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 🙈😂

Doesn't bother me. Why do you need so much space? Can you never park anywhere without parent and child bays? What car do you drive?

I’m baffled at people who don’t get upset about it. At our local Tesco it’s almost always young fit blokes in big cars who abuse the P&C spaces. The arrogance and selfishness is what “makes my blood boil”. I don’t have young kids anymore but inconsiderate behaviour is still infuriating. If you are passive about socially inconsiderate behaviour then you are just as bad imo.

In my local Tesco I do it as a point making exercise!

the P and C spaces are closer to the shop then the BB ones 🤷‍♀️

I'll park in them on my own when it's the only space available. The Asda near me often reaches capacity as it is also 2 hours free parking for the town centre, so multiple times I've driven round and only seen space in p&c. At which point I will take it.

What point are you making by parking in a space designed to make it easier to put very young children in cars and keep them safer in car parks?

Our recently built lidi is the same. So I park in them if I have to take DS as they are much safer for him than the disabled ones.

I also get annoyed when people without a blue badge park in my allocated disabled bay outside my house.

Suck it up buttercup.

It’s not available for you. Hope that helps x

Id be careful doing that, someone bashed my car door and drove off not realising someone had filmed it. My insurance obviously managed to track them down and I got it sorted at a main dealer bodyshop. And oops, also another scratch that was surely caused by the same prang 😉 Must have stung their insurance premium. My car was like 10 years old too 😂

Why do you think you have a monopoly on being annoyed?

When I had 5 under 6 it irritated me hugely. I have a friend who uses them for her 16 yo with no additional needs (yes, I am sure).

That said, disabled people should have priority on them IMHO.

Exactly. It’s not technically impossible to get a toddler in and out of their car seat in a normal supermarket space when you can’t fully open the car door BUT it is much much harder to do IF you care about the cars parked next to you. And a baby in one of those removable car seat carriers? Verging on impossible to get them out without any collateral damage. Everyone benefits from just letting the parents have a slightly bigger space.

I'm not sure why these threads always end up with these questions being directed at the parents (you know, the ones the spaces are for) as opposed to the entitled childless people taking them.

If you're a childless person taking a P&C space, why do YOU need so much space? Can YOU never park anywhere without them? What car do YOU drive? Why can't YOU park at the back and walk?

this is a risk i'm willing to take

Genuine question for those who don’t see the point - when did you last try to get a baby or a toddler into or out of their car seat in a supermarket carpark space where you can’t even fully open the car door?

Because if it was very recently and you found it as easy to do as it would be if the car door was wide open please do share the secret so the rest of won’t have to get so angry about not getting a P&C space.

Cool, I'd be so embarassed though at being so incompetent I pranged a car that was parked normally 😩 its like proper stereotypical helpless woman cant even open a car door. Cringe.

So this is when you have had to park in a normal space because the P&C spaces are taken. And cars either side of you are parked within their bays but you just think they are too big so you decide that they are selfish and think that justifies bashing them?

So it is now the responsibility of people not only to use non-P&C spaces if they don't have a child but to choose a normal space that has an empty bay on either side just in case someone with a child has to park next to them?

When mine was a baby I just parked at the back of the car park, or even better in the car cleaning area (pre-2016 when right to work controls were much looser!). This was far less stressful. Supermarkets have trolley stations all over the car park, so I’d just nab a trolley and sort the car seat in a nice empty part of the car park. I did struggle with the height of the trolley though - trying to lift a baby in car seat above your head post c-section was no joke.

The answer is that you are one of the 25% of people with a licence who should not have one, because you cannot drive reasonably.

Unfortunately having a licence is never seen as a skill more a human right.

Someone started having a right go at my dad once when he was parked in a P&C spot loading his shopping in the boot. Then my mum came out carrying my then baby who had needed a nappy change. They never apologised to him and stormed off in a huff. 😂

Nah, I really don't care to be honest.

Most non supermarket car parks don't have P&C spaces and we all seem to manage.

Probably because that's who made the post 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have kids. A normal sized space is fine.

As someone who had newborn twins and a just-turned 2 year old, P&C spaces and a large car were a necessity. For context, I drove a Ford S-max which had 3 bulky car seats in a row (not many cars have that capability). The two year old was one end and newborns were middle and other side. Now, trying to get a newborn baby out of the middle car seat was impossible without opening the door wide. Putting the toddler in the middle wouldn’t have made a difference as I still needed to help him get in and strapped. Parking further away where it was quiet was a risk incase others parked either side of me. I tried not to shop with all of them often but sometimes I had no choice. So, P&C spaces are not a luxury but a necessity for many people.

Right, but threads evolve into an open discussion, but for some reason the discussion always revolves around whether the parent actually needs the space, as opposed to saying hang on, why does the entitled childless person need it?

I just can't get worked up over it. I think because I save my rage for people who aren't disabled and park in disabled bays. P&C parking is nice to have, but not essential. Parking in it without kids is a dick move for sure, but it's really not the end of the world if I have to use a normal space with the kids whereas when we're out with my disabled niece, we literally have to go home if we can't find adequate parking. Keeps it all in perspective I guess.