People who park in child and parent spaces when they don't have kids.

[Fortheloveofpurple]

Does this annoy anyone else? I personally don't care about the distance from the shop but I need the room to get my kids out of the car. And when I say when they don't have kids I mean they don't have them with them or a disabled badge or anything. Where I am from it happens so regularly. It makes me so mad 🙈😂

Where I shop, a modern Lidl ( opened in 2020 ) they have made all the bays large enough to to be useful for all users. All the bays have the two line gap around them. Even if Im shopping in Tesco or going to catch a train, I park in Lidl and its the only car park guaranteed that you aren't going to get a trolly scraped against your car or a car door slammed against it

Cars have gotten bigger, it being a modern carpark the bays have caught up with that fact

I can’t find myself giving a
toss. I never had them when my ds was younger and we coped.
However I’m also glad people park on them rather than the BB spaces because my ds cannot get outbid the car into his wheelchair in a normal space. An abode bodied child can 🤷‍♀️

I mean, if I really try, I suppose I could, at a push, get mildly irritated. Not sure I can be bothered to though.

I get annoyed when the parents picking up their children from a school round the corner use all the disabled parking spaces in the 3 shops round the corner. Then there is that many of them it takes half an hour to get out of the car parks because of the back up of parents cars at the traffic lights. Most of the parents are local and don't need to drive to pick up their children.

Sorry - this is totally irrelevant to OP, but I am on one today 😂

I think this has become an issue more once travel systems become common, the taking the whole car seat out the car rather than the child has resulted in people needing to open their doors further. I was never a fan and if in a tight space would open the window and lift my child out through it and back in again 😂

Which is fine if you have a newborn potato or a compliant little cherub, but if you've ever had to play extreme origami with a flailing octopus of a toddler then you need that door open!

Because families spend the most money so it’s a marketing ploy to get the to shop there. They aren’t enforceable in any way.

If it's really about space rather than being close to the shop, park at the far end of the carpark where there's always plenty of space.

Not sure where you live that there is “always” plenty of space anywhere to be honest but I’m very jealous- certainly isn’t the case here!!

I personally don't care about the distance from the shop but I need the uhroom to get my kids out of the car.

Oh pull the other one, people always say this but it absolutely IS about the distance from the shop because unless it’s Christmas Eve, there’s usually always plenty of space at the back of the car park therefore making it a non issue yet it annoys you enough to not only start a thread about it but to also check all the windscreens to see if they’re displaying a blue badge once you’ve clocked they don’t have a child.

If parking spaces were wider, there'd be fewer spaces so the problem would be worse.

Perhaps people need to actually think about car size when they choose to buy which car to buy. Yes, most cars are bigger these days, but you can still buy smaller cars if you bother to do some research. Trouble is too many people buy over-sized cars they don't actually need without thinking of the practicalities.

Again, wish this was the case where we are! There just simply isn’t enough spaces at any of our supermarkets/shops really. The only place I drive to where I could say with almost certainty that I could find plenty space to park would be the local shopping centre which has a multi-storey car park so the top floor is perfect because while it’s further to walk to get in there is always plenty of space up there, so that’s what we do.

All of our supermarkets are literally always almost 100% full whether it’s Christmas Eve or 11am on a random Tuesday, there just isn’t enough spaces for the amount of people who drive now which is a problem entirely of its own, but does mean that where we are there really isn’t the “just park at the back” option.

Yes! And the fact that supermarkets have different trolleys where you can put the travel seat on top of it, but those trolleys are always parked near the entrance, so that's where you need to park unless you're going to leave your kid in an unattended car to traipse across the car park to bring back a suitable trolley to put it in. (same at the end). Obviously not a problem when the kid is older and can be lifted separately into the typical/common kind of trolley, but you can't do that with a very young child!

It's about both, and also being next to the path. I can get one kid out, they wait on path while I get next kid out, etc. I can't leave kids/toddlers/prams etc in the middle of the road area while I get the next one out.

Incidentally if I don't have my youngest with me I don't use P&C any more, as my two elder can get in and out by themselves. I just hold the door to avoid bumps/scratches. They are both well under the usual 12 year limit, but it's considerate to leave the P&C spaces for those who need help being lifted in/out of the car.

Thank you! This!

buy a smaller car - you don’t need to go round in a tractor size car

YANBU, people that park in them without children have a totally distorted sense of entitlement. Those spaces are clearly designated for people with young children. Their size and placement is for the benefit of people travelling with young children; for their safety and convenience. IME it’s usually lone men!

Hi I don’t have kids and park in them semi-regularly, just depends who is with me ie elderly parent or if it is raining. I don’t do it all the time, but I do view them as a luxury. On occasion I will think first come, first served. But I’m of an age where I remember supermarkets before they had mother and baby spaces.

If only they made the spaces slightly bigger and had a herringbone arrangement rather than squares…P and C spaces wouldn't be necessary!

Imagine admitting to being so selfish you park in spacious parking advertised for shoppers with young children in car seats because it’s raining.

I have to point out, like I do on every one of these threads, that those of us with blue badges often have to use parent & child when there’s no other disabled spaces available so before your ‘blood boils’ maybe check for a blue badge, first???

I’m sure you do many selfish things - parents usually do

You’ve got a really mental chip on your shoulder. You’re on a thread about people being entitled to park in spaces designed around the needs of others and you’re trying to sit here making claims about how all parents are usually selfish.

Get a grip.

I have long thought that they are something done as part of getting planning permission.

The only practical enforcement would be if large supermarket car parks become public land and councils were able to enforce as they do with street parking. Even then, parking enforcement should not be fines, but a court appearance and points on your licence, which is not going to happen.

If cars reverted to a standard size and almost no-one had SUVs, I bet it would be easier to park in general and people would not use parent and child spaces to reduce the chance of damage.

if there are no parent and child spaces, and I can’t get my baby out of the car seat because the cars either side are unnecessarily large, I just decide not to care if their car gets bashed about by my door in the process. if we are all going to be selfish about it then I may as well join in

People who park in child and parent spaces when they don't have kids are dicks