge system, so that wheelchair users can be identified from others, perhaps whose disability is hidden.
Last weekend, once again, we had the usual stares, as we pulled into a disabled bay, especially when able-bodied me jumped from the passenger seat, while she took a phone call. The chap alongside just stared and shook his head, until I eventually got her wheelchair from her boot. By this time DD2 had asked him if he was ok - but he turned away and looked out of the other window without replying.
Many years ago, a woman asked DD2 why she had pulled into a disabled bay and was told, in no uncertain terms, that the wheelchair in the boot was not a fu*king fashion accessory.

What really annoys me is the blatant mis-use of badges to gain free parking in some carparks. DD2 has been challenged by Parking Attendants a couple of times and was happy to show the photo on the reverse side of her badge.

65KL

If you have a disabled badge , display it !! It's courtesy.
I haven't got it on me - rubbish ! !!!
If you have a badge you know the importance of displaying it.
I required disabled parking while caring for my dad , without it his ability to be part of every day society was severely restricted.
I did then and continue now, after he has passed , tochallenge people if they don't have badge .

DD accidentally drove off with DH's badge the other week so he parked in an ordinary space at the hospital.

Casdon

Primrose53

Auntieflo

parent+child spaces are just a courtesy offer, they are not generally enforceable. ie anyone can park in them

I have a blue badge, and one time could find no parking bay, but, there were a few Mother & Child spaces. So I used one, only to be told, by a shop (Tesco's) assistant, that if the parking attendant saw this, I would be fined?

I did manage to move the car, but do not know how true this was.

That’s a lie. I was in a Tesco once and a woman was complaining that she had seen someone clearly not disabled using a disabled space. The Tesco Manager told her they can do nothing about it. He wouldn’t even send somebody out to check. They certainly have no authority to fine you either.

They do in fact have the authority to fine people parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge, it’s their carpark so they make the rules. I know somebody who was fined in my local Tesco, quite rightly too.
www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tesco-fine-people-parking-disabled-14248411#:~:text=A%20spokesman%20for%20the%20retailer,charge%20notice%20(fine).%22

Is it against the law to park in these bays?
No, it isn't illegal, but you could end up with a fine.

Traffic wardens can only penalise motorists parked in a council-owned car park or on the street, so it's up to the supermarkets to patrol their own car parks.

So how would it stand up in a court of law if someone with a blue badge parked in a parent and child space because no disabled spaces were available?

Does a fitvparent with two able-bodied children of, say, 10 and 11, take priority over someone who can barely walk for whatever reason or who needs a wheelchair?

I have seen on FB pages younger people saying they have the right to report disabled people for doing so, and they should take priority.
Mean and selfish?

Callistemon21

Casdon

Primrose53

Auntieflo

parent+child spaces are just a courtesy offer, they are not generally enforceable. ie anyone can park in them

I have a blue badge, and one time could find no parking bay, but, there were a few Mother & Child spaces. So I used one, only to be told, by a shop (Tesco's) assistant, that if the parking attendant saw this, I would be fined?

I did manage to move the car, but do not know how true this was.

That’s a lie. I was in a Tesco once and a woman was complaining that she had seen someone clearly not disabled using a disabled space. The Tesco Manager told her they can do nothing about it. He wouldn’t even send somebody out to check. They certainly have no authority to fine you either.

They do in fact have the authority to fine people parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge, it’s their carpark so they make the rules. I know somebody who was fined in my local Tesco, quite rightly too.
www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tesco-fine-people-parking-disabled-14248411#:~:text=A%20spokesman%20for%20the%20retailer,charge%20notice%20(fine).%22

But is it right that someone with a blue badge cannot park in a parent and child space if all the disabled spaces are full and there are several empty parent and child spaces?

Yes, I think it is right, I don’t think being disabled trumps being a young mother with children in car seats, any more than it being right for a car with young children onboard to be parked in a disabled space. What’s important is that each supermarket has sufficient designated spaces for both to park conveniently.

In France there are signs by the disabled bays saying “ Have may space, have my disability”
Food for thought!

Our local railway station has 10 drop off and pick up bays 6 are disabled, now that doesn’t seem fair!

they are difficult to get and it is horrible to be confronted by people when just going about your daily business. It used to happen to us a lot when our children were little. Happens less now the one with a disability is older but you still get looks off people

Casdon

Primrose53

Auntieflo

parent+child spaces are just a courtesy offer, they are not generally enforceable. ie anyone can park in them

I have a blue badge, and one time could find no parking bay, but, there were a few Mother & Child spaces. So I used one, only to be told, by a shop (Tesco's) assistant, that if the parking attendant saw this, I would be fined?

I did manage to move the car, but do not know how true this was.

That’s a lie. I was in a Tesco once and a woman was complaining that she had seen someone clearly not disabled using a disabled space. The Tesco Manager told her they can do nothing about it. He wouldn’t even send somebody out to check. They certainly have no authority to fine you either.

