Parent and Child Parking

[Faerie87]

After being a FTM for a coming up 7 weeks I have found that in most car parks the parent and child spaces are nearly always full, where as the disabled parking spaces are nearly always empty.

Would it be unreasonable of me to want more parent and child spaces as opposed to disabled as there seems to be a supply and demand issue?

I also think that the amount of spaces is not necessarily the issue. I would never begrudge someone with a disability a space however to park in a disabled bay you need a blue badge. Would it not be easier for parents of children under let’s say 5 be given a similar badge when the child is born in order for them to park in the P&C bays? That way you stop Betty aged 70 and her son Gerald aged 40 parking in the bay stating that they are parent and child! That way more spaces would open up as fewer people would be able to legally park there, similar to the system the have to get a blue badge?

What do you think?

Just for the record I would like to state again, that I don’t begrudge a person with a disability a space, I just feel a better system needs to be in Place for parents and young children as there seems to be more of them.

That's a purely self-imposed problem. You can simply take a cheap and cheerful umbrella fold pushchair or a sling for shopping, and many supermarkets offer trolleys with child seats.

Absolutely - if you know that’s an issue and buy accordingly. DD is now 10 months and goes in the sling or trolley. But if you’re the fool who’s been seduced by iCandy/whatever marketing, haven’t slept for three weeks and are trying to get your snoozing newborn into Sainsbury’s... I actually have a lot of sympathy. Fine if the bays are taken up by people who need them more, but round my way it’s mainly builders’ vans and sports cars. They may all have hidden disabilities, or they might just be entitled cunts.

Here we go again!

I don’t drive. My local bus drops me a atreet away from the local big supermarket. I walk from the far reaches of that car park (and later back).

Be grateful for what you have and suck it up Buttercup.

Even with a bad back and a small child I tend not to use the parent and child spaces. I find them often to be quite busy and prefer to park in a quieter part of most car parks. It's easier to drive in and out of and easier to get my things out. Lots of places don't have p&c spaces and I don't expect them to. There is more of an issue with some places having impossibly tiny spaces.

Just park further away.

@DuggeeHugs
I wish Disabled Spaces were 10% of the total parking spaces - where I am, it is 1 Disabled Space for the first 50 regular spaces, then 1 Disability Space per 100 after that. So the legal number is a tiny percentage of the total.

@Gizzymum

I see similar at my local supermarkets and have often wondered why the larger spaces aren’t for both disabled and P&C. They could do with a lot more of them as I suspect there may be days where the P&C drivers meant there weren’t any disabled spaces left.

I also understand that that the issue isn’t wanting to be parked near the store entrance (I’d convenience as another poster suggested) it’s more th space needed to get anchild out ops car seat.

I am very much physically disabled. I don’t use a wheelchair or walking aid. Your reasoning makes no sense. I need to be as close to the supermarket as possible. Your idea would see a third of the carpark painted up with mixed use parking. The results would be a) I’d have much further to walk and may not make it past the shop entrance, b) I’d be in competition with people, given these spaces as a courtesy, who don’t need to be close to the shop c) the wider public would never respect this and the spaces would be filled by everyone else - afterall people with no B.B. already park in the B.B. spaces.

The reason as to why it is not mixed use is because non disabled parents aren’t suddenly permanently unable to walk or walk distances. Parenthood is not a protected characteristic for shopping. P&C spaces are a courtesy, not a legal obligation.

Think how bloody lucky you are to be able bodied instead of moaning it’s tough to get Tarquinius in and out of the car. There are always ways and means around this. I did it with dd, chronic pain and no badge so I know. This is not the case with physical mobility. 🙄

Ractify really?!!
That’s shocking!!

I like the idea of putting the parent and child spaces further away but with a safe route to the entrance. I'd use them but I bet the people who just want to be close to the store wouldn't.

OP - YABU to suggest that they should swap BB spaces for P&C (I don't think you meant to but the use of the word "oppose" is what's making people think that)
YANBU to want more P&C spaces but as others have said these aren't a legal requirement like BB spaces because the lack of them doesn't stop parents going somewhere like the lack of disabled spaces would for a disabled person.

You're only 6 weeks post partum and new to motherhood, it's hard to manoeuvre baby/pram/car seat in those early days (and going forward if people park right up against you!), people here have clearly forgotten what that feels like.

Plus P&C is a relatively new ploy to get people into the big supermarkets is it not?

OP you 'don't begrudge'? What the hell does that mean? They are disabled you are NOT disabled.
You are not entitled to park near the store, you don't need to park near the store. get over yourself.

