In thinking Mother and Baby car parking spots....

[Writerwannabe83]

....are actually for parents with babies/toddlers?

It was always my understanding that the wide spaces are for parents who have car seats and pushchairs to contend with, not for parents of 10 year olds who just want to park nearer to the shop, like a family that I saw today?!

I'm only moaning because I've just twisted and scraped my back trying to remove my car seat from my half closed back door door, in a very tight parking space whilst trying not to scratch the car I'm parked next to.

I was secretly fuming at those in the Mother and Baby spaces who surely shouldn't have been there, like the one I mentioned above.

And breathe

[lozster]

YANBU. In an ideal world everyone would defer to the next person who has a greater need. It's pretty obvious to me that disabled trumps all and babies trump mobile children.

I do the park as far away as possible thing but int local sainsburys the car is full all round as its right in town. My emergency plan is always to grab a stranger, ask them to watch the pram and reverse out to clear the doors before putting baba in. Not ideal. And I drive a 4 door modest family car not some huge tank.

[sr123]

Kinkytoes my ds doesn't have a blue badge. This is despite having the understanding of a 1 year old, motor skills of a 2 year old and using a wheelchair.

[whatsthatcomingoverthehill]

I feel the need to make a generic response to these threads...

As NeedsAsockamnesty says, enforcement is the same for P&C and disabled bays on private property. It is a civil matter. The logic is that by parking you agree to the terms and conditions (e.g. only parking in disabled with a blue badge, or P&C with kids under 10 etc), but if you don't want to agree to those terms you pay an appropriate charge. If you do get a charge you can choose to ignore it, but they can be enforced. It's fairly unlikely that they will bother to proceed that far but you could see yourself in small claims court. Certain companies (notably parking eye) are doing this more and more.

[chopinbabe]

Yes, disabled people should be able to use P and C spaces and thoughtfulness for all is the way to go.

However, in some cases, disabled adults can circle the car park and wait for a spot to become free but young children are prone to melt downs if they have to wait, especially if they have a special need and, as in recent days, it is hot and sticky. Little ones don't always understand why we have to wait in an uncomfortable car.

Maybe there could just be specially designated spots labelled 'for those with extra needs' rather than trying to create a hierarchy of what those need s are. It can be so divisive.

[LittleBearPad]

Handy if their free. Not necessary though.

Park further away and if you can on the end of a row. Problem solved.

[ICanSeeTheSun]

How do I apply for my child?

Generally children under the age of two are not eligible for a blue badge. Children over two may qualify for a blue badge if they have severe mobility problems. Certain children under the age of three may be eligible if they have a disability due to a medical condition and need to travel with bulky equipment or be close to a vehicle for emergency medical treatment.

[EarthWindFire]

Kinkytoes my ds doesn't have a blue badge. This is despite having the understanding of a 1 year old, motor skills of a 2 year old and using a wheelchair.

If they are on higher rate mobility then you just send a copy of the notice with the councils form to your council to get it ussued.

[TheWiseOldElf]

YANBU! I can't understand the attitude of some on mn towards this issue! Yes they're provided as a courtesy but it is totally inappropriate for people to misuse them! Also fines ARE enforceable. If you choose to park on someone's property in bread of their rules for doing so they are entitled to levy a reasonable fine for this.

[TheWiseOldElf]

Breach not bread. Grrrrrr to my fat fingers!

[sr123]

He doesnn't get hrm because he can walk short distances and his behaviour wasn't challenging enough.

[Fairywhitebear]

They should put them further away from the doors. This would stop tossers who don't have babies/toddlers parking in them!

YANBU. Some stupid woman did this to me this morning. Took the last space, merrily left with her 14 ish yr old daughter. Leaving me with a newborn and a toddler waiting for a free space to emerge. (this was in a shopping centre where there's loads of p&c spaces, but the actual car park is always hard to get a space...not in Tesco for eg where I would happily have parked elsewhere!)

I tell you something else though. I never knew disabled badge holders could park on double yellow lines?! I helpfully warned this old couple this morning that a parking warden was out and about, and she practically snapped at me that she was allowed to.

