Asda to fine people who abuse disabled and Mother and Baby parking areas.

[Theclosetpagan]

HURRAH for Asda. May the other supermarkets take note. I get soo fed up with seeing van drivers, childless cars etc parked in Mother and Baby/toddler spaces.

Ohhhhh it's a Mumsnet dream come true.

Being lazy I haven't read the full story or this thread.

How can they do that? M&T parking spaces are not covered by law are they?

I think the M&T spaces are a good idea, i just think they shouldn't be right next to the door. I always thought the reason they were there is so parents with babies and toddlers have extra space because they have car seats and prams etc. I think they should be moved to the middle of the carpark, that way people wouldn't abuse them as much because they are not right next to the front door.

I don't see how they are going to know if the car parked there has children though? Unless they physicaly see the person get out with no children. Then you will get elderly people who don't have a disabled badge who park in M&T being issued fines and imo the elderly probably need to park nearer the store.

hooray!!!!!!!!

i agree with fining of abuse of disabled bays, but not p+t.

M&T spaces should be adjacent the store for one reason - it minimizes the risk of tots being run over in the main car park. Our ASDA is arranged so that you don't need to walk across 'road' parts at all. Its also - cleverly or luckily - positioned such that they aren't the most obvious spaces to get to if you're in a hurry, so I think less liaible to be abused. Kudos to whoever designed it.

FabulousKBears walkway is good idea if this isn't possible but that arrangement usually entails zebra crossing at the end. Having very nearly had DD reversed into while we were on a zebra in a carpark I have a somewhat jaundiced view of them!

I for one was extremely grateful for the big spaces when I was a nappy headed new mum.

Hurray! I often struggle to get DD out of her carseat when we use a normal space as they're too narrow (and people always seem to park too close!) so policing these spaces is a good idea. It drives me mad to see people abusing these spaces especially when there's plenty of parking spaces available - I must confess I've started putting notes on peoples cars.
When my aunty was using a wheelchair it made a great difference to her to be able to get out of the house, so I get very angry when people use these spaces especially. It's just pure selfishness.

Reading throuigh these replies am being surprised that some of us are quite ambivilant about the M+T spaces. Are they not considered a good idea or very necessary? Just wondering as I found them a boon.

also agree with ladyvic that disabled spaces I can see but M&T? no!

Closet, problem is there have been LOADS of threads about M&T and they always get very heated. There are always a few posters who appear to equate M&T with disabled spaces, who cheerfully admit parking in disabled if no M&T available and object to disabled people parking in M&T if no disabled spaces available. Wrong, wrong, wrong on so many levels. Would be simpler to just abolish M&T so it's clear to everyone that no-one should park in disabled spaces without a blue badge.

So the shopper will bear the cost of having the person standing there watching for toddlers getting out of cars?

I hate the selfishness & arrogance of people using P&T spaces without children, but my heart sinks at yet another 'criminalise and penalise' initiative.

I agree with fining people who use disabled speaces - in fact I would have them towed away.

I agree blu, how are they going to know who has children and who doesn't unless they physically get someone to stand there and watch?

has anyone ever challenged anyone using one without kids in tow? i'm always too scared. BTW walkway good idea - my 4 year old can't control himself round cars. it's not the distance so much as wide spaces and safety.

M&T spaces more trouble than worth.

Everyone who wants a badge with their child benefit- I have to pay for ds1's blue badge every 3 years. Badge schemes cost money- do not see the point of M&T ones. Better things for public money to be spent on.

I wouldn't challenge someone who parked in one without kids because i just don't care enough to do that and wouldn't give them the satisfaction!

I haven't used one in our local Asda for years. Because it is a dead end and you get stuck in there with all the other people waiting for spaces. It is much easier to park elsewhere near a trolley park. The only time I have ever wished for them is when I had a baby who wasn't big enough to sit up in a trolley because all the baby trolleys were in a trolley bay there away from the front of the store. More trolleys than spaces, mind you, so less than logical. But once DD got to 6 months, no problems.

I dislike them because it brings out the very worst in people. Non-parents using them through laziness or even on principle. Parents standing up and demanding their rights when in fact they are not a right merely a priviledge and a marketing strategy.

Yeah, someone's going to get stabbed over this issue. Can you imagine the poor sods who have to police these spaces? And the morons who challenge them?

if cars are getting bigger, then i'd be tempted to make spacers smaller, that will show the gas guzzling, crapola at parking people what for!

horrah hoorah

I have gone in and moaned about disabled parking abusers time and again at Asda

I am That Moaning Woman

It won't last long - a few years back our local Asda put stickers on your windscreen if you were parked in a disabled bay without a badge (the sort that were a real sod to remove) - there was a big fuss in the local paper and they stopped doing it - a lady on crutches (temporary for a broken leg) had gone into the store with her husband, they'd used the bay so she could get out easily and came back to find a huge sticker on the windscreen. I agree that the spaces are for badgeholders, but surely there is room for leniency for the temporarily-disabled? By which I am not including able-bodied mums with kids - yes, car seats are a pain in the butt, but i'd never use a disabled bay. Likewise, if older DD (teenage) stays in the car with the baby while I nip in for milk, I wouldn't use a P&T bay. Perhaps I'm just too reasonable...

I often use the P & T spaces after about 8pm with no children as i figure most toddlers should be in bed by then anyway I agree that they should be in a safe place with walkways - when I take my two shopping trying to keep hold of them both and watch for cars from all angles is a nightmare so i will still use a P & T space if it has a safe car free walk to the shop (ds is 4)

I would NEVER use a disabled space - the only time I did was when i was pg with ds and had spd and could only stagger a few yards and incredibly slowly at that!

Maybe they should say all spaces are free for everyone to use after 8pm?