A wide disabled space with a hatched area to the side is absolutely essential for us, as I need to bring my wife’s wheelchair alongside and use a hoist. This would be impossible in a standard parking space, so if we can’t get a disabled space it’s an aborted trip.
I see the odd car in a disabled space not displaying a badge, but I don’t doubt that sometimes it’s someone who has a blue badge and has forgotten to display it (as we have done a few times).
By far the bigger issue for me is that the bar for qualifying for a Blue Badge is now too low IMHO and as a result of a lot of people now having Blue Badge’s who, in truth, could quite easily park in a standard space, those of us for whom these spaces are absolutely critical now struggle more to secure one.