I sometimes get questions about parking in the disabled bay outside our house. I
am in no way disabled but the bay is there for my son who has physical and mental problems. bays are usually only for the driver, as an able bodied driver can drop off the disabled person and then go and park elsewhere, but we fit into the exception on the mental part as my son can't be left by himself. I understand the problems associated with people not looking disabled and also those abusing the system.
Flynn - I suppose it comes down to why didn't you drop your old man off and then go and park 200 yds away? As for blue badges, they are not vehicle specific they are person specific and if the badge is to be used then the person should be accompanying the vehicle.
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Flynn - I suppose it comes down to why didn't you drop your old man off and then go and park 200 yds away? As for blue badges, they are not vehicle specific they are person specific and if the badge is to be used then the person should be accompanying the vehicle.
Which is exactly what we sometimes did.
But more often he didn't want us to do that because he didn't want a fuss. The first time he saw a doctor since doing his national service in the army as a youngster was when he fell off the roof at nearly 60 and was carted off in an ambulance. He wasn't one for bleating.
I didn't know the rules for blue badges but just looked and was surprised. The application form said that those who wouldn't qualify are "People who are temporarily disabled, including those recovering from an operation, injury or a broken limb, or those waiting for a hip or knee replacement." Nor does does mental disability qualify.
So there will be lucky people who just qualify for some reason why others including those waiting for a hip replacement don't qualify. Most people over 70 will be less able to some extent so I think we should recognise that and be a little more tolerant - especially those who have blue badges themselves. If someone is causing nuisance then complain but otherwise it's not exactly the end of the world.
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Flynn, the blue badge belongs to the person and is not car-specific. This means the disabled person can keep it with them and use it in any car they travel in - including taxis. Your father would have definitely qualified for one and I am surprised his doctor did not arrange one for him.
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I used to transport my disabled mother before she had to go into a nursing home. It used to really annoy me when I could not find a bay at my local shopping centre because of able bodied drivers parking in the bays next to the betting shop and the pizza takeaway !!. When I finally complained to the customer services desk they said they would do something about it. The next time I visited a few weeks later nothing seemed to have changed. I again enquired as to what steps they had taken to improve things, it was explained to me that after the car park attendants had suffered verbal abuse they refused to take any further action!!.
The answer to this would be to class it it as an offence on private property as well as bays on public roads. Sadly we are not as strict as they are in America where, I believe, it is an offence to park without a "blue badge " in all disability designated bays whether private or public property.
Mal
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Thanks to all those who have posted replies. Being disabled is a 24/7 occupation and parking is only one issue. If there were no bays then I could not shop, simple as that. Mal, in your reply I am not surprised that anyone who points out the parking abuse gets abuse in return. One reason why, vexing though it is, I do not tackle anyone on this myself. In extremis I can resort to double yellow parking but this is far from ideal for all sorts of reasons. Too far away from my destination mostly. This is why bays are essential to disabled people. I realize others may view the blue badge as a "perk" , but just try being disabled! You just need all the help you can get.
Culmhead
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I find abuse of parent/child spaces annoying, especially when I can't park there with my three children aged 2, 3 and 6, but I absolutely refuse to park in the disabled bays, because this would make me as bad as the people who are annoying me.
Had a bit of fun winding up someone who thought that a 12 year old entitled them to use the parent/child spaces. All the spaces were full, so they were waiting as they saw me putting the shopping in the boot, so after putting it all in the boot and getting the three kids into their seats, is it time to go? No, get in the car remove steering lock (it hits my knees) then roll a cigarette (I know it's bad, but I have cut down to a quarter of what I was smoking at Christmas) then get out of the car to smoke it. Next it's time use the phone, well can't do that whilst driving as I don't have a handsfree kit.
By this point the guy had steam coming out of his ears and drove off rather erraticly and parked in the ATM lay by.
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And another thought on abusing disabled parking spaces,
Many people who use them are parked so badly that they need extra large spaces, my thoughts on this is that being that bad at parking dosn't entitle you to use a disabled bay, although it should result in having to retake the driving test.
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You want to come to Horsham. There are 2 multistorey car parks, with row upon row of unused disabled spaces, even on a Saturday when the rest of the place is packed. There must be something like 15% of spaces reserved, but is 15% of the population a blue badge holder? I don't think so.
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Forward planning Dave - just think how full they will be in 20 years time with the aged population!! Meanwhile, down on the south coast where they are needed now we sit and wait for a space ....
