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Original poster

Parking... P&C if its the only space left? Do you take it?

69 replies

Certainlyreally · 10/09/2023 00:15

So just one on of many other threads on parent and child parking, and I was just thinking, would you/can you take a P&C space if its the only space left?

Do you take it?
Should you leave it?

(My dc are older, and I personally dont park in p&c spaces, even if they are the last one in the car park)

OP posts:
ColleenDonaghy · 10/09/2023 09:18

Vanishingly unlikely, but depending on how badly I needed to get to that shop and how much time I had to do so, I probably would take it. (Largely because I have two small DC and have never struggled in a normal car park so I don't get worked up about P&C spaces.)

Wouldn't dream of taking a blue badge space.

RoseMartha · 10/09/2023 09:19

No I wouldn't take it
If i was at a supermarket I would just drive to another one close by.

VisionsOfSplendour · 10/09/2023 09:20

Nope, I just wouldn't be able to bring myaelf to do it. Too many years of not being able to find a space when I had car seats on both sides of the car

CalistoNoSolo · 10/09/2023 09:21

No, I treat them as I do disabled spaces. They are not there for me so I find somewhere else.

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 10/09/2023 09:23

If it was literally the only place to park at the supermarket and the only other option is to leave and go home again then yeah I’d probably use it Vs leaving it just in case a parent came along.

comedownwithme · 10/09/2023 09:23

It would depend on the circumstances for me.

Supermarket? Definitely not I would go elsewhere

Important medical appointment? Yes I would - I am disabled though but cannot get a BB

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 10/09/2023 09:24

But I have never been in a supermarket car park when this has happened so in reality it wouldn’t

MargotBamborough · 10/09/2023 09:24

If I have either of my two small children with me, it's for me and I take it. It's irrelevant if it's the only space left. If they aren't with me I don't take a P&C space even if there are loads of them left. OK, if they were all free and no other spaces were free I might, but it's difficult to imagine that ever happening.

I once parked in a disabled space in my work car park but there were literally no other spaces free, I was 9 months pregnant and those spaces sit empty every day anyway because at the moment there don't seem to be any people who work in my office and need an accessible parking space.

fairyfluf · 10/09/2023 09:25

MargotBamborough · 10/09/2023 09:24

If I have either of my two small children with me, it's for me and I take it. It's irrelevant if it's the only space left. If they aren't with me I don't take a P&C space even if there are loads of them left. OK, if they were all free and no other spaces were free I might, but it's difficult to imagine that ever happening.

I once parked in a disabled space in my work car park but there were literally no other spaces free, I was 9 months pregnant and those spaces sit empty every day anyway because at the moment there don't seem to be any people who work in my office and need an accessible parking space.

That's worse to me. The parking for people with disabilities always needs to be kept free. Like the accessible toilets - don't use them unless you have accessibility needs.

VisionsOfSplendour · 10/09/2023 09:28

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 10/09/2023 09:24

But I have never been in a supermarket car park when this has happened so in reality it wouldn’t

There is a smallish Asda near me where this could easily happen in a busy day. Id wait for someone to come back to their car. In the big Tesco on the other hand it would be impossible

MargotBamborough · 10/09/2023 09:30

fairyfluf · 10/09/2023 09:25

That's worse to me. The parking for people with disabilities always needs to be kept free. Like the accessible toilets - don't use them unless you have accessibility needs.

Show quote history

In ordinary circumstances I wouldn't, but this was my work car park, there are at least 10 accessible spaces which are never used, and the alternative was me not being able to go into the office that day (on my last day before maternity leave). It's the only time I can recall there literally not being any other spaces available.

Triptastico · 10/09/2023 09:30

Yes I'd park in it. I also park in them after 7pm too and most young children are in bed by this time.

Ps I NEVER park in disabled spaces.

LifeIsShitJustNow · 10/09/2023 09:31

I think there is a huge difference between what people say they would do and what they actually do tbh.

The answer would also vary depending on how likely it is another space will appear or how much further ‘the other possible parking space’ is.

Personally, I would have taken the space. I now have a blue badge but for a long time, I didn’t and still had mobility issues. I wouldn’t have walked the extra distance for that elusive other parking space. P&C spaces are nice but legally not enforceable.

Symphony830 · 10/09/2023 09:32

I’d only really experience this scenario at one of the mini neighbourhood supermarkets where I’d be running in to pick up just a couple of items.

Yes, I’d probably use it if it was the last space and there was a queue of cars behind me. I’d draw the line at taking a disabled space.

User19543785 · 10/09/2023 09:35

Yes I would, they are for convenience unlike a disabled space which is for need

outsurance · 10/09/2023 09:58

I would - but I'm disabled and a normal space is no good to me anyway so If there wasn't a bb space or a p&c space I would have to go home.

Matildahoney · 10/09/2023 10:05

I'm currently 5 months pregnant with a very large bump so yes I would, but usually no.
DP and I went out earlier this week, massive car park, lots of spaces, parked straight in the middle of a space, away from the shop, came back to the car to a car each side of us parked so close I couldn't get in the car, had I been on my own I'd have had to either walk back to the shop to get a tannoy put out for inconsiderate dickhead 1 & 2 to move their cars or wait until one of them got back.
So I wonder if I would BU to use them at the moment!

Ladyj84 · 10/09/2023 10:07

If the child is above the age for p and c parking then no

buckingmad · 10/09/2023 10:07

No, unless I was heavily pregnant and couldn’t park somewhere with lots of free spaces. I’ve got stuck before unable to get back in the car because of my bump.

It’s impossible to get a toddler or a baby car seat out of a car in a normal space if there is a car next to you. And impossible to get them back in if a car turns up whilst you’ve been in the shop.

Fallenangelofthenorth · 10/09/2023 10:09

I don't think this situation would ever arise as even when I did have young children I rarely managed to get a space.

If it did though, no I probably wouldn't take it. I'd either circle or just go elsewhere.

Oakbeam · 10/09/2023 10:12

Only if I have my mum with me.

QuestionableMouse · 10/09/2023 10:17

Happened to me once at my GP practice (which has a tiny carpark for multiple doctors!)

There's more parking across the road but I'd been stuck behind an accident and wouldn't have made it to my (very desperately needed) appointment if I'd used the other parking. I felt awful about it but I was in agony with a UTI!

Gillstuck · 10/09/2023 16:00

@SurelyBassey No thanks. Not if I'm going to be coming out with a trolley full of shopping.

SurelyBassey · 10/09/2023 16:25

Gillstuck · 10/09/2023 16:00

@SurelyBassey No thanks. Not if I'm going to be coming out with a trolley full of shopping.

Of course you wouldn't, as long as you're OK it's grand
Me
Me
Me
@Gillstuck

Gillstuck · 10/09/2023 17:55

😂 nah, you're confusing me, me, me with SUV drivers there.

I'll pop off with my dodgy knees now and see if they'll let me wheel their trolley up the road.