37 replies to this topic

[HiltonP]

Tinbasher, on 02 February 2012 - 03:17 PM, said:

All sorts of people need and make proper use of blue badges not just wheelers.

Tinbasher..... I hear you, and believe me I understand the point you are making completely, but, once the rationale was lost with regard to the disabled parking bays it opened the figurative floodgates of requests for permits. We are now seeing permits being granted for just about any ailment (asthma, diabetes, obesity, cancer, with old age being considered an ailment as well). We have thrashed through this discussion many times before so there is no point in flogging this dead horse, but suffice to say that in my neck of the woods the majority of disabled parking bay permit holders are perfectly capable of walking through the 1.5km long local mall, carrying all of their shopping, and do so every day of the week.

In the early days it used to gall me, and I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to educate the various parties involved (I have served on various committees since 1979), and then one day I received an extremely hate filled and threatening telephone call from a woman who described me in words which you could not have imagined because I had dared to question her abuse of a bay. I decided then that I did not need that in my life. Now, if a disabled bay is available I park in it, and if not then I park across two normal bays and place my permit in the window. Virtually every week I see able-bodied people, with permits, parking near me, sometimes right next to me as I enter or exit my car, jump out of their cars and scamper into the mall. In years gone by I would have stopped them, but now they can go (all the way to hell for all I care).

[greybeard]

HiltonP, I think that is exactly the right attitude to take. Far better than causing the blood pressure to rise getting frustrated about an unsolvable problem.

Abuse will happen. Accept it, because it is not, and never will be, viewed as an important enough issue for any meaningful enforcement to be put in place.

[welshonen]

Disabled parking Bays need not be in prime positions. They sure as hell would not be abused as much cuse those who do abuse would always find the closest parking anyway. The times we have been to Asda and can't park is numerous. Piss me off when they amble perfactly well to there cars and we have to find couple of empty spaces and hope no one has parked there when we get back. All we need is a wider space . Are there other's who are not concerned where they are as long as they can get out ??

[greybeard]

welshonen, on 03 February 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

Disabled parking Bays need not be in prime positions. They sure as hell would not be abused as much cuse those who do abuse would always find the closest parking anyway. The times we have been to Asda and can't park is numerous. Piss me off when they amble perfactly well to there cars and we have to find couple of empty spaces and hope no one has parked there when we get back. All we need is a wider space . Are there other's who are not concerned where they are as long as they can get out ??

As Trinity pointed out, there are many people whose disability does not require them to use wheelchair, but who still have a limit to their walking ability.

If you had written " Disabled parking Bays for wheelchair users need not be in prime positions." I would not take issue with you, but your blanket statement completely disregards their needs. Whether we like it or not, we do not have sole rights over the word disabled.

[Tetracyclone]

A Manual chair user may not want to push far either. Some of the malls in the USA are like the Sa. They Sahara Desert -just stretch on forever.

[welshonen]

greybeard, on 03 February 2012 - 12:24 PM, said:

welshonen, on 03 February 2012 - 10:52 AM, said:

Disabled parking Bays need not be in prime positions. They sure as hell would not be abused as much cuse those who do abuse would always find the closest parking anyway. The times we have been to Asda and can't park is numerous. Piss me off when they amble perfactly well to there cars and we have to find couple of empty spaces and hope no one has parked there when we get back. All we need is a wider space . Are there other's who are not concerned where they are as long as they can get out ??

As Trinity pointed out, there are many people whose disability does not require them to use wheelchair, but who still have a limit to their walking ability.

If you had written " Disabled parking Bays for wheelchair users need not be in prime positions." I would not take issue with you, but your blanket statement completely disregards their needs. Whether we like it or not, we do not have sole rights over the word disabled.

Yes you have a very valid point I should have worded it better because thats what I was trying to get at.

Also we would not advocate moving bays from prime positions. If there were a few bays in less prime positions maybe they would be less aboused by those who do not need them. This is not meant as a solution to all. I just know it would help us.

Edited by welshonen, 04 February 2012 - 02:48 PM.

[Tinbasher]

The idea of having a diferent badge for wheelchair users or passengers and drivers has been mooted over the years but never adopted because of the inreased need to police them.

One of the big differences here in the UK is that the majority of parking using the Blue Badge is still on street unlike the USA where much is off street in mall and strip mall car parks.

Edited by Tinbasher, 04 February 2012 - 06:51 PM.

[Wobbly]

I dont think any doctor can have signed off my blue badge, I sent it in on a Friday and had it back about 5 days later, I was quite shocked. I suppose they could have just rung the surgery to verify what i had told them was true, but I genuinely thought it would be much much harder than it was to get it.