ocean

I regularly see all the crippled parking spaces taken up with cars with those badges showing a wheelchair on them, yet inside the supermarket there's not a wheelchair or cripple in sight.

The whole "cripples rights" thing is just a cynical industry which people exploit. You know what it is all about - intimidate the GP to sign the parking permit application form and the Disability Living Allowance benefit forms, and hey presto you're pocketing an extra few hundred of taxpayers cash and getting free parking for life.

Time it was all scrapped. Let fully independent doctors do the assessments, rather than GP's who are in an awkward position to refuse.

Rachael

Fantastic view... LMAO!

I was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago. (I am now in remission and back to work. ) At no time did I 'BULLY' my doctor into giving me benefits. Infact it was the medical professionals who TOLD me to apply for DLA due to my condition. OK, so I was often knocked out by the chemo, and at the time things didn't look too good, but at no stage had I considered myself to be disabled. As part of the process of receiving DLA I was entitled to a parking disc AND to free car tax. I chose not to take these, as I didn't feel it right for MY personal situation. (OK, so I'm a mug! )
I did not particularly look ill.. (no loss of hair or other signs from chemo, apart from tiredness and a few sicky sick vomity days) which is why I didn't take it... I decided that the ABUSE from 'able' people who didn't know better would be more distressing than pushing myself to do a few extra steps etc.
Believe me, there were times when I could well have justified using spaces, but many people wouldn't have understood, because I loked pretty healthy.

I am offended and upset at this being called 'cripples rights'. OK, I understand the nature of the board, and respect the opinions here, but perhaps many of you need to sit and think about what constitutes having a disability... come on guys, open your eyes a bit wider!

Rachael

BTW... nobody fills out the DLA form for 'fun' - have you seen it??? AND the DLA make calls to check out how genuine you are... my doctor AND my nurse got calls to vouch for me and to give more detail.

Cold Turkey

not very politically correct.....

I know someone who managed to get one just because she was really fat

ocean

Of course there are genuine cases, yours being one of them, but there hasd been a huge rise in malingered applications. How else do you explain that in an ever-healthier, risk free society, that the numbers of apparently crippled people are rising inexorably?

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

many moons ago (15 years infact) I worked in Homebase, and back in those days I swear disabled bay abuse was less common. Anyway there was the odd occasion that I was on car park trolley duty, and us spotty teenage workers would have the usual stupid competitions - one of which was to see how extravegantly you could administer the "Please do not park in the Disabled Bay without a valid badge" note. Of course placing the slip of A4 paper under the wiper didn't get much kudos in the canteen, so usually it was stuck to the windscreen with packing tape. One of our staff was so enthusiastic - not only did he stick the paper on the widscreen, but used a 1 foot border of packing tape, just to make sure it stuck firmly. The driver of the car actually came to customer services to complain that it took him ages to get the tape off and theres all sticky stuff on the screen!

Rather than have costly clamping services, I suggest copious amounts of sticky tape to attach the "tosser" notice to the windscreen. They'll soon learn that it'll waste minutes of their precious time.

ocean

What if I ve got an acute but temporary bad back? This can be severely painful and restrictive, far more crippling than whatever afflicts most of the people who jauntily saunter and skip from their disabled badged cars. Why shouldn't I be able to use the cripples spaces for the duration of the attack? I wouldn't expect to get a full time cripples parking badge out of it though.

Spoon

Nice to see Ocean not using his usual username. I guess that gives him the strength to use names that appear to indicate disabled people are less able in every way.

Rachael- Where as I agree you were ill, I personally don't think you were disabled and certainly didn't warrant a badge.

Had you no doubt felt like shít some days, then just like someone with say genuine flu, you aren't well enough to go out.

If you are, then you certainly aren't well enough to drive yourself, therefore somebody could drive you to wherever and drop you off at the door and park up elsewhere.

Illness alone has no bearing on the true need for a wider parking bay for wheelchair use.

The biggest problem is that a lot of people like to portray themselves as disabled and go for the "sympathy" vote. The truly disabled (physically or mentally) tend to get on with it because they don't have to shout about it, they live with it even when there is nobody else around.

ocean

Spoon - it's a genuine new sign up actually.

Nicci

I don't use disabled spaces and don't want to have to use them.

I hate lazy people using the spaces too.

And to those who think its convenient to use the disabled spots, is this why so many scooby owners are overweight?

