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.

There shouldn’t be more of them because then it would be at the expense of everyone else who wants to use the car park. Go to a supermarket on a busy Saturday afternoon, or near Christmas, and it’s hard enough to find any space let alone a BB or P&C one.

Where do you propose the single man/woman, couple, family with older kids park when you’ve removed more spaces for P&C ones?

I agree op, and always moan to my DH that there are far too many unused disabled parking spaces in our local supermarket. We have visited on different days, at different times of day and night, and the majority are always empty - even on Christmas Eve!

Meanwhile, parents circle around and around waiting desperately for a p&c space to become available, and have to give up and park in a regular space. When we do this, the space is always too tight and it’s very easy to accidentally damage the neighbouring car by accidentally opening your car door too much as you’re grappling with a car seat and a wriggly toddler.

When we have to park in a regular space, I tell my DH to find a space and park in it, then partially reverse out of it or partially move forward, so as to give us some space to get our toddler and young baby out. I’ve noticed more and more people doing it in order to cope.

Fairy they squash too many spaces in anyway. You can barely open the door.

Do you really get 40 year olds called Gerald?

Personally think the disabled spaces should be increased and the p&c done away with. They are not necessary we're a gimmick in the first place and cause nothing but fuss.

I really really really hope the OP isn’t serious. Reduce disabled spaces and bring in a P&C badge system? Who on Earth is going to pay to police that, when people with disabilities struggle with the system to get a blue badge as it is?

It IS annoying when spaces are too small. It’s nearly always in newer developments where they have crammed in more spaces into a smaller plot. But if you’re able bodied, it’s just inconvenient when the P&C spaces are full. No more than that.

Yes there are some selfish twats who use the P&C spaces when they don’t have children or any other additional need for space. That’s humans. Some of them are selfish twats. But that’s up to the owner of the car park to police. And most of them aren’t that bothered!

It seems to me that the obvious solution would be to put P&C spaces at the furthest point of the car park from the shop, which is usually empty and won’t attract lazy feckers, and to have staff move the trolleys with the baby seats to the trolley bays near there when returning them. Let’s face it, even the furthest space is only across the car park; it’s not across the Himalayan mountain range! I also think a close eye should be kept on disabled parking use and store feedback, to ensure that this provision remains sufficient.

Personally I think that P&C spaces should be further away from the store, at the back of the car park. That would make them less prone to abuse. P&C spaces only need to be wider so that you can get children strapped in to car seats etc. they don’t need to be close to the store. My local shopping centre has some spaces at the back of the second floor of the car park that aren’t marked as anything special but they are lovely and wide because they are positioned between supporting buttresses.... I always used them when my DCs were small as I just needed the width, I was perfectly capable of walking the extra bit of distance.

PrincessPear my comment was to the person who couldn't cope with a baby and toddler without sn in a car park.
Ds has to wear reins or I wouldn't be able to go out because at 13 he still doesn't understand it isn't safe to stand in the middle of the road. I know it may be a different situation for a higher functioning child.

Ugh, people who abuse P & C parking spaces are my personal bugbear!
(We've all got to pick our battles right?! )
We have plenty of disabled spaces at our local Sainsbury's, but I'd say 50% of the P & C spaces are full of vans, sports cars and able-bodied people who just want to nip and and can't be arsed to walk. Parents with teenagers using the spots are also taking the piss IMO. I would never dream of parking in one of those spaces if I didn't have my toddler with me, and will stop parking in them once she's older.
Yes, P&C parking is a luxury, but shopping with small children is stressful and that just makes it a bit less so.

P&C spaces are always full because people with children get lazy. I sometimes park in them now with 2 preschoolers for absolutely no reason when I had babies in car seats I never did, because it wasn’t something that occurred to me

Spikey fair enough. My DS is likely (still going through the process) on the autistic spectrum but is “high functioning” so the result is a curious, willfull child without the usual sense of danger or need to listen to anyone. He’s wonderful but busy roads and car parks are quite challenging. I can’t wait until he talks and understands a little more.

Haven't read the whole thread.

"After being a FTM for a coming up 7 weeks..."

Does anyone really speak like this? 🤔

I always moan to my DH that there are far too many unused disabled parking spaces in our local supermarket

That has to be a joke, right?

YABU - regardless of whether or not the disability spaces are mainly empty, they need to be there in case they are used. An elderly relative of mine has a blue badge and it's a nightmare parking when all the disabled spaces are taken and we have to park away from it all. To top that off there is often not enough wheelchairs and they struggle to walk. As people have stated before often people choose to have children and if they don’t have p and c spaces find somewhere else that does and keep the disability spaces for people who actually need them

"Parents with teenagers using the spots are also taking the piss IMO."

I sometimes park in them with my teenager and am most definitely not taking the piss.

I don't get this. Just do what I do, find a normal space with no other cars around and use that. I will use a P&C space if one is available but if it isn't I don't rant about it.

I think if the teenager has SN its different. My mum used to with me, because I have no special awareness and used to accidentally dent people’s doors. I have ADHD and am extremely uncoordinated, so it took me ages to learn not to do that.

And obviously you can’t see many types of SN so I try not to judge if I see older kids using them.

Argeles do you have some sort of problem with spacial awareness? Why on earth can’t you get your children out of a normal space without damaging cars? I have a 4x4 and this is literally never a problem.
If it’s parents multiple as per your post why doesn’t one pull forward and the other get the children out then the driver parks? Simple

Spatial awareness

Yes spatial awareness for me too 😀

It does not make sense to have shared spaces and in no way do both groups have anywhere like equal need

That was for my mistake, not yours I look really rude now. I accidentally wrote special awareness lol

P&C spaces make my life much easier, and I always give a tiny sigh of relief if one is available. But I'll manage fine if not.

BB spaces make going out possible for my grandparents. If there isn't one available, they will have to go home without their shopping.

See the difference there?

no princess thas fine I realised that- we posted at exactly the same time! X