On the other hand, have any of the rest of you seen these poor, severely disabled young men who have an incredible reaction to wet weather? Sadly, as it is a weather dependent disability, they do not qualify for blue badges, but if closely observed they do develop a marked limp and smug, rictus like, grin.
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Not that I am condoning abuse of the disabled bays but I for one get heartily sick of having to park rows and rows away from the entrance whilst there are maybe 30/40 empty bays marked for parent and child or disabled use standing empty.
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Look at it another way dragon, forgetting the fact that you CAN walk miles to the store, wouldn't you rather walk further than uncontrolled under fives were a. nearer the store not running around and under your car while it was moving b. not swinging their car doors on yours?
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As a manager with one of the large retailers, a few observations:
1 Realistically, there is very little we can do re people abusing both disabled and parent/child spaces. We have no "legal" power to do anything other than appeal to their conscience. If they shout and swear, give us the finger etc then whats the point in persuing it any more?
2. Would it be different if the disabled spaces werent closest to the store? Yes I know this is the appeal for some but my shop is attached to a massive retail shopping centre. Is it really that important to be closest to the door when you are then going to be walking / wheeling your way all around the centre? Is the most important aspect that it is closest or that it is bigger to allow manoeuvring wheelchairs etc?
3. If I had my way, I would do away with them all and just make all spaces bigger! In my job I get constant hassle. Its the old story, introduce something "new" and then people take it as a god-given right.
And yes, I know of similar shopping centres that there seems to be a higher proportion of disabled spaces than any others! I think it is especially farcical in one where on every flor level the spaces atthe "lift" side are disabled. But then they have to get out the car, take the lift down several floors to the actual shopping mall before commencing the shopping. So does it really matter where the car is parked?
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BobbyG: Have you opened a discussion with the LA about having the necessary traffic legislation applied to your land? If the regs are applied, the wardens can use the full force of the law, such as it remains. i believe the US practice: £500 standard fine for diabled parking abuse would be sufficiently steep to deter the anti-social.
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To BobbyG
you say you are a manager at a large store and that you have this problem as well..
well this is how i see it.... NOT including the disabled bays..because i dont...
When i drive into a car park...for example my local Tesco......
The company displays a sign that says " we are not responsible for any damage to vehicles"
this means that I AM responsible for ANY damage to MY vehicle....do u agree????
therefore if I am responsible for MY vehicle i will park it where i think it .....A: it wont get damaged.....(the largest place with the most space)
and B: where i think i will be seen clearly by lots of passers by to stop the local thieves
altho i hardly ever work by this attitude..this is a common attitude that i have heard MANY times.......
Now another way of looking at it is..for example....
Near where i live is a carpark that has A cctv B sercurity guards... C Very large spaces...D 10pence more per hr than nearby carparks...
Now in this car park i always drive in and park without even thinking is it /isnt it safe ..because i know it is.. ALL this for 10pence..
if these large stores...Tesco B&Q Sainsburys etc etc didnt try and minimize our space i reckon more people would shop there!!
--
sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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LAst night at the Ok diner on the A1 just north of Stamford, a woman in a 56 blue registered Zafira club parked in the disabled bay. She put up her blue disabled badge. She and her three clearly perfectly fit children walked in to eat a meal.
Apart from publicly shaming this incubator of chav gene pool (boy was she and her proginy ugly), this is why people pay a disregard for disabled parking spaces. Becaus eblue badge holder abuse their privelage.
Also, at a local DIY store near me, there are 15 disabled spaces out of a toal of 50. Is 30% of the population disabled? NO.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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SNIP - discriminatory remarks removed - DD
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You're a fool DD, I never discriminate against disabled, quite the opposite, they're a target for humour like anybody else. My sister was severely disabled, she had to be spoon-fed, my opinions about the abuse of disabled bays are well documented on this forum. If she were still alive she'd be the first person to laugh at the idea of disabled bays at a DIY store and she'd be furious that it was sensored. You're also a homophobe, I notice you removed my observation that a gay forum had voted the 206cc and Jeep Wrangler as the two most popular cars in the the gay community.
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What form of disability disqualifies anyone from going to a DIY store? You must have a very literal view of things. Wife has DLA, secondary cancer - she has had difficulty at times after chemo, but could walk short distances. However, a bystander wouldn't realise that she was ill. If she wants to look at something, does she have to avoid disabled spaces? I may or may not accompany her - either way there are many disabled people who miught want to go to a DIY store - they're not just for builders.....BTW, as she is feeling far better now, she has relinquished her badge.
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This thread is hilarious. Why does such a trivial matter result in such excitement? What are the benefits of the disabled bays?
