About 'mother & baby' parking spaces...

[toohardtothinkofaname]

And that those without kids who park in them should get bollocked?

I can never get parked in one & today a woman trying to park in the space next to me BEEPED at me struggling to attach the car seat to the pram because she couldn't get in beside me. The baby spaces were opposite, no spaces for me, and of the 4 people In them I saw get in or out of their cars, absolutely none had children

The bloody spaces aren't even closer to the doors so no idea why they insist of taking up space.

I'm sure there's been threads on this before but need to rage & OH sick of my driving stories haha

[grannytomine]

ILove, why can't you pull up by the main entrance to store, help your mum out, and help her to the seats by entrance so she can rest while you go and park?

Can't comment on every supermarket in the country but the Aldi, Sainsbury's and Morrisons I use don't have seats by the entrance. Maybe we are a seat free town!

[Andrewofgg]

All parking spaces being wider would reduce the capacity and while we may not love the supermarkets they are businesses not charities - and most of us would be well pissed off if we could not find a space at all when we wanted one.

My adult DS does his shopping late at night (24 hour Tesco) and uses P and C because he says the children should not be out and about at 12.30 p.m. I can't fault the logic but I don't do the same if I go there late.

[honkinghaddock]

There are elderly people and people who are disabled but without a bb that you cannot leave alone. Dropping off will work for some but not for others.

[SilkObsidian]

Honking yes I agree. In some cases using a P&C is justified eg if you physically can't get out the car and are unable to stand/sit nearby and wait while driver parks in a normal space. Or if an elderly person has dementia as well as mobility issues, and can't be left alone while driver parks. Fair enough to use one if there is no other safe option.

When I was pregnant and also when I had my leg in a cast, DH used to drop me at the door and I'd wait while he parked. There's a row of seats just inside the store and benches outside. I think if you can manage without, you should, even if it means inconvenience; P&C spaces are designed for parents with young children. I'm delighted some stores are now fining for improper use.

[DontCareHowIWantItNow]

P&C spaces are designed for parents with young children. I'm delighted some stores are now fining for improper use.

Not sure how they would get on if challenged in court. They aren't a legal obligation to provide.

[Shutthatdoor]

Can't comment on every supermarket in the country but the Aldi, Sainsbury's and Morrisons I use don't have seats by the entrance. Maybe we are a seat free town!

Major city here. No chairs here either.

[honkinghaddock]

I don't agree with fining. People shouldn't be inconsiderate but when people start getting shouted or threatened with fines it means that some peoples lives that are already very hard, are going to get harder.

[Sirzy]

By fining they would be treading a fine line legally j would have thought too - what about reasonable adjustment which has to be made for disabilities?

[zaryiah]

It's always the parents of PFBs that get het up about these spaces. I do love the dramatic descriptions of how these parents getting their kiddos out of the car.

FWIW, I would never park in one of those spaces without my DC but I'm afraid I can't get worked up about it enough to post a thread. However, apparently lots of people can!

[boredofusername]

There's an easy solution here. Blue badge spaces for blue badge holders.

Then have wider spaces for people who need/want them. For whatever reason - because they've got babies, because they have a bigger car, because they can't park very well and need lots of space. But I would suggest that some of those spaces are in other areas of the car park, not right next to the door. I bet you'll still get people queuing up for them though because they're easier to use and people are less likely to get their car scratched etc.

In council car parks they could attract a premium - eg 80p to park in a small space, £1 to park in a large space (not disabled bay) because you can't have as many spaces if they are larger. Although I'm not sure if the machines could accommodate that.

I never used P&C spaces because they were always full and there was often a queue for them. But I didn't have a huge car (and still don't).

Otherwise, online shopping is your friend.

[honkinghaddock]

For someone with a disability who requires extra space or closeness to store, it is indeed a reasonable adjustment. You cannot get a blue badge for needing extra space alone either so for some people the p and c spaces are the only option.

[Donnadoon]

They should 100% be renamed Easy Access Spaces and its first come first served. And yes I agree it does seem to be newish mothers that get all uppity about them.

[Notso]

I've never understood why so many parents assemble/collapse their prams in the neighbouring empty parking space.

[Notso]

Yes to Easy Access Spaces.

[grannytomine]

Shutthatdoor, glad its not just me that doesn't have seats. I did check at Sainsburys this afternoon as I thought maybe I had missed them but the only seats in the store are in the cafeteria which is right at the back so you couldn't really stop at the entrance and walk an elderly person right through the store, sit them down in the cafeteria and then go back out and park the car as it would block the access.

[anklebitersmum]

I have been known to buy two tickets in pay and display car parks and take up two spaces as they are especially tight-arsed as regards space.

Can't do that in free car parks though.

[Janeymoo50]

How on earth I manage in the 90's. Oh i know, a car that wasn't the size of a tank, a buggy that wasn't the size of a small car and oh, common sense.

[anklebitersmum]

Janeymoo50 when there's 7 of you as standard you need a car the size of a planet

[RebeccaCloud9]

I think the point of the thread isn't how to manage when there are no p&c spaces, but how annoying it is that when they are provided, people use them who don't need them. So it is irrelevant whether or not the spaces existed in the 90s.

[CountessOfStrathearn]

"I've never understood why so many parents assemble/collapse their prams in the neighbouring empty parking space."

Really, NotSo? You can't understand why parents don't want to leave their child in the side/middle of the road with people driving directly at them, rather than tucked into the side?

[Sirzy]

You assemble your pram with the child in it?

[unimaginative13]

Isn't it usually you park the pram next to the car door to put the child in?

Then I guess you either put the pram down there or wheel it to the boot and collapse it?

[kawliga]

and oh, common sense

The common sense being the most important part. Sadly, common sense fled when P&C spaces were introduced. So many mums now cannot think of a way to manage if the P&C spaces are taken. They will have a shouting match with a stranger in the car park over this, rather than engage their brain and think of a different way to approach the problem (hint: park elsewhere).

[toohardtothinkofaname]

Nope, no shouting here. Maybe some shady side eye but I'm not one for public arguments.

What irked me was yes, there was no spaces because people without kids were taking them up, but the beeping from other drivers trying to get into the space alongside me whilst I got my baby out (attaching seat to chassis which I had put up at the back of the car & wheeled round) Something the P&C spaces assist with. I wasn't even taking long, until she started beeping...

[Andrewofgg]

P and C - People and Children. When DW and I look after the great niece for the day and use a borrowed car seat we park on P and C if we need to.