Parent and parking bay - outrage

[SpideyWoman1]

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!

whys it no big deal for her to park there but a big deal for me to expect to be able to use them?

This has to be one of the most ridiculous comments. You do not need a larger space in a 3 door miniature car…

Yes it's annoying when people without children use them, but I couldn't commit the headspace to get too worked up about it to be honest. She might have a reason for finding it tricky in a regular space, or she might just be a CF.

Actually it is true that fiat 500 doors are wider so as to let passengers out of the back easier, but if you don't have anyone in the back and don't have restricted mobility you can just open them a standard amount.

Damn right I'd expect them to attend to a report of harassment on the grounds of a protected characteristic.

So I read this and the other parking thread. It gets me cross too. I have a couple of observations.

Firstly, most parent and child spots are not just about being wider to aid getting kids in and out who are in car seats, they are deliberately closer to the shop to avoid young children having to walk through more of the car park than is necessary. It is a safety issue. People with children are often not disabled, but a toddler has the effective mobility of some people who are disabled and the road sense of four and five year olds is normally not great as it takes time to learn. And yes deaths in car parks of young children happens (I just googled and there was a full page of accidents including this one https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/510052/Toddler-2-dies-after-being-knocked-down-Asda-car-park-horrified-parents). Now you can blame the parent, but that neither helps the child nor the person who hit them. Anyone who has had children knows that they can wander off in a split second especially if you have two young ones. So parking spaces near the shop or near a path where you can shepherd your children helps. Parent and child spaces are not primarily to help parents but to help keep children safe. If you want to argue against them why not also argue against 20 zones around schools when it school start and end times? If a child is stupid enough to run into a road or escape into a car park because their parent is momentarily distracted I guess they just deserve to be squashed.

My second observation, linked to the first, is that even if the spaces are for 'courtesy' what is the hardship if you are not disabled from using the other spaces? If these spaces are marked to help keep children safe and also make the lives of those looking after them a bit easier then why would you just not park somewhere else?

@jm9138 the fact of the matter is loads of people dislike families with young kids getting something they didn't get when they had young kids. They think that using p and c spaces or free childcare hours for 3 year olds for example shows that parents are "selfish and entitled".
Those same people likely think kids shouldn't go to art galleries or restaurants or on planes (according to various threads I've read on here the last couple of months)
I mean I disagree. I think using a P & c space when you don't bloody need it is the height of "entitlement" and the courtesy argument is ridiculous. Who cares if it's not legally enforceable? Its not against the law for me to let a door swing shut in your face either but I wouldn't, I'd hold it, because I'm not a dick.

Thanks for that informative thread.

I’d of shouted “you forgot your child”😏

I did this with my kids once. I had a 2 year old and newborn and had just really struggled getting them in and out (car seat for newborn). Saw a lady walk to her car in the P&C spaces and shouted to my toddler “Look that lady is struggling to get her kids in and out of the car so she’s using a parent and child space, how lovely for her.” She heard me and looked sheepish.

At the same place on another occasion, I wound my window down and said “excuse me - you’ve left your kids behind” because she, also, had used a P&C space and I could have benefited from it but couldn’t because of them.

Yes I’m passive aggressive.

All of these instances there has been disabled spaces available.

Takes a special kind of person to find mocking the disabled funny.

I think this is what has surprised me on the threads on this topic the most. I can get the 'probably don't say something because some disabilities are hidden' (although I find the idea that most people without children who use these spots are disabled a little unlikely). What I don't understand is the anger thrown at people for suggesting that people who don't need to use them shouldn't use them. And surely the parents who struggled before such spaces (which have been around I reckon for well over 20 years) - why would you want people now to struggle as well? Especially when it is a safety issue.

Who’s doing that then? It’s not mocking anyone to say that parent and child spaces are for parents with children.

Not all disabled people have a BB, and therefore cannot use the disabled spaces. They can, however, legally use a P&C space as a reasonable adjustment.

It isn't selfish to use the reasonable adjustments that the law provides for me.

You're welcome to have my disabilities for a week and see how you feel after that.

Crèche,toddler session, swimming, craft session lots of gyms have sessions for los

You can need more room to open the door lean across and do child five point up without denting the car parked next to you it's not easy in a crack that only opens 12 inches wide.

@Fleur02 the Equality Act 2010 specifically allows me a reasonable adjustment. It is not selfish of me to use that provision in the law. Since you object to equality for disabled people as provided for in the Act, I'd suggest you take that up with your MP and lobby for removal of those reasonable adjustments for disabled people.

I would hope you wouldn't get far with that, and it says a lot about you that you think that disabled people shouldn't avail of their legal rights.

When getting either my sister who's disabled or my twins in I just ram the doors and tell people Mumsnet says I don't need a wider space and my car's ridiculously big I should be able to get a scooter and double buggy in a Fiat 500.

They can park anywhere even on single and double yellow lines except for ones where there is no loading. If you wanted to fight a disabled person for a toddler space shame on you.

This has to be one of the most ridiculous comments. You do not need a larger space in a 3 door miniature car…

In a two door car the doors have to be opened fully to get a child out of the back of the car.
Try to imagine getting a baby seat out ,the door has to be opened fully and the front seat has to be pulled forward to make enough space to manoeuvre .
Probably the reason why many people opt out of buying a two door car when they still have children who need a car seat.

She would have said I've got one at home....heard that before....and I'm buying baby milk and rushing it back....yep that extra minute saved the day.

"The "reasonable adjustment"would be the number of blue badge spaces they offer."

Reasonable adjustment is what is reasonable for that person. Parking somewhere that causes an obstruction wouldn't be. Parking in an empty space that gives them access to an amenity, wouldn't be.

Would be.