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!

I do wish they'd put more P&C bays at the back of the car park. I've got a 2 y/o and a 4 y/o. They're both in rear-facing car seats and our car isn't tiny - I really struggle in normal bays so I can see your issue OP. Yesterday I literally couldn't get the door open enough to wedge myself in to do up the 4y/o's seat and it's not like it's accessible from the other side either cause of my 2y/os seat.

I wish they'd put more P&C bays in, and the extra ones should be towards the back of the car park where there's less controversy. I will often park towards the back of the car park where it's quieter, but rarely do you end up with empty spaces on both sides.

I am not sure what your point is about adults taking young children to places that don't have P+C spaces. Yes I do, but I am not sure who that position is mutually exclusive from one where I say if someone has been kind enough to decrease the risk for people with children and make their life a little easier it is not brilliant behaviour for others who don't get the same benefit from that space to take it.

I also don't know why this has descended into a BB vs P+C debate. These are two groups of people who could benefit from wider spaces and being closer to the shop/entrance. Maybe I missed it but other than people saying 'you don't know if that adult has a disability' I don't hear people saying disabled people should not park in a P+C place. If they are they are probably just trolling. And to return to the original poster, the woman was described as going and playing tennis. I am quite prepared to die on the hill that whatever disability that woman may have had it is not one that precluded her from taking part in a sporting activity and so she should not have taken one of only two P+C spaces.

I was responding to someone who said you need more space in a 3 door fiat 500 hence can park without children in a P&C space…

The doors of a 2 door car are wider than a 4 door. The doors on a 4 door car, on an individual level, are smaller. In order to get in and out of a car, I need the door fully open to the point the door stays open, so that I can use the door to push myself against to get upright.

Therefore, in a 2 door car I need a wider space than in a 4 door car, as the door takes up more space when it is fully opened.

Why is this so hard to understand?

@outsurance and they’re only wider if you’re comparing them to the 5 door equivalent of the same model. They are not necessarily wider than any 5 door model. Or maybe we should be complaining for “three door car spaces”

So my disability is a "pitiful excuse". Got it.

I think this is a pitiful excuse actually and it's being used to denigrate disabled people.

You have no idea why the woman used the space, and you aren't entitled to know.

Either she's a dick or she's disabled. Challenging her if she's a dick will achieve nothing and challenging her if she is disabled is only likely to upset her and make her feel terrible. (Been there when I didn't have a BB and wasn't as confident about stating my disabilities as I am now.)

P&C spaces are a courtesy, use of the space by a disabled person is a legal right. I use them where the disabled spaces are full and if you questioned me I'd tell you to mind your own business.

The poster who said it (a lot) was deleted, thankfully.

A disability is a legal justification for parking almost anywhere.

This and well put. 'It's just a courtesy' is such a dick comment to make. Making participating in public life and doing essential tasks easier and safer for parents and little children is a bit more than a 'courtesy', whatever the law says. Its basic human decency and an equalities issue to boot.

@outsurance and above.

I have NOT said a disability is NOT a valid excuse.

I have said, that a three door car having longer doors and thus needing more space irrespective of the make and model IS a shitty excuse.

Don’t put words in my mouth in your desperation to justify yourselves. I have a child with a BB (not the two year old) so am not totally ignorant to the struggles.

@SpideyWoman1 did you miss my use of "I" then?

Not everyone with a disability is entitled to a BB and those who are in that position are legally entitled to a reasonable adjustment - and it is highly likely that using a P&C space would qualify as such. To my knowledge there hasn't been a case taken to court, but I would welcome the chance to clarify the law for those who are unclear.

To denigrate me as you have done when I explained my specific requirements due to my disability is disgusting.

You’re reaching here.

I disagreed with your comment about 3 door cars having bigger doors and thus being a reason you might need to use a P&C bay.

I have not commented on your disability.

@SpideyWoman1 I explained what I required when using a 2 door car in order to accommodate my disability, and you called it a "pitiful justification". It's right here on the thread

I can see you’re determined to be offended, so enjoy the feeling.

I reported your post and am pleased to see it was deleted. You absolutely said what @outsurance says.

For someone whose child has a BB, you have a strange view of other people with disabilities.