What is with childless people parking in family spots!!!

[Asher09]

I have a toddler and a baby - so thats 2 car seats and a double pram. I genuinly need a fair bit of space when parking and recently I've seen so many people without children parking in the family spots - its so frustrating!

Surely family spots are there for a reason - they're closer to entrances and allow more space to get in and out. Its so helpful to a parent!
When inconsiderate people park there without thinking it leaves me driving around with a screaming toddler and a crying baby trying to find a decent spot where I have some room - some car parks have such narrow spots its impossible to get my kids in and out without hitting a car.

I've caught some people in the act, and have confonted them 'Hey I think you've left your kids in the car' but no one thinks they sre doing anything wrong or should move.

I think family spots should have the same rules as disabled spots. Just don't know how that would be implimented.

I’m disabled and if there’s no disabled free then I will park in a parent and child, even if I don’t have my son with me. I sympathise as I’ve been there with a car seat and unable to get my child out of a ‘normal’ parking space. But parent and child are courtesy spots, disabled spaces are essential. I don’t care if I park in a parent and child as the different is, if I don’t get closer to where I need to go then I physically either cannot go or it severely impacts me - whilst it is just a mild inconvenience to parents… that’s the difference

What's the age cut off? I get it's annoying but if my 17 Yr old has a MH problem or is neuro diverse does that mean I'll have people like you judging me because I'm using a space to ensure a quick entry exit to shop. Could be the only time I've managed to get this 17 Yr old out the house but is it any of your business? Family spaces are a courtesy obviously which disabled spaces are legal accommodations. If I was parking there with my 31 Yr old I could see your annoyance but you don't know my circumstances.

Yeh I do agree with you. Obviously disabled bays are completely necessary and should be enforced so those that need them can use them. P&C are less necessary but as a mum with almost three children it really does make life easier. I believe they’re put closest the entrance because it can be difficult and sometimes dangerous having kids cross a busy car park. If I’m by myself I would never use a P&C space as I have no need :-)

I wouldn’t imagine anyone has an issue with parent and child spaces being used by disabled people if disabled spaces are full, or by elderly people or those with broken legs etc. It’s the people who use them with absolutely no need at all that are the issue.

I’m a fit and healthy woman with no young children and currently no broken bones or any other reason to need more space. I’d be a twat if I used a parent and child space!

"It's perfectly possible as a parent to manage without them, they are nothing more than a courtesy/ marketing ploy."

It isn't always possible though. This is what happened to me (I posted it up thread) when my twins were little

"I had an experience when my (now big) twins were about 13 months where people had parked close on both sides. The only way I could have got them in was by squeezing in myself and driving the car forward whilst leaving them in their buggy. Obviously I couldn't just do that because they would have freaked out thinking I was leaving them somewhere alone. So we had to wait about 25 minutes until a traffic warden happened to come along so that I could ask her to wait with the buggy and keep them calm while I pulled the car out."

How could I manage in that situation? There were no P and C spaces in that totally full carpark so it's not like someone who didn't need it had taken the last one or something. But really, you think people should just suck up situations like this?

I would never begrudge someone who needs more space using a p and c. But I just can't get the selfish mentality of the twats who use them for fun just to inconvenience parents.

You are able-bodied. Disabled people generally aren't. I'm saying generally as disabilities may be hidden.

@Lumiodes -

If I was their regular chauffeur I’d have a blue badge for them, but I don’t because I only take them out occasionally.

Just to advise that if the elderly family members are in need of a blue badge, they should apply to get one, which can then be used in any car in which they are travelling. It isn't YOU that would need to apply for the blue badge for your car. The Blue Badge relates to the individual it is awarded for, NOT the car. My Mother used to keep hers in her handbag, so was it always available, no matter who took them out

Not all places have them so often you do have to manage without them.

"cherish123 · Today 11:33

Not all places have them so often you do have to manage without them."

Thats a nonsense argument. Maybe you just can't go to the places that don't have them then? See my thread a few up for what can happen if there aren't any.

I used to think they were unnecessary, then I had kids and worry about hitting the car next to me if I can't park in one. It's not the distance from the shop, just the extra room is needed!

I was parked in one a while ago wrestling my toddler into his seat (with my car door quite wide open) when a lone man who had parked his van in the parent and child bay next to me came up and said "don't worry I don't need to get past or anything, I've got all day" obviously sarcastically. I was too distracted to register what had happened and apologised and let him past. Still think about that one occasionally when parking in a parent and child space.

I'm with you on this OP. Grinds my gears when I see some overweight slob parking as close as they can to the store i.e parent and child spaces. Likewise with workmen in a van. However, I wouldn't confront anyone - that's not quite worth the agro it could cause.

One store I go to has parent and child spaces quite far away from the entrance and I park in them. If there are no parent and child spaces free, I park in an emptier area of the car park because I do prefer having space with 3 children (one still using a pram). Stores should put them further away to deter the lazy folk!