EVERYONE with a disability has a right to park somewhere. That includes those without a blue badge but still have mobility difficulties.

One of the car parks in a shopping centre I sometimes use has a ton of P&C spaces right at the front door, disabled spaces are further away. It used to be the opposite, no idea why it changed and I personally don't think it should have.

@Ractify that's bloody awful.

Would it be unreasonable of me to want more parent and child spaces as opposed to disabled as there seems to be a supply and demand issue?

Yes, very.

@MyBreadIsEggy
Yes - the legal requirement here regarding the number of spaces is minimal, and the number BBs issued vastly outnumbers the number of actual spaces that exist.

I honestly think it is partly the reason why disabled people get so frustrated and upset about people abusing BB spaces or wanting them reduced/shared - there just aren't enough anyway to get on with life.....

PaddyFOdder
DFOD that’s bollocks. I have a fucking blue badge and a hidden disability. B.B.s are not given on the back of sweetie wrappers. I had to fill in a convoluted form asking for a ton of information then be interviewed and assessed by an occupational therapist. Legally i have to only be able to walk a few meters unaided. As for hidden disabilities, which do not qualify for a B.B., yes they’re very real. Your post is disablist nastiness.

OP I sort of understand where you’re coming from although not sure I’d have been brave enough to start a thread about it on mumsnet!!

Where I live we have a row of disabled spaces and opposite a row of p&c/disabled. It does annoy me when there are disabled spaces available and yet someone with a blue badge takes the last p&c space. I find it’s usually older people who do this (no I’m not being ageist) as they’ve probably never had to try and squeeze a sleeping baby in a car seat through a half open door.

As others have said I think the best solution would be to have p&c spaces further away as the real issue with baby’s is space to open the door properly. That way there would be less crossover with disabled bays and stop idiots with no children choosing to park in them.

Just to clarify, I’m not referring to disabled people as idiots with no children , the idiots are the people who take the space without needing it.

A Tesco store locally has p and c spaces nicely around the front of the store with a lovely walkway to the store.

To get to the store from the disabled spaces you have to cross the road.

When I have to take ds to a supermarket I need him to walk/be carried into the store so we can go and ask for the firefly seat trolley for him to use. When we had finished shopping I need him to walk back out of the store after we have took it back too (by which point he is probably on the edge on oberload) - too right I use the p and c spaces so we don’t need to navigate a road!

I have a blue badge and a 5 month old and never get and baby spaces or disabled spaces!! I know legally you can park on yellow lines but I don't like to, so end up parked ages away or giving up and going home :(

I find it’s usually older people who do this (no I’m not being ageist) as they’ve probably never had to try and squeeze a sleeping baby in a car seat through a half open door.

Considering P&C spaces are a recent marketing ploy, I’m pretty sure the older generation definitely had to get a sleeping baby in and out of a car - a car parked in a much smaller space than a P&C space

MistakenHoliday (Withnail reference? Love it!)

I read FTM as Female to Male as in transsexual 🙃

I admit I hadn't noticed the nuanced "as opposed to disabled bays" part of OPs original post but I didn't think that choice of words actually reflected their intent, or at least that's not how I read it.

I don't think I'm "entitled" to a P&C space and would be more than happy if there were more P&C spaces, or even just bays highlighted as being wider for anyone to use, at the furthest end of the car park as, yes, I know I can walk that far. I understand I can park further away from the store in a normal bay but there's nothing to stop someone parking really close to my car and making my life difficult trying to get DS out of his car seat (which doing, whilst being 8mths pregnant is difficult enough). I would also hate to see a situation where a B.B. holder was unable to get a B.B. space. I just thought perhaps more of dual purpose bays (perhaps convert current P&C spaces into dual purpose) plus some at the other end of the car park would kill two birds with one stone.

I try to go to the supermarket at quieter times (7am being a favourite due to DS1 being an early riser) and notice that despite the car park being mainly empty, the P&C spaces are mainly occupied by people without children who just can't be arsed to park three

Op’s Not coming back is she?

In the days when I could take ds to a supermarket I used to park in the p and c spaces if they were in a better position than the bb spaces. Managing a toddler is a lot easier than managing a 10 with behavioural difficulties.
His disabilities are by no means hidden but he loses automatic entitlement to a bb at 16. If he ends up without one I will be using any p and c spaces that are available.

Park further away and sort kids out with space and then walk - because you can.

BB spaces are closer because there are mobility issues.

Nothing stopping you from walking a bit further.

HTH