Parent and child parking! 12 and 9 year old?!

[AnySecondNow]

Just had a row with a woman in Tesco car park. I waited 15 minutes for parking - have to carry a fairly solid 6 month old to the shop (post cesarean - still not 100%!)

Anyway, this family were parked in child and parent bay with a 12 year old and a 9 year old. Both very capable of walking and opening doors! I commented that she was rude to park there, she said she was entitled to. Then her husband complained about me to the management!!!

Wtf!? Ainu??! Parent and child surely means young child that needs assistance??!

It's not a ploy, it's a way if trying to prioritise parking spaces near the shop for people that need them most.

Of course it is a ploy. There is no legal requirement to provide p&c spaces.

I have a 4 month old I use one when there is one but don't actively go out of my way to get one usually and stopped using them with ds1 when no longer needed to get his car seat in and out.

I had a chap yelling at me the other day because my door was touching his car when trying to get ds2 in car on a day when all p&c spaces were used. His view was I should be using them and somehow was my fault they were all used and so I had to park in a normal space not his fault for having parked his tank sized car really close to mine

They should be scrapped as they just cause aggro

Buttered but that's what disabled spaces are for...

How does anyone know if someone else needs a p and c space though? I am sure people judge me for using one with 7 year old ds going off some of the comments on here but his need For one is more than the need For most newborns who are much easier to transport than he is. He is disabled but not entitled to a blue badge but non of the judgemental strangers would know that!

Cherry MN are using Skimlinks (is that what they're called?) and yes it's for advertising. I've seen it for Ugg as well

With a bb space it is straightforward. No bb you shouldn't be in it and so I wouldn't care about someone looking to see if there was one. questioning someone about the right to the badge is not on and they would be told to piss off. Likewise someone questioning my use of the p and c spaces would be also told to piss off because they have no right to decide on our worthiness of being on that space.

Ffs OP.
If theres a space, use it.
If there isn't, park somewhere else, i have never known a supermarket to be so full that there are no spaces. If you need extra space to get out / sort child, then park further away from shop door where there are empty spaces next to you. A walk across the car park is not going to cause you an injury or death. If that is likely to then you should be staying at home and online shopping.
No need to verbally abuse other car park users.
Have some dignity.

Hang on. Aren't the parent and child spaces just bigger so that you can open the car doors wide enough to get them out of car seats? So if they're not in a car seat, you don't need to park in that space...

OP needs to get her head out of her own ass, nobody gives a shit about your cs in a tesco car park. The fact that you hung around for 15 mins only confirms that you was looking for a confrontation with someone. If you need space to get your kids in and out of the car and the P&C spaces are full, park in between two spaces elsewhere.

Where we live I have seen elderly but not obviously disabled people (no blue disabled sticker in car) parking in them. I have a special needs child of 10 but have not used them since he was 5 or 6.

I do think priority should be given to under 5's but if supermarkets stipulate under 12's then that is up to them.

Yanbu even though technically they are able to, I think it's rude once the children are past 6-7. I have a 13,6,and 4 yo, and I leave those spaces for people with babies and toddlers because it's the polite thing to do imo. I remember how heavy those car seats are

I have a 5 yr old and a 7 yr old. If I park in one that is technically for up to 5 yr olds should I drop my 7 yr old dd off somewhere else in the Carpark then drive into the space? I don't think so. I'll park there if they are free. I also have a wonderful invention called child lock so I can control the opening of the car doors to make sure my calamity wonderful 5 yr old ds doesn't smash other doors. It's all about common sense and making do. But yes, waiting fifteen minutes is just ridiculous.

Caringcarergiver - if you have a child with special needs then I am sure you are more than aware that a) everyone with special needs is different and b) things like blue badges are very hard to get so someone not having one certainly doesn't indicate they don't have issues whereby they would benefit from the use of a p and c space if one is free

All the more reason, if this is your 3rd child, you should have strategies for getting them in and out of a shop when there isn't P&C spaces.

I honestly think they should just be got rid of, as they cause such controversy. Either that or simply designate larger sized spaces at the rear of the carpark for whoever considers they need them. I bet they would seldom be full.

