Disabled Parking Bay - Rant

heyjude · 09-07-2007 04:51PM

Fully sympathize with your experience, it makes me wish that this had happened in the USA, I have been told that over there, if you park in a disabled parking space at a shopping centre etc without the appropriate sticker/tag, then they go to town on you(eg. clamping/towing and perhaps $200 to get released), pity the same didn't apply here.

If the hotel won't do anything about it themselves, maybe they could get a private company to 'police' the disabled parking spaces and environs, with clamping for offenders.

My dad is disabled and we have a disabled sticker for the car, but only use it when he is with us, so it makes my blood boil when I see clearly abled bodied people with disabled driver stickers, using disabled parking bays. A few days ago, was walking into my local Dunnes and a middle aged woman on her own came out the door on her own(nobody with her or in the car), pushing a shopping trolley piled high with groceries, she had no walking stick,frame or wheelchair and proceeded to load the shopping into a car parked in a disabled spot. I was stunned and checked her front window as I passed and yes, there was a disabled drivers sticker. :mad: Car park was only half full too. Would have said something if my dad had been with me, but when I recall the fuss we had to go through to get the disabled sticker in the first place and the warning about it only being for use when the disabled person is in the car :mad: :mad: :mad: So the abuse of such parking places seems pretty common and takes many different forms

Drax · 09-07-2007 05:02PM

thimblefull, what age was the female in question?
Why do people get so aggressive these days?

Next time bring a permanent marker and write exactly what you think of her in reverse on her windscreen. Give her something to think about on the way home... *

* Serving suggestion only...

amcinroy · 09-07-2007 05:08PM

This image is an interesting bit of documentary photography and should stay here. But let's discuss it therefore as a piece of photography. Not necessarily the story or debate behind it that we can't see.

On one hand it says a lot about the lack of respect that exists in our society but at the same time illustrates our obsession with "our rights" and our need to document and record those that infringe those rights.

When I see this photograph, I ask myself, what was the photographers intention in capturing this infringement? Aesthetic (probably not), documentary(maybe) or some other deeper reason (probably)? Is it perhaps because by capturing it on camera we have "caught" the perpetrator and they can never take that evidence away from us.

What purpose does that image then serve?. As a digital image it may not even be used in a court of law. Is it purely the satisfaction of "catching" someone redhanded?

And debate......

BTW This post is indeed toungue in cheek.

Andy

Orange69 · 09-07-2007 05:15PM

amcinroy wrote:

This image is an interesting bit of documentary photography and should stay here. But let's discuss it therefore as a piece of photography. Not necessarily the story or debate behind it that we can't see.

On one hand it says a lot about the lack of respect that exists in our society but at the same time illustrates our obsession "our rights" and our need to document and record those that infringe those rights.

When I see this photograph, I ask myself, what was the photographers intention in capturing this infringement? Aesthetic (probably not), documentary(maybe) or some other deeper reason (probably)? Is it perhaps because by capturing it on camera we have "caught" the perpetrator and they can never take that evidence away from us.

What purpose does that image then serve?. As a digital image it may not even be used in a court of law. Is it purely the satisfaction of "catching" someone redhanded?

BTW This post is indeed toungue in cheek.

Andy

Take a hike andy.. your in AH now...

Back on topic, im not surprised by this.. Im amazed and what people think is acceptable on the roads in this country..

The worst has to be people who just leave the car, blocking half the road and run off to do some errand.. Its unacceptable.. but i see it all the time!

Keying is too good for them!!! </rant>

amcinroy · 09-07-2007 05:17PM

LOL. It's me that's on topic in this photographic forum. :rolleyes:

Anyone else want to discuss the photographic purpose of this shot? It is more interesting than first appears. Why do we take these shots?

Andy

Orange69 · 09-07-2007 05:20PM

amcinroy wrote:

LOL. It's me that's on topic in this photographic forum. :rolleyes:

Are you sure about that? Check again...

Drax · 09-07-2007 05:23PM

amcinroy wrote:

BTW This post is indeed toungue in cheek.

Yes. Indeed. :rolleyes:

Orange69 wrote:

Im amazed and what people think is acceptable on the roads in this country..

Aye.. but its not just on the roads. People seem to take the aggressive approach to resolve issues - the whole 'who the f*ck are you to tell me what to do' attitude that exists today.... for example what if the OP had approached the girl and pointed out another alternative place to park nearby? Probably would have made no difference.