- a bit bigger - what, another 6 inces wide? Big deal, who cares
- a bit closer to the shop. Who cares, I'll do so much walking in the shop its irrelevent.
This discussion just demonstrates what a cosseted society we now live in. Go back just 20 years in this country and anyone would have thought this discussion totally mad. Go to any country outside of Western Europe or USA and the same again - people that have much more important things to worry about.
It is interesting though - human nature seems to be that if you don't have any food you worry about that. If you have food you worry about getting a job. If you have a job you worry about having enough money to buy a house. If you have a house you worry about saving to buy a car. If you have a car you worry about how big the car park spaces are. If you have a great big wide car park space with your name on it right next to the door of Sainsburys, you'll ony find something else to get you stressed.
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Go toany country outside of Western Europe or USA and the same again - people that have much more important things to worry about.
Quite Lord sand. Indeed in most of those countries the disabled will be lined up outside the bank or shop with their hand held out for change, and what's more you will actually feel they need it and not mind their asking (bit different from able-bodied professional snivellers here).
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20 yrs ago we wouldnt have had A this internet site and B disabled bays!!!!
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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20 yrs ago we wouldnt have had A this internet site and B disabled bays!!!! -- sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
20 years ago i got clamped on a disabled parking bay , i was working there at the time (tesco) i only popped in to get my wages but i gave the security bloke a couple of quid and he obliged
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(bit differentfrom able-bodied professional snivellers here).
Just in case anyone misinterprets, this is not a reference to disabled people but to able-bodied professional beggars.
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You're a fool DD,
That's as maybe, but I'd rather be a fool than continually act like one with the toilet humour that you keep posting on the site in the hope of a cheap laugh. At one time the "what I did to your wife/daughter/babysitter" gags may have been funny, but I just find that they're repetitively boring and crass. More suited to somewhere like Viz than here. Don't get me wrong, I'm no prude, but there is a time and place, and it certainly isn't here.
I never discriminate against disabled, quite the opposite, they're a target for humour like anybody else.
You may well find it funny to make fun of people less able than yourself, but I think you'll find yourself in the minority, whereas I did the editing for the majority. Why am I not surprised you find people less able bodied than yourself a target for humour.
You're also a homophobe, I notice you removed my observation that a gay forum had voted the 206cc and Jeep Wrangler as the two most popular cars in the the gay community.
Did I?
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=49472&...e
How incredibly foolish of me to use another moderators name!
DD.
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When I started this subject I was just interested to see what people thought. To an extent some of the comments have been in the manner of "get a life" and so on. I do believe we are "cosseted" to a degree unheard of a few years ago. BUT only 2 years ago I was capable of 5mile walks over rough ground. Then, almost overnight I was in a wheelchair. Until it is you in the wheelchair you can have no conception of what this means. I do not say this to make you feel bad or to feel sympathy for me. It is simply that having disabled bays make things easier.
Culmhead
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Dave, I think what your (and many other peoples') problem is, is that the ever-present dreary trumpetings of the PC army are drowning out the voices of the minority you are trying to 'protect'. Rather like the councils that try and ban the black from blackboard while all the black guys are wondering what all the fuss is about.
I've tried to explain to you about the twenty years or so that my family lived with the severe disability of my sister and that while her body may have been gradually falling apart, her sense of humour never wavered. I could talk of the many support and self help groups I would sit through with her where the decidedly un-pc banter would make even me cringe. It gave me an insight that can't be equalled by googling wikkipedia or reading a Haynes manual but something tells me that you're going to ignore me again and do it anyway.
So let me at least point you in the right direction. Firstly, check out Mat Fraser. If you don't know his name, you'll recognise him from various tv appearances. Read up on disabled humour at the Edinburgh Festivals. Lawrence Clark and Steve Day (the deaf comic whose catchphrase is "I haven't heard that one before") And since none of my posts would be complete without a bit of smutt, check out the absolutely delicious Francesca Martinez, who manages to bring sex appeal to cerebral palsy. They all boil it down to the same thing - that if the social commentary is appropriate (and disabled bays in DIY stores does have a charming irony) then it's ok. If this does nothing to alter your view, you could maybe email them and tell how offensive your "majority" find them.
But if you do nothing else, and may I direct this to everyone, checkout "Ouch!", the disabled site for the BBC. It's a hoot, believe me, compelling reading. Pay particular attention to the message boards and the monikers they use and enjoy self-deprecating humour by the bucketful (that's missing in equal amounts from here).