I think that poster meant that it’s rarely enforced as they aren’t frequently patrolled. Through my work I’ve used a BB for the last 2 years and only once have I been asked by an inspector to show it. The BB spaces at school and the leisure centre are a free-for-all, at least at the leisure centre you can tell the front desk and they will page the owner to remove it.

YANBU,
I own a range rover and a family car I don't use my range rover for my twins because I can't fit it in a standard space and get them out, hence two cars. I however used standard spaces with my range rover till I was 7months pregnant with said twins.
If the P&C spaces out the front of my Sainsbury's are full I use the ones the other end by B&M. I can't get into both back doors of my family car in a normal sized space. However there are signs saying you will be fined for incorrect use. That being said meaning they are inforcible!

I agree with pp though they can be used by people who require more space but, should we not just reason that a standard parking space now is too small and that's actually assuming they are current regulation sizes which many are not.

But…people with disabilities need closer proximity, not just space. So the PP is right, either one of those ‘girls’ could have had an invisible disability. You are not the arbiter of who needs to be close to the entrance.

I'm with you OP on this. Selfish people who nick the parent & child spots because they can't be bothered to drive around and look for another space. And that's what it is, pure, bone idle laziness. If you've got a disability, park in a disabled spot. If you have a disability and there aren't any disabled spots available, then no-one's going to begrudge you a P&C spot.

If, on the other hand, you're able bodied and lazy AF and you pop your car in a P&C spot then you're a twat, and deserve the fallout from irritated parents trying to seek a wide enough bay to get babies/kids/pram etc out and set up without damaging anyone else's car.

The end.

Basically we need more spaces for people who can't use tiny spaces. We need people who can use tiny spaces to use the tiny spaces and we need people who can't use tiny spaces feel free to park in the non tiny spaces without being judged by anyone else

My experience is that they’re often used by people who want to be close to the shop but aren’t eligible for disabled parking. I am just as frustrated by it as you though - I went to Aldi last week, during the school day with my baby and drove round multiple times but there were no parent and child spots so I had to park at the far end of the car park. Since the trolleys are at the top of the car park I had to get my pushchair out and do a basket shop (fine as I only needed a few things but impossible if I didn’t) as I couldn’t possibly carry baby and the shopping back from the trolleys and I’m not going to leave my baby unattended in the car for several minutes whilst I return the trolley at the end. When I got in the shop (small shop btw) I saw only 1 other parent with a child and when I left saw plenty of people getting in or out of the P&C spaces with no children but who were all elderly.

on another thread recently someone was asking why people Had fewer children these days and personally I think that a factor is how anti-children society often seems to be. For instance, at my local supermarket there are only 2 trolleys for parents with babies and 3 p&c spaces - the assumption of the store and society in general is that children should be few and far between.

If, on the other hand, you're able bodied and lazy AF and you pop your car in a P&C spot then you're a twat, and deserve the fallout from irritated parents trying to seek a wide enough bay to get babies/kids/pram etc out and set up without damaging anyone else's car

Think is the irritated parents don't KNOW if that person is a twat and I think its better to assume they arent

Good luck if you do that in my county.

A client of mine applied for a Blue Badge and had an assessment at the county council offices. Some sanctimonious jobsworth timed her walking a measured distance (50 metres?) in the car park and was delighted to tell her that she wasn't entitled to one.

A few weeks later, she was awarded higher rate mobility component of PIP and became entitled to a BB. She took great delight in handing over her PIP award letter along with her photo to the same guy when she reapplied for it.

Well I can assure you that some people definitely do begrudge disabled people using parent and child spaces when the disabled bays are full. As I said in an earlier post, I experienced problems on more than one occasion when I had to park in a parent and child space when I was taking my mum shopping and the disabled bays were all full. It didn't seem to make any difference to the women who were shouting and abusing us that my Mum was in her 90a, had a blue badge, and could barely walk. Their need to be parked close to the shop clearly trumped my Mum's health issues.

I park in a parent child bay at work. There are only 4 spots and I take one up (with permission) because they are the closest to the building and by the time I finish work it’s pitch black outside and I don’t want to walk across a dark car park at 1 am. Other people use the spot sometimes because they have a disability and for some reason the parent bays are closer than the disabled bays. I have two children myself, one with additional needs but I still am always aware that there are reasons why someone might need a space close to the building that I’m not aware of so can’t personally see myself getting upset over it.

Yes I think they need blue badge spaces and a new name for c&p spaces so that people don't just follow the rule

I think family spots should have the same rules as disabled spots. Just don't know how that would be implimented.

they aren't the same and for a good reason. Having a child isn't the same as being disabled!

@waterlellon

Think is the irritated parents don't KNOW if that person is a twat and I think its better to assume they aren't

I know a twat when I see one babes. Nice sentiment though

I have a temporary mobility issue, which is causes severe pain on walking. It should resolve, so I wouldn’t be eligible for a blue badge, but if I need to go out for things and can’t find a space close enough to the entrance I would park there.

The extra space is also useful as I have to fully open the door to turn and get out of the car on two legs.