There is a shop near me which has the car park around the back of it which requires a 20 second walk to the shop. Yet even though the council painted double yellow lines and stuck sign up threatening parking fines, I still see muppets parking on it everyday because it is beside the shop. I guarantee if you were to say anything to them you'd have your head eaten off. If they are brazen enough to ignore rules like that they'd have no problem telling you to f*ck off. But its the sheer number of folks who have become like this. Life is a lot faster these days, more stress etc... but it is no excuse.

amcinroy · 09-07-2007 05:23PM

Orange,

I'm off topic in an off topic thread.
The double negative means I've brought it back on topic.

Andy

homah_7ft · 09-07-2007 05:27PM

heyjude wrote:

Fully sympathize with your experience, it makes me wish that this had happened in the USA, I have been told that over there, if you park in a disabled parking space at a shopping centre etc without the appropriate sticker/tag, then they go to town on you(eg. clamping/towing and perhaps $200 to get released), pity the same didn't apply here.

If the hotel won't do anything about it themselves, maybe they could get a private company to 'police' the disabled parking spaces and environs, with clamping for offenders.

My dad is disabled and we have a disabled sticker for the car, but only use it when he is with us, so it makes my blood boil when I see clearly abled bodied people with disabled driver stickers, using disabled parking bays. A few days ago, was walking into my local Dunnes and a middle aged woman on her own came out the door on her own(nobody with her or in the car), pushing a shopping trolley piled high with groceries, she had no walking stick,frame or wheelchair and proceeded to load the shopping into a car parked in a disabled spot. I was stunned and checked her front window as I passed and yes, there was a disabled drivers sticker. :mad: Car park was only half full too. Would have said something if my dad had been with me, but when I recall the fuss we had to go through to get the disabled sticker in the first place and the warning about it only being for use when the disabled person is in the car :mad: :mad: :mad: So the abuse of such parking places seems pretty common and takes many different forms

My dad has a disabled parking disc and he has no walking aid or wheelchair. The wheelchair is just a symbol.

stovelid · 09-07-2007 05:29PM

thimblefull wrote:

I did, and my OP post states that. However she ignored the management too.

Christ. I would have cleared the table and escorted her and her guests out.

Perhaps that's why I'm not cut out to be a hotel manager.

Zzippy · 09-07-2007 05:38PM

Tsk! Women drivers eh* :rolleyes:

*tongue firmly in cheek

Can see from the photo that it's a Northern reg car - not one bit surprised. When I lived in Donegal and something like that happened, any kind of bad/inconsiderate driving, it was nearly always a Northern car. Seems once they hit the south they think they can do anything and not give a flying f*ck about the rest of us. Maybe some of us are like that when we go north, but what she did was disgraceful,
Can't believe she was so rude after you pointed out her "error" :rolleyes:

Mr. Presentable · 09-07-2007 06:06PM

You needed to arrange cars parked close to hers so she couldn't get in. Let her have her pre dinner drinks, then let her call the cops to complain, then let them do her for drunk in charge.

I love hindsight, especially with other people's lives.

I blame the hotel for not having the area clearly marked, and for not having the balls to do something about it. If she's parked on their property they can force her to move. She's still an ignorant "see you next tuesday" though, and will always be.

georgey · 09-07-2007 09:30PM

Someone mentioned the parent and child supermarket spaces, I (male) was on the recieving end of a rant from a woman several weeks ago for parking in one of these spots in Artane castle SS, needles to say I pointed out my 8 month old boy in the back of my car and told her in no uncertain terms where I would stick it, she offered no sorrys just drove away, the cheek of her as soon as she saw a bloke in the parking spot she presumed me to be parking illegally.
Philip

Demonique · 09-07-2007 10:10PM

thimblefull wrote:

I did, and my OP post states that. However she ignored the management too.

You should have called the Guards then, as far as I know parking in the disabled bay is illegal unless you are disabled, but it's only in the disabled bay, it's not illegal to park in the mother and child and pregnant women sections.
What's the point of those bays anyway? Woe betide if a poor mother had to cope with using a normal parking space. I managed quite well w/o them when my daughter was in a buggy (she's a teen now).

Wompa1 · 09-07-2007 11:18PM

My dads a disabled driver aswell and the amount of non-disabled people using disabled parking spots is sickening...you should give the picture to the gardai...what an ignorant b!tch

Oriel · 09-07-2007 11:37PM

Galwayguy99 wrote:

Seems once they hit the south they think they can do anything and not give a flying f*ck about the rest of us.

