Would you park in a disabled bay....

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Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2004
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10,898
Location
Kent
....if you didn't have a blue badge but had a good reason?

A genuine question that has sprung to my mind recently. About 6 weeks ago my girlfriend had major surgery on her knee to repair torn ligaments and tendons that she damaged in a fall from a horse back in June. Up until last week she was unable to walk without the use of crutches and as such, getting in and out of a car was quite a challenge. Especially as our car is low, and the long doors can be hard to open fully when parked in a car park.

I was several times very tempted to park the car in a disabled bay when visiting the shops with her etc, not only so she could get out more easily, but wouldn't have to walk as far. I never actually did, as I thought that I might either risk a ticket (although not sure how enforceable this is in private car parks) or worse, the retribution of someone against my car. But I began to wonder, why shouldn't I? She may not have an ongoing disability, but I would say that's a perfectly legitimate excuse for using the bays, and hopefully common sense on the part of the parking enforcers would prevail. But I doubt it.

So, has anyone else without a blue badge used disabled bays in the past? Or is there a way to gain a temporary dispensation, as my understanding of the blue badge is that you have to be registered disabled to be eligible for one.
 
Depends where you are, my dad had had knees done yes and when my wife was 9 months and overdue she struggled in normal spaces so a few times in supermarket car parks yes, I wouldn't risk it on the road though
 
Sure, but only if it is quiet and there are plenty available. (my knee is pretty buggered tho)

Funny story. Friend of mine only has one arm, has a disability badge etc. He drives a pick up truck and one day decided to buy a boat, he went and collected it and popped into a supermarket on the way towing it home... He happily parked in not one but a whole row of 10 disabled parkng spaces. This, I thought, was a classic.
 
I do all the time - mostly when there are no parent bays left. I'll generally only do it of there are loads left though. For example our local Tesco has nearly 30 disabled spots which remAim empty 95% of the time.

Not worth it in council car parks or on the street though as you're just going to end up with a ticket.
 
I wouldn't risk parking in the space personally but I would stop in it to let someone out who was temporary disabled eg. your girlfriends case
 
DAvE18 said:
I wouldn't risk parking in the space personally but I would stop in it to let someone out who was temporary disabled eg. your girlfriends case
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I did do that a few times; got her out then parked in a normal bay. It was whilst doing that that I thought to myself, why not just leave it.
 
There is no justifiable reason to park in a disabled bay, unless you are disabled, in your case I'm pretty sure you could have applied for a disable badge temporarlily
 
Jay794 said:
There is no justifiable reason to park in a disabled bay, unless you are disabled, in your case I'm pretty sure you could have applied for a disable badge temporarlily
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GingerNinja1989 said:
When I was in a wheelchair for best part of a year they wouldn't give me one.
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So as in Ninja's case, where the bureaucracy has deemed him ineligible for a disabled badge, but common sense clearly dictates otherwise, you wouldn't justify him using a disabled space?
 
My girlfriend's Mum has has both knees replaced in the past 18 months. They won't give her a blue badge so I tend to drop her off in one of the disabled bays and then go and park.

Nobody seems bothered when they see she's got mobility problems.
 
My gym has disabled spots, but everyone just treats them as normal spaces. I'm not sure if this is down to no parking rules being enforced or the whole disabled spaces at a gym.
 
paradigm said:
The simple solution in this case is to use the parent and child spaces.
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What about the parent and child users of the car park that need the extra space provided?

A normal size space is often too small for hoiking a small child in and out of the car.
 
EddScott said:
What about the parent and child users of the car park that need the extra space provided?

A normal size space is often too small for hoiking a small child in and out of the car.
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Yep, just as it is too small to get someone who is devoid of a disabled badge, but is on crutches or a wheelchair out.

I see no problem, and wouldn't hesitate to use one at all.
 
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