Parent and child spaces - would you sign this petition?

[confuseddazed]

A woman has set up a petition for safeguarding parent and parking spaces for under 5s here

Perhaps the parents with older children need the space -asd or learning difficulties for example. Ds walks to the store entrance and then gets in a sn trolley. Obviously this doesn't apply to most older children but this petition is saying no over 4's can use them.

'Struggling' is not the same thing as being inconvenienced.
Parents with toddlers may feel inconvenienced by parking in standard parking spaces, however they have the choice to park at the quieter end of the car park or to shop at quieter times.
In contrast people who have disabilities will struggle with parking at all times.

I won't be signing it. I feel that if you can't cope with the parking issues presented by using a supermarket car park you really shouldn't be on the road at all.

There's no comparison between choosing to have children or to drive a car and having a disability. None at all.

I'd love to know how all these silly people manage when they go, for example, to a busy zoo or wildlife park where nigh-on every vehicle in the packed car park has young children on board and there's not a parent and child space in sight!

They all manage absolutely fine in those kind of car parks. It seems to be only in supermarket car parks that people lose the ability to get their children in and out of cars.

I'm sure when I was a kid the parent and child spaces were much further away, that in it's self would discourage a lot of the people who park in the parent and child spaces needlessly... My mother in law is obsessed with the parent and child spaces. She actually drove round a supermarket car park for 15 minutes waiting for a space the other day, by the time she gave up and parked elsewhere the baby needed feeding and it started raining, we somehow ended up going home rather than into the supermarket! The in laws will only use the multi-storey car park in the city that has child spaces. This is why I get the bus...

Applauds all thT Mrs DV has written
They are a perk. Nothingore
Loads of people would find wider spaces useful.any people have more difficulty than a healthy with a young child and yet font qualify for a blue badge - oeople recovering from broken legs or replacement joints; middle aged women who have had a hysterectomy, those elderly people who are a little frail and unsteady on their feet .
Theyigjy make life easier bug their absence does not Moshe life more difficult. People manage at the zoo, safari parks, NT properties, park and ride and basically every dingle mom supermarket car park.
As for the poster who started on about people with no obvious disabilities - really??? Years of education about hidden disabilities have passed you by, more is the pity.

Could I ask those "anti p&c space" posters then, what do you propose I do when I need to go to the supermarket and I can't actually get my child's car seat (which I put on top of the trolley in the designated spot) out? Do I just leave her in the car perhaps? Or drive off somewhere else where there is a space?
In non-supermarket car parks there is no option you are right. So I selectively choose which car parks to use. In town I have a choice of several and some are better than others. In a supermarket I have only one choice. I imagine that most supermarkets feel a vested interest in me choosing their car park as I am likely to be spending a significant amount.
The fact that there are disabled people out there, or people on crutches etc etc is of no relevance to this discussion. Personally I think councils should issue temporary disabled badges for those with short term disabilities. This though has absolutely nothing to do with whether a parent also needs a wider space.
It's a bit like arguing that you shouldn't have a doctors appointment because there are people worse off than you. Your need is different but it is still a real need.

Leave the seat in the car and take the child out?

I do wonder how the "need the seat out brigade" will cope with the new laws which will probably see infant carriers becoming rarer as they don't work to 15kg and so the fixed seats will be used more from birth!

Leave the seat in the car is the easiest solution.

I don't understand singsong- are you asking what you do if you can't find a Space big enough? It's sort of tough isn't it? What would you do if there were no spaces? Go somewhere else, go home, circle the car park until someone leaves etc? Common sense surely?

I always park in them and always will
lob a booster in the back and woo hoo

I must add, my mum has a disabled badge as she has arthritis in her feet. It is very mild. She is more than capable of walking around a supermarket (and does of course once she has parked in her disabled space). If she can get a badge I would imagine that most with a genuine need can.

So you suggest that a mum with a newborn baby who is fast asleep in the car squeezes her baby out- doubtless waking him/her up- to plonk them in a cold plastic (often wet) supermarket baby seat? Nice.
And yes your right. My only option would be go home, don't bother, go without food, nappies etc etc. Again, nice.

Then you imagine wrong sing.

Let's fling it round again, for argument's sake. I parked in a space that was alone- empty spaces either side. Took my sleeping baby out in her seat, did my shopping, got back and now couldn't get the seat back in. What do you suggest now?

So you have evidence of that Sirzy? Or is it just your opinion?

You wokld choose to go home. Nobody would make you have to.

It's tough coping with a baby but it quickly becomes easier as the baby gets older. Unless your unlucky enough that your baby has additional needs then you soon realise just how easy it is (comparatively) having to potentially wake a newborn compared to having to struggle carrying a 5 year old (or older!)

Yes, I see plenty of parents park around the school where the traffic is heaving and cars are parked really close together. Everyone seems to manage then.

Have you read the thread sing believe me it is far from easy to get a blue badge!

I had a car seat and a baby and there are no P&C spaces where I live and yet I never had any problems.

I think with a new born baby now I would be doing Click and Collect or delivery, or asking someone to look after the newborn while I went out/shop in the evening when it's quieter etc. Bit of planning.

Yep I agree it's tough looking after little ones. Therefore what's the harm in making it a tiny bit easier? A tiny bit less stressful.
And yep, I usually order on line but surely I am my children have the right to visit a supermarket should we need to!!

And again I'll add, my mum got a badge with minimal difficulty beyond completing a form.

I wouldn't deny anyone the right to visit a supermarket. but with a newborn baby and a car seat at busy times you would just have to take your chance.

Bit of forward planning and there's no need for it to be stressful.

Well lucky her. That isn't indicative of the system in most areas though. As I said read the thread before trying to make out it is oh so easy!

I wouldn't sign the petition, no.

I prefer the "P&C" spaces in NSW where I live though, as they have a picture of a parent with a stroller, to make it more obvious that they're meant to be for parents with children who need a pram/pushchair, and therefore more space because they're likely to have to lift their child into and out of the car rather than letting them climb in/out for themselves. People still abuse them here though as well and that's just the way it is. They're nice to have, but not essential.

Mind you, half the ones in our local supermarket carpark aren't any wider at all - they're just nearer the lift!