To want to monitor supermarket car parks voluntarily to catch people without children parking in the parent/child parking spaces?

[Hotmad]

Ok it's me again but a lot of things have occurred to me today that are unreasonable.
Today as I came out of the supermarket a woman in a big nice Mercedes pulled in next to my car into the parent and child bays, she did not have a child with her! I was so angry but as I'm not the confrontational type I threw her my best evil look and made a mental note to vent on MN later about it.
I never cared before but now I Have a new baby I realise there aren't actually that many of these bays going and if people use fraudulently then this is not fair and something needs to be done!

[FoxesRevenge]

P&C spaces are a free for all these days. Same applies to bus stops. No queues, everyone just sharpens there elbows and rushes aboard ignoring the elderly lady who was there first. Bring back the good old days of queuing and clipper cards

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Yabu

Supermarkets wouldn't have you anyway. If you wanted to police the blue badge spaces they would though.

Because one type of parking is a courtesy and the other a legal right.

In my old job I used to loudly and repeatedly call the registration numbers of people who had parked in BB spaces without on to shame them get the message across. Didn't do it for P&C parking. It's just a non-issue.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

*without a BB on the car

[Mim78]

Oh no not the mumsnet "nobody should have any extra consideration for having kids with them" bandwagon.

These spaces are a good thing. They make life a little bit easier for people with kids. Going to the supermarket with small children more difficult than without and it's a good thing that supermarkets try to help them out with these spaces.

People who park in them who don't have kids are being inconsiderate arseholes. There is no need for it.

Yes the occasional person may have a disability but most disabled people park in the disabled bays.

It's like the giving up seats for pregnant / elderly / disabled people threads. If we don't do this and if we don't leave the p and c bays for those with children personally I hate what it says about our society - that no one gives a stuff about others unless they are forced to.

[Jollyphonics]

I've never understood why MN has such a downer on P&C parking spaces. They're designed to make life easier for parents, so you'd think that the majority of MN posters would think they were a good thing. But no - it seems that if you dare to suggest they are useful and best kept for people with young kids, you are totally slated.

I also don't get this stuff about no harm coming from walking a distance to the shop. For me that was never the issue. I like the spaces because the extra space at the side made it easier to get baby seats out, and also less of a risk when toddlers swung doors open despite being told not to. Normal parking spaces are quite tight, especially as so many people seem to own whopping great big 4x4s these days, which they often can't park -but that's a whole other thread!

Yes OK it's not a big deal, but it's a small thing that makes life with a young child just a bit easier.

[Wilberforce2]

It's not about parents not wanting to walk far it's about making life that little bit easier for people with small children.

When my ds was a baby in a car seat I came back from shopping and had been practically blocked in on both sides by peoples shitty parking, I then had to ask some random person if they could hold my baby in his car seat whilst I reversed out to give me some room.

Op YANBU

[SouthernComforts]

Maybe all children should be microchipped? Like dogs. Then the P&C spaces could have a little barrier and machine where you scan one of your offspring before being granted entry.

It would work on buses, at soft play and tourist attractions. It would stop anyone ever claiming thier little darling was 6 not 7.

The possibilities for ending minor rule bending are endless!

Think how much better life could be.

[Jollyphonics]

It's nothing to do with rule bending, it's about being helpful to fellow human beings.

It's a bit like holding a door open for someone with heavy shopping. You don't have to, it's their shopping, they chose to buy it, they don't deserve special treatment, legally you are not obliged to hold the door open for them. But in a civilised society we like to do kind things for other people, to make their lives slightly easier.

[Panzee]

Yes it's nice to have them, yes I use them. But I don't get the rage when they're full, even if I have decided that others are less worthy than me.

[UptheChimney]

Personally, I think that Women Only spaces near to the shop itself, and near to exits in multi-storey carparks are far more necessary than Parent & Child spaces.

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

I'm not anti-P&C spaces. I think they're a fab idea but people need to remember, they are a marketing ploy, not some god given right.

[CheeseandPickledOnion]

Fraudulently! lol You need to get a life. There's no legal enforcement around this.

