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.

Having some wider access spaces at far end of car park next to a walkway would be a brilliant solution. One of our local supermarkets has some disabled places either side of a walkway followed by about a dozen normal spaces. I always parked there at the far end as safer to walk the kids along the walkway than to park in the parent and child ones that didn’t have the walkway. Also super easy to load shopping if you reversed in. Some wider general use spots up there would be perfect for people who need a bit more room to get in and out regardless of reason.

Thank you! I've just come across some really rude and sarcastic posters on MN so never know how to respond sometimes.

They cry over some random things - dummy fell out, dont like the song on the radio, the shoes on the floor - you get it! It can be stressful, sometimes it does add to the frustration and sometimes i'm good with it. Maybe I can start another thread for it lol

It drives me insane! Our local Tesco has the parent parking right outside and it's mostly elderly ladies I see coming out of them. These ladies seem to think they should have priority over anyone else. So rude & entitled. I always glare at them because I think if we make some noise it might actually make them consider other people. Parents need these spaces for the extra space not the convenience (although that is a perk) so maybe they should move them further away and then they wouldn't be so appealing to those without kids.

I’m very aware there are hidden disabilities, some will affect mobility and/or balance. Many qualify for a bus pass on the basis of their disability, just as they’d get a blue badge. However, when a group of teens in local school uniforms are taking up the few seats specifically marked as Priority, it’s a fairly safe bet they don’t all have mobility issues. The priority seats on trams and buses are mainly at entrance level, it just makes sense that they are available for people who really need to be seated.

People are, on the whole, not considerate.

P/C parking bays are interesting to me because it’s one of the rare things that give able bodied people a taste of what it’s like for disabled people all the time.

All it would need to be a really good system is a bit more thought from planners (moving them further away from the shop so they are less desirable) and for the general public not to be twats and use them when they don’t need them- just like accessible toilets or wheelchair spaces on busses.

For all you know they could. Or one of them could and they are all wanting to sit together and haven't thought through the impact as they are teens

I would like to see specific accessible blue badge spaces for people with children.

My mum was the same so I just used parent and child spaces. Technically that’s exactly what we were and she needed the space and proximity to the shop just as much as someone with a small child or two.

No one’s going to mind you parking there when heavily pregnant. Anyway you do have a child with you.

But if you think you need it more now, try getting a crying newborn in and out of the car in a car seat whilst still having a baby bump and birth injuries after the birth! Add in a second child toddler too and you can see the problem.

You said it!

Im not sure tbh its why I made this thread, but some people want my head on a stick lol

Thanks for confirming that and I totally understand that blue badge holders are just as inconvinienced by inconsiderate drivers as parents!

@MooseOnTour Ah so you are just selfish then

Sure. Sure. I can guarantee you that, with significantly increased age, I do appreciate a parking spot waaaaaaay more than I ever did when I was a parent with infant/young kids. For example, my bladder control now (post kids and with age) is way less than it ever was when I was heavily pregnant for example. Ditto bowel control post 4th degree tears and with age. I could have driven around and around car parks way longer when I was younger with kids than I can now, But spin it as selfish, that’s YOUR narrative.

Car parking spaces need to be wider generally.

There are loads if valid reasons why people might need more space to get in and out of their cars safely with their passengers and shopping etc; but instead of allowing everyone the ability to do that, shops have us scrapping over half a dozen spots.

Sometimes disabled people use the family spots if there are no available disabled spaces as they have a bit more space so unless you know the physical status of the person parking YABU

I'll park on one when I go to the grocery after work and it's after 8pm. Any child old enough to be out and about doesn't need the spot. Your parenting choices don't affect me at that hour.

And yes I know that newborns don't follow the same sleep schedules, but I've also never seen newborns in the shops at later hours, nor do I expect them all to be out and needing all of the spots 😇

Says who? Because I stated a FACT, which was there were 2 teens in a range rover? My point being they probably just wanted the space for their car...! I rolled down my window and said 'girls do you know this space is for parent and child?' to which they literally jumped out the car laughing, slamed their door and walked off. If they needed the space they could have just said - and no we dont owe each other a justification or explanation but we live within a community surely we can communicate with one another? I'm aggrieved by some peoples attitude.

Come on man....surely you realise your comment was unnecessary and ridiculous before you hit post?

If you park in a disabled bay without displaying a blue badge you can get a ticket- that isn’t the case for P/C spaces because they are just a courtesy.

Perpetuating the stereotype that people with disabilities are elderly is lazy and harmful. Please stop it.

When was the last time you saw or heard of someone being fined for parking in a dedicated blue badge bay without displaying a blue badge? It doesn't even happen. This 'protection in legislation' that people seem to think people with disabilities has doesn't - or barely - exist.

why does there need to be specific spots for disabled people with children? Surely that's just covered by the blue badge disabled spots.

My local national trust has just put in some extra wide spots rather than parent and child in order to be more inclusive and help out people who might need the extra room because they have someone with limited mobility or something. They’re now all taken up by people with big Range Rover type cars who want the extra room or just people who can’t be arsed to walk further to the entrance (baffling when theses people have gone somewhere specifically to walk).

So I agree there are lots of reasons why people might need a wider space- but unless you limit the criteria everyone thinks it should be them.

At meadowhall they give parent & child parking permits - you have to go, with the child, to collect it

So that people with kids and disabilities don't get abuse hurled at them by weirdos who think you can't have both.

I mean it would be better if people just used their heads and didnt hurl abuse. So maybe that should be a crime..

I’ll see if I can borrow my nephew…