To think I have the answer to P&C spaces?

[curiousgeorgie]

Sometimes it is completely necessary to need wider spaces when you have children.

When I had DD and a three door car and had to get a carseat out of the back I had to open the front door all the way in order to get her out, and when P&C spaces were all full (not always with p&c's as we've so often heard! ) and the car park was really busy it would be a nightmare.

Whatever people think of them, they are useful for getting prams and children out safety.

I think they should be placed at the very furthest part of the car park. Then childless people would stop using them and people who legitimately needed them could just use the wider space, and walk / use a lift etc to the shops.

Who can I write to about this! :)

does it matter, I mean really

Write to the queen

Why can't you just park at the far end of the car park where you are likely to get an empty bay next to you anyway?

This was never a problem 11 years ago when I had my ds there weren't any around then , or very few iirc.

Write to a driving instructor and ask them for some more lessons.

People really did manage before P&C spaces you know

And yes, I had a 3 door car too when mine were small.

The HQs of supermarkets? It is a good idea, one which has been said before. The p&c spaces at our tesco used to be quite far from the shop, they then moved the disabled spaces to right opposite the doors where before they were just to the side at the edge of the carpark and put the p&c spaces where the old disabled ones were. The mind boggles

I usually do... (well, not anymore, my toddler is no longer a baby and doesn't need to be carried in a seat) but on busy days, eg over Christmas, when the place is full, it can be so difficult.

Worra - it's not about the ability to drive... It's about the ability to open the door all the way and get a buggy around cars when there's an obstruction - ie, another car??

Do instructors teach that?

I think every normal car park space should be 1.5 times wider than they are. Current spaces are stupidly narrow especially if you have three doors and car have car seats in the back you need to get too

Sorry that makes it sounds like the old disabled spaces were far away from the doors, they wern't. They moved them furthur away to make space for p&c

Here we go again...

Sorry that makes it sounds like the old disabled spaces were far away from the doors, they wern't. They moved them furthur away to make space for p&c

These are the people you need to take it up with.

I don't get why P&C spaces are so contentious. I look at some of these threads and wonder how people can get so angry about them.

No, they're not essential, but they make parents' lives a little bit easier. Yes, people managed without them, no children won't melt if they get wet, no they're not protected in law as blue badge spaces are, yes if you've had a CS/SPD/back trouble as a result of pregnancy/childbirth then it can make the process of getting a car seat out a little less painful.

Why do some people on here have so much consideration, understanding and tolerance for some people but then go out of their way to antagonise others.

Especially when many of the people on here are parents. It really does baffle me!

Oh, but little toddlers would have to be carried to the trolley bay which might be too far & they can't handle a few splashes of rain, you know.

Seriously, would be tricky if you had 2+ little ones to manage handle in busy carpark, if far to go / no safe pedestrian walkway right from where you parked.

Modern cars are much wider than they were 20+ yrs ago. That part is new & the standard parking spaces/driveway width/garage door width doesn't allow for it. Our 7 seater has with sliding doors & I still shudder at parking it in a regular parking space, can barely open the doors wide enough for me to escape & no room for car next to me to open their doors, either.

(I loathe my car, can you tell?)

However, I vote that we go back to narrower cars, not that we expand the carparks (too much public space given over to bloody cars already).

Totally agree with folkgirl

Thank you tara

won't admit that I was a bit scared about taking the plunge and actually posting on a P&C thread...

But you don't usually keep your buggy in the back seat I kept mine in the boot.

Park car
Set buggy up
Open door and get baby out
Put in buggy

Hey presto!

'Write to the Queen' hahahahahahahahahaha too funny usual

Well we did that at the weekends - during the week I had to fold the buggy and get on a bus, imagine that!

Best idea is to wait and few years and then you get a life and get over it

Folk girl - where in my post did I say children would 'melt if they get wet'. I used a specific practical example of being able to open the door wide enough to get a carseat out with a newborn in it.

And valium redhead - it was about a carseat, not a pram, the point bout the pram was that it's safer to have it beside the door than at the back of the car where people are reversing / driving past etc.

What folkgirl said.

Good for you Valiumredhead that you have a big enough car to keep your buggy in the boot. I have a very small car and the carrycot attachment will only fit on the back seat.

Yes, I can manage without P&c spaces, but it is much more stressful and i think they're a good idea - although no they don't need to be near the shop.

There are lots of things that people used to manage without - the internet being one of them, but we don't all attack each other for enjoying the benefits of online shopping, mumsnet etc.

Thanks MrsCog for actually reading my post rather than just seeing 'P&C' like a red flag to a bull

What I don't get is the "space for buggies" argument. I never used one when DS1 was a baby and only occasionally use one now for long shopping trips etc. But everyone I know just puts the buggy at the back and carries the child to the buggy - I have never seen anyone trying to squeeze a buggy between the cars.

And the reason most p&c spaces aren't further away is that they have nothing to do with making parents' lives easier and everything to do with enticing in a lucrative part of the market by pandering to people's wish not to walk 30 seconds further across the carpark.

So you think people should walk across a busy car park with their children in tow? Right....