Pffft! Like we'd actually be caught by your poxy police service? Gimmie a break...

440Hz · 09-07-2007 11:57PM

Galwayguy99 wrote:

Seems once they hit the south they think they can do anything and not give a flying f*ck about the rest of us. Maybe some of us are like that when we go north

Well anytime I have been driving up North I've seen a fair share of southern cars going mad. In fairness, you will get crap and inconsiderate drivers everywhere, I think pointing out the reg of the car is unfair and doesnt contribute anything. Who cares where she was from, she is a twat regardless of origin.

soccerc · 10-07-2007 12:38AM

440Hz wrote:

I think pointing out the reg of the car is unfair and doesnt contribute anything. Who cares where she was from, she is a twat regardless of origin.

The reg of the car is of no significance. How anyone can say it is an NI one is beyond me as is the nationality of the driver.

As 440Hz said, "twat regardless" though I could use stronger terms.

Three years ago I was totally ignorant of the needs of the less mobile/disabled though never used or attempted to use the disabled parking bays.

Since the fateful day our lives have changed dramatically, not for the worse I should say. It certainly is different and has led me to a new career, something that I can do along with being a fulltime carer.

The point of my original post was to highlight how some in our communities have no regard for the needs/requirements of others less capable.

My mrs would be the first to champion her cause except she cannot speak and therefore I act as her advocate.

Victor · 10-07-2007 02:20AM

Demonique wrote:

What's the point of those bays anyway?

Twofold.

1. They are placed nearer the building entrances and are larger spaces, allowing buggies and wheelchairs to be used more easily.
2. When the door is full open, it won't smash into other vehicles.

DonJose · 10-07-2007 02:20AM

You should have blocked this car in and phoned the Guards. One thing that pisses me of about disable parking is when the family of the disabled person continue to use this privilege even when the disabled person is not in the car. Many a time I've seen f**kers drive into Liffey Valley park in the disabled area and feck off shopping.

Pipp · 10-07-2007 08:50AM

heyjude wrote:

Fully sympathize with your experience, it makes me wish that this had happened in the USA, I have been told that over there, if you park in a disabled parking space at a shopping centre etc without the appropriate sticker/tag, then they go to town on you(eg. clamping/towing and perhaps $200 to get released), pity the same didn't apply here.

If the hotel won't do anything about it themselves, maybe they could get a private company to 'police' the disabled parking spaces and environs, with clamping for offenders.

My dad is disabled and we have a disabled sticker for the car, but only use it when he is with us, so it makes my blood boil when I see clearly abled bodied people with disabled driver stickers, using disabled parking bays. A few days ago, was walking into my local Dunnes and a middle aged woman on her own came out the door on her own(nobody with her or in the car), pushing a shopping trolley piled high with groceries, she had no walking stick,frame or wheelchair and proceeded to load the shopping into a car parked in a disabled spot. I was stunned and checked her front window as I passed and yes, there was a disabled drivers sticker. :mad: Car park was only half full too. Would have said something if my dad had been with me, but when I recall the fuss we had to go through to get the disabled sticker in the first place and the warning about it only being for use when the disabled person is in the car :mad: :mad: :mad: So the abuse of such parking places seems pretty common and takes many different forms

I'm not being a pain by pointing this out, but how do you know that that lady didnt have a hidden disability that causes pain but looking at her you'd never know? Just because she didnt have a stick, or a chair doesnt mean that she is able bodied. Things like arthritis, and lupus and indeed Multiple Sclerosis cause alot of pain and suffering, and this lady might have had any of these things and therefore would have been more than entitled to park in that bay and to use her parking permit.
I have multiple sclerosis and to look at me you wouldnt really know the pain and the tiredness I go through on a daily basis. I use my permit to park in the disabled spaces as I am just simply unable to walk any distance without experiencing pain. When I go shopping for food in a place like Tesco it takes all my energy for the day just to walk around the aisles and fill the trolley, if I wasnt parked outside the door then I simply wouldnt be able to manage putting my shopping in my car, which incidentally is an automatic as I lost all the strength in my left leg and arm a long time ago.
Anyway, all I am saying is that I get alot of attitude and stares from people because they cant see anything wrong with me other than a limp and they assume that I am a chancer. I felt I had to reply to this post to defend people like me, and that lady you mentioned from being judged for having an ilness that I didnt ask for, and for simply taking available help to make my life easier. Please dont be so quick to judge, Ive been reduced to tears too many times by ignorant people.

