Twonder why some shopping centres have P&C parking nearer the shops than disabled spaces?

[QuiQuaiQuod]

Are parents/nannies disabled/ lazy?

are the children heavy/lazy

are buggies cumbersome? (cos wheelchairs are really light you know

Does no one know what DISABLED actually means? that a physically disabled person uses more than 300% more energy to get anywhere?

And why do they put ticket achiness at one end of the car park or the other? never in the middle and never near disabled places

ANd why do people park in the P&C places when they don't have a child with them (onloy a car seat in the car) and why does ANYONE not disabled feel the fucking selfish cunty balls to park in a disabled place?

If I had 5 children under 7 I would not take them all to the shops with me. In fact I avoided taking my two to the shops at all costs when they were small.

Our local supermarket/town centre car park doesn't have P&C spaces. Everyone copes just fine.

I suspect that a parent of 5 children under 7, might understand that that is a lifestyle choice.

Unlike disability.

At least some of the five children under seven are likely to be school age so there's no need to have them all with you.

You need to be able to walk safely with your children on a pavement. A car park isn't that different. At least cars can see you, the adult more easily than a person on their own in a wheelchair.

With all due respect, if you can't trust your child to walk safely across a car park, you need to hold their hand. And if you can't trust them to do that either, you're doing parenting wrong.

I've been wheelchair bound and I've had a toddler. I know which one I needed a space close to the shops the most, and it definitely wasn't the toddler.

Because shopping centers want to attract parents because they spend money. I'm not debating the morality of it but it works. I have a choice of shopping centers near me and I go to the one with the amazing p&c spaces right in front of the shops because it's easier. In this case the disabled spaces are also right in front of the shops, it's a long row split in half.

And re the multiple kids thing. I'm one of 10 children, I get what it's like. Unless you had triplets, you will have one old enough to be trusted to hold the trolley/sibling's hand/walk safely. We all made it to adulthood without being flattened walking through a car park.

Any parent with 5 children under 7 will have become pretty expert at negotiating all sorts of potential hazards - lakes/ponds/roads etc?

No need to give special consideration to supermarket car parks - and to do so at the expense of disabled customers is immoral & just wrong in every way.

P&C spaces a bit farther from the entrance = parent being a bit more careful.

Disabled spaces a bit farther from the entrance = disabled customers unable to access the store.

No comparison!

@Sirzy

I'm tempted to agree with you, but it would need to be more specific than that. People are mostly interested in what has a direct effect on them as I suggest you and the OP are proving. I don't want to divulge my private details but distance from the shop is no barrier to me and my family but smooth access is (electronic wheelchair controlled by sip and puff) far more important than being close to the entrance.

I don't know who you think you are to suggest that one person is more important than another. Any kind of 'trumping' (ignoring the fact it meant fart, growing up in Cornwall) is a race to the bottom.

I wish I had the naivety to end any sentence with "simple as".

The non walking safely, non hand holding child may have a disability. It may be nothing to do with parenting.

Of course, spikey. but children in that category are not going to be the majority of children whose parents use the P&C spaces.

I always thought P&C should be at the back to prevent anyone without dc's sneaking in. All I needed enough space to get them in and out of a car seat. I was happy to walk the length of a car park.

Because obviously parents and their children have a campaign going against people with disabilities and want to make life as hard for them as possible

At my local Sainsburys, they have a central walkway in the carpark. On one side of it are the disabled parking spaces and on the other the Parent and Child so everyone is happy.

I do agree that many disabled toilets aren't fit for purpose, but also so are many of the baby changing ones. There really need to be more regulation on them. They both need to be a certain size to fit and let a wheelchair or pram move around in the cubicle, the doors shouldn't be the most heavy ones that they can find for sale and the baby changing one also need an actual toilet so that parents of very young children/babies don't have to use the disabled loo.

This really annoys me. I can't go to my local Morrisons without parking much further away than the P&C spaces and by the time I get in there I haven't got the strength to go around so I avoid it.

With all due respect, if you can't trust your child to walk safely across a car park, you need to hold their hand. And if you can't trust them to do that either, you're doing parenting wrong.

Agree in point but I take issue with this. My DS has AS. It's not a case of me doing parenting wrong. It's the fact he has zero concept or danger.

See my last comment, pixie. of course there are going to be children with things like AS, ADHD etc. But they are not the majority of the children whose parents are parking in those spaces, and the spaces certainly aren't being put closer than the disabled spaces with them specifically in mind. For the majority, having children who might run off is not an excuse.

With all due respect, if you can't trust your child to walk safely across a car park, you need to hold their hand. And if you can't trust them to do that either, you're doing parenting wrong.

I agree with the OP but this is unfair. DS will run away as soon as he can and doesn't understand "no" or respond when you call him. We think he has SEN but we don't know yet.

Please don't assume all "difficult" kids are the result of bad parents.

Oh and obviously I'm always holding his hand.

Gaelic Fair enough on your second post but you don't know who does have a reason and who doesn't.

In the case of shopping centres and supermarkets I imagine it's because, when it really comes down to it, they care about money not people. They will provide the facilities required by law but will only go out of their way to make things as easy and comfortable as they can for those who will get them the most profit. Which, I would imagine, is families rather than disabled people.

To be more charitable, one other (unlikely) possibility could be the space available. I only have one friend who is a full time wheelchair user so only a very small sample to go on. But she often can't use designated disabled spaces because they're too small to get her wheelchair alongside the driver door, fully open the door and slide into the wheelchair. So she parks right at the back of supermarket carparks where there's loads of space as, once she's in her chair, it doesn't matter how far away she is because she can wheel herself to the shop. So I guess it's possible that they put the disabled spaces where there's a bit more room to manoeuvre.

It isn't about who has a reason and who doesn't. It's about the fact that the supermarkets don't put the P&C spaces ahead of the disabled spaces with this issue in mind. I would be blown away if they do.

I would be all for a blue badge type system for parents of children with ADHD etc. The point I'm trying to make is that supermarkets don't put those spaces closer for parents of children with invisible disabilities to use. They put them closer for parents to use, the majority of whole don't fall into that category.

I cant really say I have ever found this to be the case. Shops local to me have disabled bay right to the front of the store whilst the p&c spaces are only a few metres along to the side. How far are they at the shops you are frequenting? Are the disabled spaces at the far end of the car park and p&c at the front?

manic I'm very surprised that disabled spaces aren't big enough to get a wheelchair in from. I thought that was the whole point of them. Wouldn't your friend be totally stuck if a car parked next to her while she was shopping?

The shops want to attract parents. They spend money on toys, clothes, snacks and all sorts of baby/child paraphernalia. Children grow quickly and need new stuff all the time. They need food/drink frequently. They nag for toys they've seen advertised. Understandable that shopping centres want to attract them! What better way to do this than make parking easy, safe and convenient?

Carparks aren't very safe places to walk through. People are careless reversing. Kids can get excited and not look before stepping out. Juggling a baby, toddler and shopping bags is stressful and you have your hands full.