Parent and parking bay - outrage

SpideyWoman1 · 2023-09-07T10:28:41+00:00

Just to stir up a hot topic. My local gym has a few parent and child bays. I rarely get to use one and the regular bays are pretty small so they’re handy, although I obviously manage. It’s an expensive gym so you expect the perks that go with it. I followed someone out of the gym this morning whilst leaving with my two year old and there was a lady parked in a P&C bay - given she had just played tennis I think it’s fair to say she wasn’t disabled (or atleast physically impaired to the extent she needed a smaller bay) like so many people said on another thread. Not only that she was driving a bloody Fiat 500 - ie one of the smallest possible cars. I was just a bit outraged at the bare faced cheek!

Maddy70 · 07/09/2023 11:30

Why. They are just bigger spaces. Some peopes cars barely fit into normal spaces People with children aren't disabled either and they dont have legal standing like disabled bays

Something I really can't get worked up about

LargestSugarSmacks · 07/09/2023 11:32

Mother and baby spaces http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am iibeingunreasonable/4887890-mother-and-baby-spaces

SisterMichaelsHabit · 07/09/2023 11:32

Some people are just twats.

fairyfluf · 07/09/2023 11:32

What do you do with the baby when you're at the gym?

SecretVictoria · 07/09/2023 11:33

I’m surprised a gym has them as most gyms don’t allow kids under teenagers in, unless there’s a pool of course. My gym has a large car park and a pool and has no P&C spaces.

SisterMichaelsHabit · 07/09/2023 11:34

PS I hope you've got your hard hat on! 🤣 People will go by the thread title and just go off on one about how P+C bays aren't enforceable etc and never mind that that wasn't the point of your post at all lol.

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 11:36

fairyfluf · 07/09/2023 11:32

What do you do with the baby when you're at the gym?

I took him swimming and they have a soft play so on my day off I take him. Why is that relevant anyway.

OP posts:

Turtlegurl888 · 07/09/2023 11:36

People who disagree with you just for the sake of it don't seem to understand how car seats work. Especially newborn carriers you remove from the car or seats that don't swivel. I'm with you OP, it annoys me. It says parent and child, so if you're not a parent with a child, especially a young child, why would you park there?

Bedofnail · 07/09/2023 11:38

I’m guessing this is a David Lloyd or similar with a crèche. You are definitely not being unreasonable, it’s really shitty behaviour of tennis woman.

Also, P&C spaces can be enforceable, depending on the parking T&Cs. It’s a complete MN fallacy to say they’re not!

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 11:38

SecretVictoria · 07/09/2023 11:33

I’m surprised a gym has them as most gyms don’t allow kids under teenagers in, unless there’s a pool of course. My gym has a large car park and a pool and has no P&C spaces.

It’s David Lloyd, a health club, the club I go
to is very family orientated.

They have a crèche, the kids have their swim lessons there and I take them myself too. They also have soft play. I think it being family friendly is part of the attraction.

OP posts:

ShineBright1209 · 07/09/2023 11:39

This has always drove me mad in supermarkets, not so much just for myself but for other people who are unable to use them as well. My youngest is 5 so only uses a high back booster in the car so I very rarely use them myself anymore because I would rather them be available for people with a small baby/child who may need to get a carseat out and child into a pram. If someone using them has a disability then they should put their their blue badge on display the same as they have to when parking in disabled spaces.

Hufflepods · 07/09/2023 11:39

It's been at least 2 days since the last post on this! Time for a new one.

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 11:39

Turtlegurl888 · 07/09/2023 11:36

People who disagree with you just for the sake of it don't seem to understand how car seats work. Especially newborn carriers you remove from the car or seats that don't swivel. I'm with you OP, it annoys me. It says parent and child, so if you're not a parent with a child, especially a young child, why would you park there?

Thanks.

He is two, I do cope not using a bay but it’s just much easier having one. V rarely get one which makes the misuse of them even more annoying.

OP posts:

Siriusmuggle · 07/09/2023 11:42

This wound me up a bit many years ago. What annoys me now is when I take my 81 year old dad out, he has a blue badge and limited mobility yet we often find people using disabled spaces as if they’re P&C spaces.

