I've come across people like that, they wont dare touch the little old lady but if it was you or me then it wouldve ended violently. My mother has a blue badge and generally doesnt have much trouble finding somewhere to park, being able to park on double yellows is very useful for her.
At work i park in a disabled space. Its private land and we have more disabled spaces than we need, for a car the size of the S-Type, a disabled space is just about right. I do my best to reduce the risk of general cretins damaging it by taking up two spaces (actually i tend to park in the space but *just* far enough over that its inconvenient to park next to me) because the general public cannot be trusted. The public are like magpies, they see a nice shiny thing which is better than their crummy hatchback and they dent it almost on purpose.
I think the problem in towns with the disabled parking isnt because people are disrespectful, i think its basic maths. For years now, councils have done their best to attack the car and make shopping inconvenient for anybody who dares to own one, now they are rightfully paying the price with shops closing. Every town now does road narrowing, parking restrictions, needless pedestrianisation and 'shared spaces' which are a waste of money and the upshot is that unless you've got a blue badge you cant park anywhere vaguely near the town. Im not making excuses for the abuse of facilities, but basic mathematics and logic dictates that if the only parking available is disabled parking then compliance with the rules will be lower. Its very simple.
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