Walking is good exercise, put your car down the other end of the car park where it is quiet, so you get plenty of space and no door dings.

jasey

No - But they might fill it out for money / benefits etc. ocean makes a valid point badly (as would chaos ). Right now I'm considering seeking Asylum from the UK Government - Could get me a nice holiday somewhere if nothing else .

Parking in Disabled spaces is a no no for me - Inconsiderate fcukwits really get on my **** too - however if nothing is done to stop it it will only get worse.

Instead of wasting so much time arguing about banning Fox hunting the Government should be doing something about fcukwit activities - The Birch springs to mind .

ps The fox hunting thing is the amount of time Talking about it - not whether or not I believe it should be banned .

ocean

This would find out the true scale of malingerering:

They should build dedicated cripple-compliant supermarkets where "normal" people without badges are banned altogether. Just imagine what a utopia of wide parking spaces, wide aisles, low counters, braille labels and signing-fluent checkout staff it would be. All employees could be officially crippled too.

They would be packed with customers - but I bet you would hardly ever actually see a wheel chair or anyone truly struggling to get about and do their shopping unaided.

Abdabz

If its early in the morning and there are lines of empty disabled parking spaces available or mother and boibees I'll be the first to swing the car in without a second thought.
There are a tiny minority of wheelchair users and people with medical conditions that really do need to be right by the door in big spaces. But a friend of mine was given a disabled badge for being diabetic ffs, he can run rings round me when we play 5 a side but can park where he likes. So taking him as the other extreme there must be loads in between who dont really warrant special treatment.
Its for this reason and the disproportionate number of disabled spaces in many car parks that sometimes make me think "bugger this", equal rights, first come first served.

ocean

Precisely. Someone with some common sense at last.

Claudius

Agreed.

paulr

There's a guy at work registered disabled who always moans when someone parks in "his" spot.Once he's parked the first thing he does in the morning is go for a walk round the site.

genuine spacka's are okay,its the sob story ones that do my head in.

scoobybitch

Hi Logiclee hope your feeling well. How are you Spoon? Straight to the point - Ocean you are a narrow minded TW*T!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can see people moaning if they started doing Pakistani only parking spots but to moan so much about disabled parking bays and to call them cripples. Most of the people who have disabilty badges have worked most of their lives so the tax payers money they are so called swallowing they have paid over their years of working. You are fighting a loosing battle, too many people agree with the likes of logic,spoon,rachel etc. Grow up & stop being so fecking selfish!!!

logiclee

Not too bad thanks, back at work now but taking it easy.

For those that still complain about equal rights and think disabled don't deserve special treatment I promise you one thing. If you spent a week as a disabled person or as a carer for a disabled person I guarantee you would change your views. Equal rights is about providing services for a disabled person to do simple things like shopping or going to the cinema the same as able bodied people. Equal rights are not about giving lard arsed, fat, lazy people less of a walk to the store.

Yes there are people who have badges that don't deserve them and the system needs tightening but lets not forget the geniune disable for whom the spaces are an absolute must.

Cheers
Lee

Spoon

I'm fine thanks bitch, struggling a little with being so good looking all the time though.

Lee- It's fair to say that attempting to educate some on this board is actually a pointless exercise.

Unless they have to experience it first hand, their views won't change.

That's not a dig at others as much as it's a disappointment.

On one hand you read on this board that you have 167 cars turn out to make a young wheelchair bound lad happy, and and on the other hand you have a handful of posters who would quite happily prevent him from getting out of his vehicle because they are lazy and haven't got a clue just how lucky they are to be able to walk.

No doubt they will say that's untrue and they wouldn't do that, but hey, you potentially are, everytime you park in a disabled bay.

Bizarre really why some people think they are losing out on not being given a so called "privilege". That says a lot more about their mentality than they know.

Maybe if all those that can walk and didn't park in the disabled bays were given a "well done" sticker everytime they parked? Would that make them feel better?

I bet it would if the disabled got fúck all everytime they parked.

trails

iTrader: (41)

That would make you a *****!

I (as previously stated), do not agreed with the mother and child bull**** spaces. However if you are so damn lazy that you complain about not being able to park in front of a shop (nothing to do with showing off my car either...), that you are bitching about disabled spaces then hey, you guessed it you are a *****! Get a life.