I watched a woman complain about me parking in one the other day. It was the only free space and I'm still a paying customer.

They aren't a god given right. They should just get rid of them.

[SauvignonBlanche]

@ SouthernComforts!

[FraidyCat]

I wish they would just scrap them. People managed for years without them

Cars are wider now. My garage was built in 1990, it's going to be a struggle to fit my 2014 Golf through the door, when I get it.

Having said that, I've never bothered to use P&C place. My current (1998-designed) luxury saloon is narrower than a 2014 Golf though.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Candycoatedwaterdrops and CheeseandPickledOnion - I bet that there are plenty of things in your lives that are neither God-given rights nor necessities, but that make your lives easier. Should we do away with all of those things as well?

Can you actually explain why it is such a bad thing to make an aspect of life a little bit easier for a particular section of the population? Do other sections of the population suffer significant harm because this one group gets this benefit? Maybe you have to walk a bit further to the supermarket - according to threads like this, it would be fine to put P&C spaces in the far corner of the supermarket - because parents and children are perfectly capable of walking to the shop - well, frankly, so are most people!

Of course, if it is the last space left in the car park, you can use it - but I doubt that this happens very often. In all my years of driving and parking at supermarkets, I have only ever seen one totally full when everyone was trying to do their Christmas food shop. It is hardly a daily occurrence.

I have never seen an argument on any of these threads that has convinced me that people's objections to P&C parking spaces are anything more than petty jealousy - and this thread is no different.

[FraidyCat]

More on the subject of car width:-

A Range Rover Evoque may be to wide to get through the 6 foot 6 width restrictions that are fairly common in London. (It may technically fit at wheel level, but with only a quarter of an inch to spare on each side you're likely to scrape your alloys.)

There are restricted width lanes on the M25 where roadworks are going on where an Evoque is to wide to travel in that lane.

[Catsize]

YANBU OP. I have left notes on windscreens before now, and complained to supermarket customer services desks. Sainsbury's actually want these people to report I believe.hey have done a 'could the owner of veh reg no xxxx please come to the cs desk' on occasions, and I have managed to resist hiding in the clothing rails to watch.
Bet she did it so her lovely Merc wouldn't be damaged, because she is so much better than the rest of us. Ph, how tempting it would be...
I also have a blue badge now, so double the opportunity to up my stress levels.

[SauvignonBlanche]

I don't like the Range Rover Evoque, so won't be bothering me.

[He11y]

There is a few misconceptions on here:

The disability blue badge is unenforceable in a private car park so they may request people use it but they would actually be guilty of discrimination if they ticketed or otherwise singled out a person had a disability and did not have a badge or didn't use it if they did have one.

They cannot fine anyone but they can invite you to pay them a large sum of money if you break their self imposed rules.

If anyone has such an invoice, take free advice from forums which will help you and do not pay it.

Very few cases get as far as court because they are not allowed to penalise you and they know it.

Of those that do get to court, the vast majority are thrown out.

If you want to park in any space and you feel you can cope with the moral implications then go for it!

You will not be breaking any law and you cannot be fined or penalised financially for doing so.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is misinformed or a chancer so tell them to go forth!

[candycoatedwaterdrops]

I bet that there are plenty of things in your lives that are neither God-given rights nor necessities, but that make your lives easier. Should we do away with all of those things as well?

Talk about quoting half of my small post to suit your own agenda. I never said they should be done away with.

[womblesofwestminster]

Maybe when people park little bollards should come up behind the vehicle. Which will only go down with a little token you insert having collected the token from customer service with child in tow.

Genius!

[bigboobsbertha]

Op I would love you to monitor me parking in a parent and child space without kids. I would laugh in your face and tell you having kids didn't make you disabled, laughing heartily as I skipped off child free. If you can't manage a child and a car, stay home luvvy and let us more capable totties do the shopping

[Hotmad]

:) wow

[sadbodyblue]

if my sciatica is playing up I will park in parent and child as it's nearer. and sorry but I need it more than a mum with one small baby

I never used them as a mum or cm as I think it's important to teach kids safety in car parks and it's good to teach then to walk and not be lazy.

disabled spaces should be left for blue badge holders.