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 11:42

Bedofnail · 07/09/2023 11:38

I’m guessing this is a David Lloyd or similar with a crèche. You are definitely not being unreasonable, it’s really shitty behaviour of tennis woman.

Also, P&C spaces can be enforceable, depending on the parking T&Cs. It’s a complete MN fallacy to say they’re not!

Also - whether or not it’s enforceable doesn’t make it any less reasonable does it? It’s not enforceable to be polite and say please and thank you, but we all accept it’s a much nicer way of conducting ourselves.

OP posts:

OnAMidnightTrainToGeorgia · 07/09/2023 11:42

Outrage? Really?

Floridaoranges · 07/09/2023 11:42

Did the fiat lady drive away?

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 11:43

Siriusmuggle · 07/09/2023 11:42

This wound me up a bit many years ago. What annoys me now is when I take my 81 year old dad out, he has a blue badge and limited mobility yet we often find people using disabled spaces as if they’re P&C spaces.

I can totally appreciate that.

OP posts:

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 11:43

@OnAMidnightTrainToGeorgia lighthearted- I thought it was cheeky!

@Floridaoranges yes she was leaving.

OP posts:

SecretVictoria · 07/09/2023 11:45

Ah, makes sense if they have a crèche.

Emmacb82 · 07/09/2023 12:15

If your ‘baby’ was a newborn in a car seat then I would agree with you. But he’s a toddler and he’s 2. As soon as mine got to the point where they could walk I never used the parent spaces as they are primarily used for getting car seats in and out so I saved them for those parents of smaller babies. It’s just one of those things that it’s not worth getting worked up over.

Original poster

SpideyWoman1 · 07/09/2023 12:44

Emmacb82 · 07/09/2023 12:15

If your ‘baby’ was a newborn in a car seat then I would agree with you. But he’s a toddler and he’s 2. As soon as mine got to the point where they could walk I never used the parent spaces as they are primarily used for getting car seats in and out so I saved them for those parents of smaller babies. It’s just one of those things that it’s not worth getting worked up over.

Whether or not my child is a “baby” surely doesn’t negate the fact the lady was being a CF?

OP posts:

Gerrataere · 07/09/2023 12:57

Emmacb82 · 07/09/2023 12:15

If your ‘baby’ was a newborn in a car seat then I would agree with you. But he’s a toddler and he’s 2. As soon as mine got to the point where they could walk I never used the parent spaces as they are primarily used for getting car seats in and out so I saved them for those parents of smaller babies. It’s just one of those things that it’s not worth getting worked up over.

But 2 year olds being taken into a leisure centre are far more flighty and a danger than a baby in a car seat. The spaces are there for babies and children of all ages. Personally I’m quite bored of the whole p and c nonsense but I can absolutely appreciate the op would need to take the safest option in getting her child out of the car and to the gym in this situation.

My local leisure centre is very similar with soft play and such, I avoided it for the last couple of years until my son got a BB because the car parks are so busy and dangerous. They don’t even have C and P spaces, just one of those things (odd to me considering what they offer).

Bubblesgun · 07/09/2023 13:02

@SpideyWoman1

i for one park in parent and child bay and my kids are older.
sorry but I am outraged that those bays are put at the front nearer the shop/gym/etc.
they take up the space that disabled bays could be because very often you only 1 or 2 max disabled bays and there should be a lot more - I am not disabled but inclusivity is very important to me.

Parents of younger children in car seas are NOT blue badgers. So i dont care how you feel about me I will carry on parking there if that is the last space free without any regards for how you feel.

if the spaces were at the back I would totally understand, people need more space so give to them; and if there was more disable bays I would be happier.

In my supermarket, the disable bays are awkward to park whilst the p and c so easy. Insane.

BIossomtoes · 07/09/2023 13:03

If someone using them has a disability then they should put their their blue badge on display the same as they have to when parking in disabled spaces.

Says someone who obviously has no idea how difficult it is to get a blue badge. My mum’s GP refused to refer her despite her being in her 90s and almost unable to walk. I frequently used P&C spaces as she needed to fully open the car door to get out and technically speaking we were a parent and child.