YABVU. Most parent and child spaces are for people with children up to 12 years old. Some might argue that she was more entitled to the space as her children would be put in danger walking across the carpark whilst yours was young enough to be safely carried in your arms. I'd complain too if someone accosted me on a carpark.

Although the signs may look legal and the yellow lines look correct, it is all a nonsense. Supermarket parking is private land and the law cannot be enforced. My local supermarket would drive you mad. Chelsea Tractors always park in the M&T spaces because they are so wide. There are a lot of high end expensive cars use them too. It prevents their super-dooper cars getting scratched by the doors of nasty cheap cars. Having said all that I love embarrassing the prats by shouting very loudly "Hey, you have forgotten your toddler", it is great if there is an audience. Never swear, never be aggressive, just try to help because they have left their toddler behind.

I think the only person you are embarrassing there is yourself

Perhaps if normal car parking spaces were a wee bit wider there wouldn't be so much competition for the parent and child spots. I'm a brilliant parker and my car is average sized but I still find some spots can be tight.

I have also had three very young children and a need for p&c spaces in the past, I would not mind people checking that I wasn't abusing those spaces either.

Tesco Mum didnt mind that. She minded being accosted by the OP over her justification for using a P&C Space.

Where we live I have seen elderly but not obviously disabled people (no blue disabled sticker in car) parking in them. I have a special needs child of 10 but have not used them since he was 5 or 6. caring both my Gran and my Dad had their BB badges taken off them at renewals. Between them both having new knees/heart attacks/angina/arthritis anything else they've got going! they were deemed to no longer be eligible for one. That's why many people who don't have a bb badge park in P&C spaces. Not because they're entitled dickheads in bmw cars. Because they can no longer use the bb space and there's laws against that sort of thing. Despite some peoples delusions there is such law against P&C Spaces.

If there isn't, park somewhere else, i have never known a supermarket to be so full that there are no spaces.

welsh you never been to tescos on Christmas week then? I made the mistake of doing that once, and ordering a taxi for my shopping. Only I have a very common name so was rather amusing when the driver shouted "Away!" and about fifteen of us waiting all marched forward at the same time! 😂

I honestly think they should just be got rid of, as they cause such controversy touchmybum they'd be uproar if they did. Instead, they should move all the P&C spaces to the back in line with the wwlkeays to the store. Because remember it's the extra space they all 'Need' so they'll be fine if they're no longer as close to the door as possible

It's not a ploy, it's a way if trying to prioritise parking spaces near the shop for people that need them most.

They don't 'need them the most' at all. People with disabilities do. That's why bb spaces are usually at the front of the store. For people who actually need them. I had a very dear friend who passed away at Christmas. She'd been left disabled after a bad car accident and had literally not set foot in a supermarket in the last 25 years. Her disabled husband, who was also her carer used to go for her. Now that is someone who needs the space nearest to the supermarket the most.

chris be careful, sounds like you spend a lot of your time hanging around supermarket car parks hoping to catch out drivers of any vehicle you deem too large or expensive to be using these spaces - you might be accused of loitering...or perhaps the locals just know you as the madman who yells at people in tesco car park

At the local Waitrose disabled people without a badge are given priority in the P&C spaces, and the manager will happily argue with anyone who disagrees.

Sorry I have to agree with most people in here, you don't know their circumstances and if that happened to you in a few years what would you think then?

Although some people do take advantage and there's no need for them to park in these spaces but they still do.... Annoying I know!

I have a 20 months old baby and I need room to get him in and out, he is now big and heavy but can't go in and out of the car seat on his own so the above comments to park further up in a normal space is difficult for me especially when people move right up close that you can't even open the door!! So I like to wait for a space to become available. But just try not to argue with people, not good for you or the baby

But Zsuzsika, maybe ypu can answer this question as it seems to have been ignored so far: how do you manage in a car park at soft play, or a normal multi-storey? Do you only ever park on the street if there isn't a P&C space?

No one will answer it shotgun because if they did they'd have to admit to managing perfectly well with baby/toddler /carrycot/buggy/kitchen sink in places like Legoland and peppa pig world.