Dave, I apologise for the unnecessarilly abusive manner of my last post and I certainly won't be repeating that here because I don't want this to be deleted although I did hold off until the afternoon to write this because I realise April 1 is the busiest day of the year for you ;-)
Dave.
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Yes there is an irony about disabled spaces in DIY stores and also those in front of sports centres. I wish!
Culhead
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Cannot spel either.
Culmhead
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I don't see any irony in disabled spaces outside a DIY store. They sell light bulbs, they sell pot plants. Some even sell bed linnen, tables, chairs, etc. Surely disabled people have as much need of these things as anyone?
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Yes there is an irony about disabled spaces in DIY stores and also those in front of sports centres. I wish! Culhead
The sports centres bit, I take my disabled son swimming a lot. He can't walk, taking his wheelchair in is a bit of a pain, so I tend to carry him. It is quite nice to be able to park close to the front doors. If I couldn't park there then it is not the end of the world.
I find this thread has become somewhat sad. why is everyone so mean spirited? Disabled people are not getting one over able bodied people which seems to be the reason why everyone has such strong views on this. Is life such a hassle that someone able bodied might have to walk an extra 30 seconds to get into a shop or DIY store? A disabled person probably is still going to take longer. Living with a disabled child many things have been put into perspective. Having disabled parking is a great help but not the be all and end all. To me having my son being able to walk would be nice as well as being able to be able to talk sometime during his life as well as one day perhaps not needing nappies. To be honest my greatest fear is who is going to look after him once I am dead, presuming that he will out live me.
Those of you able bodied people who complain and get upset about disabled bays obviously don't really have too many worries in the world. I envy you if that is all that concerns you. Perhaps you should stop being so arrogant and selfish and take a step back and think of others.
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Dave, I think what your (and many other peoples') problem is, is that the ever-present dreary trumpetings of the PC army are drowning out the voices of the minority you are trying to 'protect'. Rather like the councils that try and ban the black from blackboard while all the black guys are wondering what all the fuss is about.>>
Politically correct, me? Hardly. NoDosh will vouch for that by the content of some of the txt messages I send him. Yes, that probably makes me a hypocrite because of my earlier edit, but as I explained, I was doing it on behalf of the majority of people and not the minority. I honestly felt that you were being discriminate rather than ironic. Just goes to show how the lack of a smiley can lead to misinterpretation.
Anyway, I accept your explanation of things, and I also accept your apology.
DD.
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I am a disabled badge holder due to being a wheelchair user. I recently went to park my car in a local authority car park but failed to find a disabled space! There was a lady parked in one without a badge, sitting in the passenger seat of a car. When I asked her to move she refused, saying she was waiting for her husband and she couldn't drive so therefore could not move her car. I parked in a normal space but had to park slightly over the next space in order to have room to get my wheelchair out the car. On return to my car I discovered that I had been given a ticket and a fine of £60 for parking illegally! Not fair I don't think!! Do you think I have a case to appeal this?
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I have sympathy with Disabled people who delibrately damage the cars of the able bodied when they take up a Disabled space. I would offer my services free to defend a case brought against such a person.
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Do you think I have a case to appeal this?
Someone over on www.pepipoo.com/ should be able to advise.
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What really surprises me is the supermarket manager saying they can do nothing about it...
It is private land so put up a sign stating the conditions under which you can park on the land, put up a second sign saying you will be clamped if you park contrary to the conditions, hire a clamping company - job done.
What he really means is he does not want to lose the custom of those who wrongly park in the disabled spaces.
BTW we have the same problem locally with the pick up area - always parked up with "abandonned" cars.
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What he really means is he does not want to lose the custom of those who wrongly park in the disabled spaces.
I'd wondered about the possibility that policies of this sort may be decided at a higher level than local store manager and therefore it is not within his authority to do anything about it.
That may in turn stem from a fear of a hig-profile court case in which some ne'er-do-well tries to sue the big-bad supermarket company because his Rights (presumably those which allow him to do as he damn well pleases at all times) have been infringed., etc etc blah.
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Our local large store has plastic signs pointing out the error of their ways that the security guy places on cars that are offending. They have also been known to call out the registration number of the car/s and request the driver to come to Customer Services - although I haven't heard them do that recently.
On the bays at 'Recreation Centres', we take 13 families with a special child to a swimming session at our local centre - usually half the 8 spaces are already taken by the able so I am afraid we often need to block the area nearest reception while we decant our children then park elsewhere. As Angelman says, being closer just makes one little bit of life easier.
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