Now. What's that all about! So the double yellow lines, to ensure the bike lanes are free, don't apply to the disabled! Now, there's a debate

[LastTango]

Oh diddums - OP's done a runner !

[SistersOfPercy]

Fraidy your bus lane fine would come from the council and be 100% above board and legal (for the most part, though you can appeal). Asda et all employ private parking firms such as APCOA and the 'fine' which is actually an 'invoice' not a fine is issued by them.

Council fines you have to pay. Private parking 'invoices' you ignore.

[sr123]

Can't get him round a supermarket though or in fact anywhere apart from the direction he wants to go in. I think those with asd and severe learning difficulties should be entitled to a blue badge but they are not.

[Missunreasonable]

Sr123. My DS has a blue badge and he has ASD and learning difficulties. He also get high rate mobility but he does exhibit very challenging behaviours. If your DS will not go where you need to without a fight and if he has no sense of danger then he might be entitled to high rate mobility and a blue badge.
I couldn't cope without the car that we pay for with mobility allowance as there is no way I can get a bus with my DS. Even going out in the car is almost impossible some days.

[bigdog888]

I think fines can't be enforced but it is worth asking to speak to the manager of the shop, especially if you can identify the culprit, so that he can have a stern word with the offender

That made me chuckle. I'm afraid I'd call the manager a cunt and tell him to fuck off and die. A stern word indeed. Lol.

[mumtoateen]

YABU. Legally a child is under 18 years of age. So anyone with an under 18 yo can park there.

[FraidyCat]

Fraidy - local authorities don't issue fines on private car parks.

How do you know my local "Asda car park" is private?

It certainly looks like part and parcel of the supermarket, in the same was as any other supermarket car park, but I now think I remember small-print on the pay-and-display machines saying that parking is enforced by the local authority. If that implies Asda doesn't own the car park, so be it.

[Teddybeau1988]

I don't use P&C spaces if I'm with my older DC ( 5 & 8), only when DS is with me, his 4 months. On those occasions others need them more.

I parked in those spaces when I was heavily pregnant and had no DC with me. I was absolutely huge and on several occasions I had to ask a passer by to drive my car forward as I literally could not fit in the gap left by the next car. I still felt guilty for misusing them

[fledermaus]

OK, well if it's a public carpark then the rules are different.

[BlinkAndMiss]

Well, I've never understood why P&C spaces are such a 'thing' on here, they are there for parents who have small children to get out of the car. I'm not sure why people are entitled or selfish or lazy for wanting them to be used for that purpose. I think if they put them at the bottom of the car park then they would be more effective. For me, it's not being close to the shop that's important, those spaces should be for people who struggle to walk, it's having the room to open the car door wide enough to get my children out. In normal spaces I can't open the door wide enough to not bang heads or the car next to me. I'd hate it if someone belted my car, I'm not sure why people on here are against having a space which helps people to avoid doing just that.

It really angers me when people without children park in those spaces, they are the ones being selfish and entitled not the parents who are requiring that space. It also annoys me when people park there with older children and people who then sit in the car with the child whilst the passenger goes into the shop.

It's more about common courtesy - allowing those who need it a bit of an easier time. When people ignore this it just adds to the hostility that already exists in most public spaces.

[bigdog888]

That, quite frankly, makes you a wanker

I can live with that thanks

[ChangelingToday]

'If you park in a P&C space when you don't need to, meaning someone with kids can't, then you have deliberately made someone else's day just that little bit more tricky. Not impossible, but a little bit more difficult. Totally unnecessarily.'

I agree, it's awful with a small baby parking so far away, trying to get them in when it's pouring rain. I also know someone who was getting the baby out, put her car seat on the chassis and when in the few seconds it took to turn round and close the door and lock the car someone had backed their car into the baby's pram and driven off. When I don't have the kids with me I park as far away as possible, hate that fight for a space lark. Annoys me when I see able bodied people parking in disabled and PC spaces.