To think people without kids who use parent and baby spaces are just lazy and selfish!

[Mummer123]

local Tesco and nearly every single week I have a run in with someone over this. I am 7 months pregnant and have a 1.5 year old. For me it’s not even about the walking, it’s the extra space at the sides so that i can get the baby in the trolly/pram at the side of the car rather than at the boot where there’s traffic.

i don’t mind if there’s older people who clearly are struggling with mobility but fit, healthy people who park there and not a child in sight. A car actually cut the one way system a few days ago to park in the last mother and baby spot. Was a man on his own, plenty of other spaces in the car park. I wouldn’t even park in them if I don’t have my baby with me. I just think it’s so lazy and selfish.

Well aren’t you selfish

When I had one DC I would have agreed with this, but sometimes I now use parent and child more for the safety aspect than anything else. I have an autistic 8 year old and a 3 YO and it can be difficult to safely navigate a busy car park with no footpaths when people's priority these days seems to be looking for other road users to pick a fight with or in too much of a rush to check their back window before reversing.

I have used a P&C parking space. Because having just graduated from a zimmer frame to walking sticks I was not able to walk any further, and I was not eligible for a blue badge. Sue me.

We use them when dsd is with us because she's disabled and needs the door fully open and for us to do up her belt. Yes she should have a blue badge but due to shared care arrangements we can't get one and the care team where she lives can't either!

Some supermarkets cleverly put the parent & child spaces behind the store. That way they are not the closest, but they do have a path round to the front of the store that means they don't have to cross any traffic - safety without making them the most desirable spaces.

Forget it.
You seem intent on misunderstanding.

Both of which are true.

Would a temporary BB with an expiry date on it when the holder must renew if necessary be a good idea? In a lighter shade of blue perhaps. Would have been useful to me some 7 years ago when I had a bout of acute inflammatory arthritis affecting my knees and ankles and could only walk with pain and difficulty. I did recover but it took about a year to get back to normal. I never parked in P and C spaces during that period though.

Im exactly the same. My eldest is 9, AuHD but no global delays so not entitled to a blue badge at the moment (our council wants your soul on a plate as evidence of hidden disability). It’s rare I take him anywhere without his younger siblings but I’d still park in P and C spaces for his safety. He’s more likely to bash the car next to him, zone out and wander or panic in busy places than his brother with a learning disability/GDD is. But to look at him in passing, someone would probably think I’m taking the mick using the space. Couldn’t give a shit, his safety is my only priority.

As for this subject for the millionth time. P and C spaces are a privilege not a right. Yes some will take the mick but that’s life. It’s not the end of the world. Babies and toddler in prams spaces would work. Put them at the back of the supermarket so it’s inconvenient for everyone else, then child aged 3-12 spaces near the front to keep them safer. Or call it ‘priority parking’, maybe a ticket service.

Neither were/are mobile phones. But someone made them available and they help some people. You're not convincing me.

My fav p&c (I have 4 year old) are at the big tesco in my town. They are really far away from the entrance, plenty of them (it's a huge car park) and run along a path that leads you straight to the store without having to cross the car park at all. And the path is wide enough for prams and trolleys. I've only rarely (peak times) not gotten a space when I've needed it.

And my 2nd fav are at an Asda in another town over, where I'm not even sure if they have any because all the spaces have two lines between them creating wider bays for everyone.

Both of these examples are designed well to encourage behaviour that doesn't conflict.

My 3rd fav is the tesco in the village where my parents live. They run either side of a path leading to the door via a zebra crossing, and the path is a covered walkway so even better if it's raining. However these are very close to the door and so much more frequently are used by those that perhaps don't need them in the same way that a parent with young child would.

No one is saying that at all. Youre clearly not lazy and have mobility issues. Literally no one is saying you shouldn’t use one. Jesus Christ it’s like some people look to be offended. I’m talking about fully able bodied people who are just being lazy. Fucking hell.

Dunno where you live but there’s plenty of didabled spaces in shops where I’m from? And literally no parent and child 😆

So you have to be able to physically see a disability for you to be ok with someone less abled to use a P and C space? Interesting. But loving a bit of irony about looking to be offended…

You're not convincing me eith a random piece pf unrelated information either. 😬

I’m talking about people who are lazy. Who do not need to park in a parent and baby space. End of.

You don’t know if the person you are challenging is disabled.

it is as simple as that. You can say you know but you don’t.

Issues aren't always clear though.

My dd could come out of the car and do a couple of cartwheels and then skip into the shop.

While in the shop ahead could well drop down and have a fit and be unable to make it back to the car with ease at all.

You literally have no idea what anyone is going through.

So people shouldn’t go to supermarkets or shops with their children? This is probably why some children misbehave in public because they aren’t spending time in these places! What a weird comment.

P&C spaces, they're just a "nice to have" - not a necessity.
So many carparks have no P&C spaces, and we all just crack on with it. Its only the supermarket in our place that has them (4) - every other carpark doesn't have them.

So, I really can't get worked up over being mildly inconvenienced when I can't park in the P&C space. Certainly not the level of Op who has "run ins" each week!

Forget about what we can see.

Think about what people who use p&c spaces know. About themselves.

Some know they are a parent with small child.

Some know they are bb holder and no disabled spaces today.

Some know they are not a bb holder but have a non registered disability that makes it harder to get in/out of the car

Some know that they are just lazy

Some know that they just don't think/care about others

Some know that they don't want their car scratched/struggle to park in a normal space.

Who do you think the frustration about this issue is aimed at?

How can you tell if someone is lazy or less abled just by looking at them? Do they wear a special badge?

I don't care when disabled people use them (including people with hidden disabilities) and anyone who for whatever reason can't walk as far. I'm also fine with heavily pregnant people using them. But honestly, just create more disabled places.

Otherwise, stop. It may not be illegal, but it's inconsiderate. Prams and car seats are large and clunky. Mum's lug a lot of crap around. Normal spaces aren't always very wide. It's also easy to end up knocking another car whilst hauling things around in a tight space.

The real solution is just make all spaces a little wider. Women make up 50% of the population. Many women have young children. And despite what this forum thinks, children are allowed to exist in shops and not everyone has the privilege of childcare. The burden of food shopping will often fall on women and mothers, so society should accommodate them.

A lot of building planning and architecture isn't designed with women or anyone who isn't able bodied in mind.

This isn't related to this thread, but this is a fun link looking at places specifically designed by and for women and girls:

https://www.makespaceforgirls.co.uk/case-studies

Its called an analogy. Just because something wasn't available in the past and it is not entirely essential, it doesn't mean that something is wrong and not helpful.

Well I’m with you OP. I can’t get DD out in a normal space and I drive a 23yo focus so I don’t have a stupidly big car as someone else put it.

There’s more disabled spaces here than P&C and they’re closer so that argument doesn’t work here. It’s rude.