ShowUsYourXbox · 10-07-2007 09:32AM

Afaik, if its a private car park, the markings are only guide lines (ie, not government law). The only people who could complain to the guards would be the management. No point ringing them yourself.

Like everyone else said, should have got the manager to grill the bitch.

ats · 10-07-2007 10:16AM

I know someone that regularly parks in a disabled spot in Artane Castle. One Friday morning she was rushing in to the post office, and smashed the front of her bumper into the bollard in front of the spaces. it was 9 am on a Friday and the rest of the car park was empty :mad: .

She came to me asking if it could be fixed, i asked how it happened and she told me so i laughed in her face an told her she deserved it and was going to cost her a pile to get repaired. she smashed up the bumper so bad she needed a new one. bloody servers her right. Anytime i see someone with no sticker on the window and they are getting in or out of a car i make a point of saying to who ever is with me how ignorant they are and if they want to park there so bad then they should have someone put them in a wheel chair.

Burning Eclipse · 10-07-2007 10:32AM

I work in a University and we have quite a bit of parking, although listening to some students you wouldn't think it. Anyway if you have a problem with parking here you go to the main reception. One of the members of staff is disabled (needs a wheelchair). He parks in the same spot every day.

One day he came in to find his spot taken... There was no sticker on the car, perhaps the owner was just going to be there for a few minutes. So the guy from reception parks his car directly behind the offender in the disabled spot so he had no chance of getting out without going to... You guessed it, reception. Imagine the look on his face when he complained that his car had been blocked in, but saw the person come out from behind the counter in a wheelchair. I don't think he'll be so flippant again!

This is one of my pet peeves, same with the girlfriend. People who do this type of thing are a**holes, plain and simple. OP, you did the right thing in confronting her, pity she was a total c*nt.

arybvtcw0eolkf · 10-07-2007 11:09AM

Anyone notice the amount of disabled parking in Clare Hall Tesco's S.C.?..

Its like bleed'n Lourdes there!.

dellas1979 · 10-07-2007 11:38AM

To be honest as well, it doesnt look like part of the disabled space.

That said, if I were to consider parking there, I would first of all think "if I park there, then how are the cars in the disabled spot supposed to open their doors?" but majority of people wouldnt condsider this.

As well, if I did that with out knowing, and you approached me, I would move the car.

I personally think you should have taken it further.

_feedback_ · 10-07-2007 01:01PM

I'm in work and can't view the photo..... is the place she parked in the middle of the two disabled spots? are both disabled spots taken (covering the disabled markings) If so, she may have thought it was a 'tight' spot. If the markings were visible, any person with a driving licence should realise that there is no way that there would be another parking space between the disabled ones.

Either way, she should have moved when asked. One poster above mentioned she may have been disabled herself , but not obviously to somebody looking at her. I'm sure she would have said that to the OP when he challenged her, if that was the case.

440hz wrote:

Its the first time I have ever known anyone killed on the road, and I can tell you I have thought of nothing else every time I have turned the key in the ignition since.

I lost a good friend over the May bank holiday too.... know how you feel mate.

Mr Magnolia · 10-07-2007 01:43PM

elviscostello wrote:

I'm in work and can't view the photo..... is the place she parked in the middle of the two disabled spots? are both disabled spots taken (covering the disabled markings) If so, she may have thought it was a 'tight' spot. If the markings were visible, any person with a driving licence should realise that there is no way that there would be another parking space between the disabled ones.

It appears so, although the area isn't hatched out as one would expect it to be.

Either way, she should have moved when asked. One poster above mentioned she may have been disabled herself , but not obviously to somebody looking at her. I'm sure she would have said that to the OP when he challenged her, if that was the case.

Either way unless she's displaying a permit, which I assume she wasn't, she shouldn't park there.

_feedback_ · 10-07-2007 01:48PM

Mr Magnolia wrote:

Either way unless she's displaying a permit, which I assume she wasn't, she shouldn't park there.

That too!!

plus, it wasn't actually a parking space.... reserved for either able bodied or disabled persons.

Mr Magnolia · 10-07-2007 01:49PM

elviscostello wrote:

plus, it wasn't actually a parking space.... reserved for either able bodied or disabled persons.

It was part of the disabled space IMHO

Disabled Parking Bay - Rant

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