Oh, and by the by I'm interested on where you get your 'disproportionate number of disabled spaces' claim from; I take it you have been audited a large number of supermarket\DIY stores in order to ensure you have a proportional sample and then of course you have then taken that figure and compared it to the number of disabled badge holders in the local catchment area vs. able bodied drivers...thought not

Leslie

The posts by Ocean are a real indication of an extremely selfish person who also seems to object to disabled people getting a bit of help because they are not so well off as a fully fit person. Let me also point out that disability does not just mean that you need a wheel chair but the person concerned may well have another problem such as a bad heart or severe breathing troubles etc and finds it difficult to walk longer distances, especially with a bag or two of shopping. As was said in another post, those who have invalid badges have to show that they really need them, if you had ever tried to get one you would realise that it is not that easy and the remarks about intimidating doctors are way out of line and can only be made by someone who is struggling to justify his unpleasant attitude.

I can only assume that he is one of those egregious people who are jealous of anyone who gets a little bit of priority which he does not qualify for.

Abdabz, you cannot justify using a disabled parking slot at any time, you can never forecast when all those slots will be needed by those who deserve to use them. You just don't have the moral right to cause a disabled person to have to walk further than they need to just for your own convenience. You cannot argue against that.

Maybe if you who complain had to put up with a disability and realised how difficult it can be to cope with the restrictions on your life that it means, you might be able to find a little more generosity of spirit towards the disabled.

Les

logiclee

I went to the B&Q superstore in Mansfield today, the car park was very busy so I parked anti door ding right at the back. I was on my own and luckily didn't need a disabled bay for Lorraine because there wasn't any.

There are around 15 disabled spaces but 6 cars were parked without displaying a badge. I complained to the customer desk on my way in as they say the spaces are monitored. To give them credit, a few minutes later, they announced all the cars details over the loud speaker system and asked the owners to remove their cars from the disabled bays imediately.

If Lorraine had gone on her own she would have probably had to drive back home without going into the store.

Cheers
Lee

Trucker Ted

Brae head shopping centre in Glasgow is an example of too many disabled spaces,as they have about a hundred on each level,the place can be chock a block and its hard to get a space and theres all these spaces near the doors lying empty.
I personally would never park in a disabled space,but parent and child spaces are fair game as the scooby is my baby ,anyway leave the little brats at home and let us shop in peace!

Devo

I know someone who has a scanned home made badge that they use, wish I could catch them at it

Spoon

Don't visit Ikea (Junc 9 M6) on your own in a wheelchair either.

Anybody that's been will probably know what I mean but may not have noticed.

On exiting the store you have barriers all round the paved area outside, with gaps wide enough to walk through but not to push your trolley through.

So these gaps aren't wide enough for a wheelchair either, they may be wide enough for a pushchair, but if not, I'm sure you could lift one above fairly easily. (Still not ideal but possible).

A wheelchair however would remain firmly on the ground.

Then there's a solution, well, kind of. They have fitted an electric gate that has a push button to open, only Ikea had the buttons fitted but never wired up!!

The alternative is to ask a complete stranger to go and ask a member of staff to obtain the keys to the gate whilst the wheelchair occupant sits outside for however long that takes.

Then you are allowed home.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I park in the disabled bay at work, right next to the door, i Have copped a fair ammount of stick for this, nearly come to blows with some arsehole who had the audacity to use it when I wanted it, he was also able bodied, the difference being that he doesnt give a lift to his mate with Cerebral Palsy every day, my mate cant walk and cant really speak so as to be understood, I have had some fat bint tell me how clever I am for moving the cone from in front of the bay, she shut the f*ck up when I got the wheelchair for my mate.

I really get wound up when I see perfectly able but lazy people taking the disabled bays, the Stanley Green retail park in Cheadle is favourite, every bay is full of some lazy inconsiderate fcucker without a disabled badge, generally they have the other badge that entails disabled bay usage, the one that reads BMW, sad but true, Beemer drivers shoot themselves in the foot again, New shape Mini drivers seem to do this as well, I think they need a slap, or is an oversized ego a disability these days ?

Claudius

It's surprising:
a) how many people seem to be disabled
b) how many disabled people are allowed to drive

Dont you think it's dangerous to have someone who risks a heart attack any minute drive around in a big car with his wheelchair in the back?!

trails

iTrader: (41)

that would be all of us then...or do you have a particular ailment in mind?

OllyK

I don't have a wheelchair in my car, I concede on the other though

trails

iTrader: (41)

...detail, details

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

I think I have parked in a disabled space about twice now, Both times were because there were no other spaces available. both times were at safeway in kingsway derby.

Theres a hell of a lot of disabled spaces there.

just to add I would have moved if a disabled badge holder came.