They do in fact have the authority to fine people parking in disabled spaces without a blue badge, it’s their carpark so they make the rules. I know somebody who was fined in my local Tesco, quite rightly too.
www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/tesco-fine-people-parking-disabled-14248411#:~:text=A%20spokesman%20for%20the%20retailer,charge%20notice%20(fine).%22

I can only report what I was told. This is a smaller Tesco store and in all the years I have been shopping there have never seen a car park attendant and certainly never any fine tickets on cars. Maybe it’s not cost effective to do so but that is 100% what the Manager told that woman.

How would these fines stand up in a test case in court, I wonder?

Don't think of private parking tickets as 'fines'
They're not. Private parking companies have no official right to fine you, though they may try to make you think they do. All they're doing is sending you a notice of what they deem to be a breach of contract.

It isn't the ability of private companies to issue tickets in itself that's a problem though. It's the unstructured system which puts unnecessary power in potentially unscrupulous hands.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/private-parking-tickets/#:~:text=They're%20not.,be%20a%20breach%20of%20contract.

Nosey, what a nasty friend you are,mind your own business. I know I sound harsh but people have hidden disabilities as well.She maybe the sort not to go on about her condition.

A local authority near me (Sweden) has started putting up these signs in a nearby town - translated as

Laziness is not a disability

Strewth ! Let it go ! There's always one or two disabled parking cheats but I'm sure that they are the minority. Nobody wants to do the disabled cheat. Take the parking space.... take the disability as they say.
You're brave asking someone what their disability is. I'm afraid that I'd give that very short shrift if I were disabled, which I'm not, or at least not yet.

Melanie Reid writes an article in The Times each Saturday, called aptly 'Spinal Column' as she is a tetraplegic after a horse riding accident. A few weeks back she made a heartfelt plea as she said that people can now declare themselves to be disabled, and she is finding it increasingly difficult to book theatre seats with wheelchair access and park anywhere convenient; I quote from her article:

'Some 70,000 more people in England and Wales are using a scheme that was already heavily oversubscribed. If that extra demand from the ambulant means distress and missed hospital appointments for a few people who can’t walk, who literally cannot get out of their vehicles without a disabled space, is that a serious problem or merely tough luck: a case of try and get your care team organised before dawn next time, buddy?
I believe there’s a strong moral case to ringfence the needs of adults and children with the severest physical problems. Of course neurodiversity, addiction and mental ill health have been long neglected and my intention is not to denigrate their importance. Those needs, however, are different and shouldn’t impinge on those who can’t move and whose daily lives are fraught with massive practical challenges.'

Her distress and plight was hard to read about. It seems that people using disabled parking spaces when they don't need them is the tip of the iceberg.

An ex colleague of mine suffered from ulcerative colitis, and had a blue badge so that she could park close to the door and rush to the loo if necessary. She had some other sort of right of access to public conveniences too, but I can't remember what that was/is.

As she did 'rush' from the car to the door she was often challenged by nosy parkers who saw her parking where she was perfectly entitled to do so as something to do with them. How would you like to have to explain your bowel malfunctions to total strangers as they think they have a right to know about them?

I would never question anybody on whether they did or did not have a blue badge. People are issued with a blue badge because the powers that be see it as a legally requirement, whether we feel its justified or not.

I have no problem with her having a blue badge. However, she should not have parked there without displaying it.

Doodledog

An ex colleague of mine suffered from ulcerative colitis, and had a blue badge so that she could park close to the door and rush to the loo if necessary. She had some other sort of right of access to public conveniences too, but I can't remember what that was/is.

As she did 'rush' from the car to the door she was often challenged by nosy parkers who saw her parking where she was perfectly entitled to do so as something to do with them. How would you like to have to explain your bowel malfunctions to total strangers as they think they have a right to know about them?

The 'Urgent' cards aren't a legal thing I don't think, as I have a couple of different ones as I have a stoma and bladder issues, but they do help as you don't have to 'explain' why you need the loo. I have in the past found it very useful when a shop has no public toilets - a couple of times staff in different shops have taken me to their loo ....

MadeInYorkshire

Doodledog

An ex colleague of mine suffered from ulcerative colitis, and had a blue badge so that she could park close to the door and rush to the loo if necessary. She had some other sort of right of access to public conveniences too, but I can't remember what that was/is.

As she did 'rush' from the car to the door she was often challenged by nosy parkers who saw her parking where she was perfectly entitled to do so as something to do with them. How would you like to have to explain your bowel malfunctions to total strangers as they think they have a right to know about them?

The 'Urgent' cards aren't a legal thing I don't think, as I have a couple of different ones as I have a stoma and bladder issues, but they do help as you don't have to 'explain' why you need the loo. I have in the past found it very useful when a shop has no public toilets - a couple of times staff in different shops have taken me to their loo ....

There is also the Radar key which you can buy and it will let you into any locked disabled toilet.