Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Disabled parking in mother & child space

236 replies

CommanderShepherd · 20/04/2016 11:38

disabilitynow.org.uk/2010/03/04/not-all-childs-play/

Firstly I want to say that I have never parked in a disabled space. having recently become a mother, the parent & child spaces are freaking awesome! I have a doona car seat which is also a pram, which means I have to lift ds and car seat in and out when we use it. Not too much hassle but I need room to get him in and out. I was curious if I could park in disabled space if parent and child was full (I honestly wasn't sure if it was illegal or just bad car etiquette) and came across this article. As per the article, do you think it's hypocritical that disabled can park in a parent and child space? Someone was actually finned by a supermarket for doing so.

I'm not sure where I stand on this issue, obviously I would never rob someone who has a hard time walking etc a space closer to the store, although it would bug me if there was disabled spaces free and they chose to use a p&c space.

Anyhoo, he's a pic of my ds being cute to distract the folk that will call me an evil cow for even thinking about it Grin

Disabled parking in mother & child space
OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
Durgasarrow · 07/08/2019 12:55

Disabled people should come way way way way way before parents with children when it comes to parking. Please.

my2bundles · 07/08/2019 14:09

Dadinthe mothers net. Did it occur to you that the passenger who got out just might be the one with tne disability? Not all disability s are visible. My daughter has a blue badge but dosent drive, they are not just issued to drivers. Besides which blue badge holders have every right to park in parent child spaces which are just a gimmick anyway unlike disabled spaces.

bluegirlgreen · 07/08/2019 14:21

Oh goody, another one of these. Hmm

bluegirlgreen · 07/08/2019 14:22

Oh shit, zombie thread!!!

Aciee · 25/07/2022 21:18

Hi if anyone is wondering if it's illegal to park in a disabled spot if m+c is full the answer is yes as i parked in a disabled as I am awaiting for my badge and I have just received a £100 parking fine

FarmerRefuted · 25/07/2022 21:45

Is it a blue badge you're waiting for? To use disabled bays you have to display your blue badge so if it hasn't arrived yet then you can't display it and will potentially be fined (as you have been). You could contact whoever issued the fine, explain the situation, and provide proof that you're getting a blue badge (e.g., confirmation letter) in the hope that you deal with someone sympathetic who will cancel the fine but its not a guarantee.

Seriou · 25/07/2022 21:50

This is clearly baby-brain talking.

DD has a Blue badge - Blue badges can park near enough anywhere, including P&C bays if nothing else is available.

Daisychain222 · 25/07/2022 22:01

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

FarmerRefuted · 25/07/2022 22:05

Blue Badges are not given out too easily, in order to apply you need to have supporting evidence and there are set eligibility criteria to meet. Plenty of applications that should qualify get rejected too.

InChocolateWeTrust · 25/07/2022 22:08

It can be difficult though. I didnt use the nearest supermarket near my home for years when my kids were small because it only had 2 p&c spaces (about 10 disabled that are usually empty) and the car park was ALWAYS full (only free one near town centre), so I couldnt just park further away to have more room. Couldnt get the car doors open wide enough!

I've never seen a parent and child without a blue badge park in a disabled spot but people seem to treat p&c as a free for all. Any dickhead with an expensive car and no kids uses them.

UmbaRumba · 25/07/2022 22:10

This thread is from 2016

Seriou · 25/07/2022 22:26

@Aciee you deserve another £100 fine for resurrecting this thread !

Govesdancingpartner · 25/07/2022 23:11

I have a blue badge and have never parked in a parent and child space. I have left the car park and gone elsewhere. You are nasty to think it would be acceptable to park in a disabled space because you are too lazy to walk a bit further than you would like.

SpeckofDustUponMySoul · 25/07/2022 23:19

Why the fuck would you post a picture of your child on MN?!

WiddlinDiddlin · 26/07/2022 03:08

It is very silly to be bothered, wound up or 'bugged' by a situation you perceive in a moment in time, involving highly moveable objects.. ie cars.

To get wound up because when YOU arrive, you see a blue badged car in a P&C space and no further free P&C spaces, but a couple of free blue badge spaces...

1/ You have no idea if the car displaying the badge arrived with a parent with a disability
2/ You have no idea if the car displaying the badge arrived with a child with a disability
3/ You have no idea if there were plenty of P&C spaces but no blue badge spaces when the 'offending' car arrived.

You have insufficient information to form any judgement - so since it isn't your place to judge, leave it the fuck alone.

Last week we parked in a P&C space at my local supermarket.

You would have seen us get out, without a child and go into the store.

Unless you sat there for an hour, you would NOT have seen us meet with another car, transfer a child seat and a child over to my car after I had done my shopping.

Without talking to me, you would not know that I have checked with the store that I may use this particular row of spaces, because they permit me to have my vehicle reversed in, and use the walkway to unload my rear-unload chair.

You would also not know that the blue badge spaces in this store all require the car to nose in and unload into the road or at the side because they either have anti-ram-raid bollards slap bang in the centre of each one, less than a cars width apart, or they back onto a steep kerb and bank.

So even if I had not been collecting a small child for the afternoon, I still had valid reason to be parked there that was none of your business.

The week before we parked sideways across three spaces at the farthest end of the carpark as there were no spaces suitable anywhere else - I hate doing that as it means my rather distinctive brightly coloured van tends to feature on the 'parked like a knob' local pages (the contributors to which are incapable of deducing why I've parked there of course!).

WiddlinDiddlin · 26/07/2022 03:08

OH FFS! ZOMBIE THREAD

Londonrach1 · 26/07/2022 06:12

No. Disabled spaces are backed by laws. Parent and child are a nice thing to have. Someone with blue badge can park in them and their needs will always always trump parent and child legally and morally. Congratulations on your new baby x

Daisychain222 · 26/07/2022 08:38

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Daisychain222 · 26/07/2022 08:40

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Rosieposy89 · 26/07/2022 08:43

I'm disabled and will park in P&C spaces if they are closer to the door than the disabled spaces. It's not my fault car parks are badly designed.

TrashyPanda · 26/07/2022 09:07

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Total bollocks

exnewwifeproblems · 26/07/2022 09:13

I parked in one on Saturday when I was doing my groceries because there weren't any blue badge spaces free and I need the extra room to open my door.

I checked this with the store(Tesco) and they took a note of my reg no

clpsmum · 26/07/2022 09:15

Lifeisbeautiful2 · 20/04/2016 11:41

I can't believe anyone would even consider if the two are comparable.

This. My child is disabled and I often choose p&c spaces over disabled as they are closer to store sometimes. You chose to have a child my child did not chose his disability

chrissypissy · 26/07/2022 09:32

There is no legal precedent for particular types of parking spaces, especially in private places such as supermarkets. They are purely there to provide a service to customers, if they are abused then nothing can legally be done about it other than the owner banning them from returning.

QuestionableMouse · 26/07/2022 10:04

Disabled space are a legal requirement. Parent and child spaces are a perk. They're not remotely the same.