“Mark, I was reacting to comments made by Torchy, Ricardo & yourself , ¿How many people that have these blue badges actually NEED them,, I guess not many¿ ;¿ Too many people have disabled badges who don't need them¿; ¿there are a lot of people who have them or use them that really shouldn¿t. I agree to some extent but you cannot tell if someone really needs that space just watching them get out of their car. Chris commented ¿How close to Colston Hall do you want.....Trenchard Street car park is about 100 meters away!! ¿ believe me, 100 metres is a long way when your tablets are not working. And as far as ¿having the disabled person dropped off, then park in a normal space. When leaving, drive car out of space then the disabled person can get in.¿, or using ¿dial a ride. I am only 46 and wish to keep my independence as long as I can. Non-disabled drivers feel there are too many disabled spaces but believe me it is very difficult to find a disabled bay anywhere except the Mall at Cribbs Causeway.”

“Karen, I doubt anyone has a problem with someone genuinely using a disabled space, be it for a 'part time / occasional' disability or for a full time one.

In fact, I don't see one person saying disabled people shouldn't use a space, or, anyone saying that there shouldn't be any disabled spaces!

So, nice comment, but slightly out of place / over the top.”

“Well said Karen - you put all the spiteful malcontents who have posted here to shame!”

“we Could use hackney cabs , to travel about bristol the only trouble with that ideal
most hackney taxi dont want to take disabled customers,don`t use clamps or restraints to make use sure wheelchair user we are safe when traveling in a cab ( just hold on and pray )”

“Until the disabled badge is updated with your photograph shown on the front and not the back, disabled parking spaces will be abused. I am only 46 and have Parkinson's Disease, the symptoms of which fluctuate throughout the day. I can go from being virtually unable to walk (my feet feel like ton weights and added to that the feeling that i am walking through treacle, every step i make has to be thought about in minute detail in order to move forwards). The fear of falling becomes intense as my balance fails and with my collapsible walking stick i manage to remain standing. Then come the spasms in my legs and feet which are so painful i am barely able to stand (infact some days i sit on the floor and then people think i am drunk). Then my tablets (which i take every three hours) kick in and i begin to move. My muscle spasms relax and the 'treacle melts'. I come to life and shopping becomes bearable again. The walking stick is packed away and i am 'NORMAL'. Yes i admit that i look like i do not need that disabled bay but how many of you sit and watch the changes in me when i arrive or depart from the space i am so grateful to have found. So next time you look at someone with a valid Blue Badge and think, 'well they don't look disabled' consider how you would feel if you were on your own in the middle of town walking perfectly normally and enjoying a lovely shopping day out when in a short period of time your medication wears off and you are unable to move and feel very vunerable. Those of us who have a disability would much rather be walking the long distance back to our cars loaded up with shopping than having the 'advantage' of a close parking space. I would willing give you my space if in return you would take my Parkinson's Disease.”

“A thought:
If you want to goto the Cinema, head over to Hengrove or something, bags of parking spaces to use, probably the same at Showcase as well.”

“@Mark - I did not say that anyone here is guilty of blocking disabled parking sites. However, our little "Bristol Traffic" web sites is full of cases of vehicles who do. Along with cases of disabled vehicles which park in ways so as to endanger pedestrians, inconvenience everyone else, etc. Maybe they are partially forced into doing that because the disabled spaces are full.”

“How many people that have these blue badges actually NEED them,,I guess not many”

“Most of these model european cities people keep going on about had the benefit of being flattened by a little war that happened a while back.”

“Colin, you're right; most other European cities do have great public transport. Unfortunately Bristol is caught in a trap - public transport is bad, so no one uses it, clogging streets with cars. This then means that transport is still slow and doesn't have the funds to get better, which means that people continue to use their cars, and moan that there's nowhere to park...”