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.

Besides I suspect - a lawyer may be able to confirm - that there are legal obligations on the number of disabled spaces that a car park owner (or the retailer controlling it) must provide. It may be a specific number or % of the spaces, or it may be something like an appropriate number for the size of the car park and the facilities. In which case you can bet your bottom dollar that the shop will have taken advice on that, and won’t be listening to any first world whinging about not being able to open the doors on your Chelsea tractor* to remove one small baby!

(* I have both a large 4x4 and a baby (as well as two older ones myself)

On a Sunday morning for example almost ALL the people in the supermarket are with kids. In the school holidays during the day most are. That would mean all the spaces would have to be Pand C.

What about people with heavy shopping, temporary injuries, (so no BB), fat people, pregnant people,elderly people, - all have a need for wider spaces or shorter walks.

Two reasons most spaces are not wide enough is huge cars and bad parking.

OP is utterly wrong to compare BB spaces to PC spaces.

It should be number of PC spaces to number of all other (non BB) bays.

OP: you didn't have a gripe with the number of BB bays before, so there is no need to develop one now, just because you have seen a different and unrelated issue about the availability of a different type/status bay.

ChelleDawg2020 no they don't have equal need morally or legally.

By the way Gerald isn't 40 til next year,

Betty xx

both a disabled person and a parent with a young child may equally be in need of a wider parking space. FFS! Are you fucking kidding me, with that bullshite?!

How many parents turn round and go home, because they can’t get a spot near the door? They can park further away and walk. Your ignorance is absolutely astounding.

It makes sense to have shared disabled / parent & child spaces

No it doesn’t. I need to be able to park in a BB space because I can’t get out of the car without the door being open to it’s maximum. I can’t walk far so use a wheelchair or crutches. All disabled people who have a BB need that facility hence why it is provided by law. Mummies and Daddies like the little perk of a P&C however it’s not a necessity and there’s more of them than there are disabled people so all of us who are disabled would end up forced out of what we campaigned for for years because folk so say can’t get their kids out of their cars any more.

The selfishness of people makes me hopping mad.

NRFT

I think they should scrap parent and child spaces.. it’d hopefully stop all this incessant whinging.

Just park at the back of the car park where it’s usually quieter anyway. There’s nothing wrong with your legs.. you don’t need to be right next to the store.

Disabled spots should be increased, and obviously remain close.

Ive done some googling and it seems there's no legal number of B.B. spaces, but simply a recommendation (not by the government, I think it's more something architects/planners use) of 4% of spaces if over 50 spaces are provided. That doesn't sound like many so some more googling found some Government stats saying 4.3% of the population has a blue badge.

To me that shows two issues:
A)there should be a legal requirement to have a certain percent
B)the current guidance isn't sufficient- surely it should be more than the % of people with BB's.

P&C space is convienience
Disabled space is nessesary

Simple as that.

I think the issue is lots more people have large cars and park in p&c when they don't even have kids with them. And supermarkets do nothing about it. Thing is you don't 'need' a p&c space- someone with a disability does need a disabled space.

Parents are never in as much need as a disabled person. Ever. I have reported @ChelleDawg2020's disablist comments.

Haven’t RTFT but echoing that p and c spaces have NOTHING to do with disabled spaces. And no, they shouldn’t get rid of the latter to provide more of the former. Seriously, wise up.

That said, there should be more wide spaces generally for those of us struggling to get car seats, buggies, feral toddlers etc in and out of cars. It is extremely fucking annoying when the p and c spaces are taken up by selfish lazy fuckers with no DC (or teenagers ). But the problem could be solved by not making the general car parking spaces bloody tiny in the first place! Or by putting the p and c spaces further away from the entrance so the lazy p and c space thieves are put off by having to walk a distance.

Btw I agree P&c spaces should be scrapped. But they’re only a marketing tool for big supermarkets, not an actual “thing” so I don’t see why supermarkets should stop. But they do breed this weird entitlement from people who did a perfectly everyday thing of producing a baby

@Ractify and Gizzy that is so poor. I don't know where I got the idea from - wishful thinking it would seem. Completely agree that it should be legally required and it should be more than 4%.

On the teenager point sometimes DH May need to take DS1 (SN but doesn't qualify for a B.B.) places. He very much needs to be close to where he's going for everyone's safety. Not everyone with disabilities qualifies for a BB.

i assume that supermarkets must do some research to determine an approximate number of disabled and p&c places needed, according to the demographic of their customers.

I think that all blue badge spaces should be situated in as convenient a place as possible for access, but p&c places could be situated at an underused area of the car park (if there is one) because all that’s required is a wider space rather than nearest access.

I’m sure they do their calculations beamed on the comparative requirements of the people who use the supermarket and they are a business, so it may not be cost effective to provide more p&c at the expense of ordinary spaces.

P&c places are a comparatively recent occurrence and parents managed before their advent, with possibly more cumbersome equipment and probably smaller and less convenient cars. It’s a short term circumstance as everyone has said and disability is not.

Scrap parent and child spaces. Or put them at the far side of the car park because parents can still walk, whereas BB holders have mobility issues and reason to need to be closer.

In fact, provide wider spaces at the far reaches of the car park so that not only parents but those who need more space but don't have a BB badge have some help. Then make sure there are BB spaces with good access and keep an eye on them so they don't get misused.

Just put them at the back, that way those of us who need extra door space can get it and lazy bastards won’t use them

Flyme that'd work for those who can do the distance, fwiw if you're disabled generally you can't whether you have a B.B. or not.

Wide spaces at the back of the store called 'accessible spaces'

I am more than happy to walk. Just want to be able to actually get my babies out of the car!

This is a problem because cars have got bigger, but most parking bays have not.

My local IKEA used to have shared P&C/BB parking spots right outside the store but had to change them to solely BB because BB holders just couldn’t get parked, the same people who needlessly use P&C spaces will also needlessly use them even if they are shared with disabled spots making it even harder for disabled parking.

Disabled always trumps P&C and it is fucking offensive to lump the two together and suggest there is equal need for both. Park at the back of the store if you need the extra space.

Another call for parent and child spaces at the back. When mine were little I never used parent and child spaces, they were always full so I parked miles away and walked. I didn't need to be close I just needed space to get the car seat out.

The other day I saw a lady in a parent and child space waiting for the 'child' to return from taking the trolley back .

Yes I judged as I know the lady from when I used to go to the gym, she still goes.