Mother & Child Parking Spaces & Charges

i do agree mother and child need extra room as well as disabled people. my only concern is that they should be for disabled with wheel chairs who need extra room . some of the people i see using the spaces dont need to use the spaces but do. i know some cant walk too far so they need to be near the entrance which is fine. but some people who are not disabled use the spaces too because the car they drive has a badge on for another family member whos not with them so its not just the people without a disability who misuse them.
my other issue is why cant asda etc make bigger spaces as im sick of getting bumped by car doors from inconsiderate drivers who then leave .
question if asda can charge you for parking where you should not can we charge asda for damage done on their private car park......just a thought....oh and i have seen the parking signs asda holds no resposibility for damage etc,etc,etc ....

regards
pete robinson

Well this seems to have been done to death but since I have only just noticed it I will say one or two things.

Firstly - Asda defines parent and child spaces as being for vehicle in which an child UNDER 12 years old sits. Tesco limit the age to 5. So if you get used to one car park don't be misled into thinking that there is any level playing field. Secondly in my local Dunstable Asda... the rules still apply but eh Car Park and all the money from it go to the town council - so while the owners are percieved to be Asda... they, in fact have nothing to do with it!

At the end of the day it is just another way for someone to make money. In our case the council, in other cases the supermarket.

Well said Nigel.

Surely this thread has died a death, passed the rigor mortis stage & progressed well into biodegradation by now?

Interesting comments from Nigel and Ernie....and I would agree this post is turning into something other than it's original purpose....

And finally, Carole.....I am not an idiot, I just don't share your obsession. And for the record, I'm not selfish either...I give up 10 hours of my week to work unpaid for the benefit of my community and am an active member of a couple of charitys...I am also a memeber of my local council.....so for the record, if a supermarket wants to have mean tight little spaces in their car park....we can't stop them, it's a legitimate business.....Access groups may be one way, but on the whole I vote with my pocket and time and have my grocerys delivered...that way I don't have to put up with the lack of decent parking spaces or the disapproval of people like you.

As I said earlier. for all those of you that have strong opinions on how Supermarkets, Railways, Councils and just about any other public parking areas lay out their parking areas and streets. If you want a say in how many disabled, parent and child bays, where they are, how long they should be or any other issues in your local area, get in touch with your local council and join their Access Group or the equivalent group.

Many of these groups are crying out for people with professional backgrounds to help them. They are run in conjunction with local authorities and all to often are seriously hampered because of the very nature of the disabilities of those that are in the groups. They need able bodied professionals to give balance. I am a member of one, that is how I can speak with some authority about why and how parking bays are marked out. There are always consultation periods and on going discussions if problems arise. You are never going to please all the people all of the time but it is always done for either legal or H & S reasons.
There is a good deal of difference between what can be enforced however on private land and public land. So even after all the advice and consultation it is up to the public to use their heads and consider why something has been done the way it has and hopefully follow the signs.
Nigel, you make some sensible comments and sound like the sort of person that an Access Group would benefit from, however I will continue to call somebody who comes on here and admits they will continue to do things that are not only unhelpful but could actually cause danger to others an idiot. I could call them a lot worse but I will refrain.

Quite often when I am driving around and around a full car park looking for a space and constantly passing empty disabled and mother and child parking spaces on every floor or at each turn eventually having to sit and wait for an empty space there's an old saying springs to mind. "The worst thief of all is the one that steals another persons time as it is the one commodity that can never be recovered." When I cannot find an "able bodied" space while passing empty "reserved for" spaces I feel that I'm being discriminated against because I'm not disabled, not pregnant and my children have all managed to grow up. Does that make me any more selfish than those that want think they have aright to a space reserved for them? Some people here give the impression that they are the first ones ever to have had children and are the first ones ever to deal with lifes issues whilst having a young child to contend with. "cannot get the push chair out of the car". "need to park as close to the door as possible otherwise it's too far to walk". Well try taking a bus, with three young children, four miles to the local high street and then trecking up and down the mile long row of shops, loading up your bags before taking the return journey home. It's what we did, and did we complain? Probably but not as much as the whingers do now but maybe that's because our children were well behaved.
And yes the private land owners make the rules to be observed while on their land but if they say you have infringed their rules and they are fining you £x what can they do when you tell them to sod off and refuse to pay their fine, not a lot.
That's a bit of good advice Nigel.

Just to answer the question Wayne,
That would depend on a number of factors but i would just get a trolley with the special baby seats above them so that the baby could sleep in that and be perfectly supported. Supermarkets seem to have many different trolleys for all sorts of uses.
Or one parent could stay in the car with the sleeping child, I have had this happen more than once.
I would not want the added hazard of a pushchair especially as the baby is a lot lower down and therefore a lot more vulnerable to be hit by a trolley. Especially if that trolley is being pushed by a small child while the parent is not supervising!

Nigel - Finally, a bit of common sense. If the supermarkets made all the parking spaces wide enough for us all to open our car doors wide, many of these problems would not arise, but of course, they won't. They are in business to make money (nothing wrong with that) and want to cram as many cars in as possible.
I must admit that I have always driven a big car (personal preference) and so it doesn't get 'dinged', I always park far away from the store where there are more spaces, no matter what the weather. However, despite doing this, sod's law operates and if there are twenty empty spaces around where I've parked, some idiot will park right beside my car and close enough so that I cannot open the door!
Any topic to do with cars, driving and parking will always provoke a reaction. Most people love their cars and don't want to see them damaged - repairs on paintwork can be costly and avoided with a little consideration.
There will always be some who have the 'don't give a damn' attitude and are only concerned with their own requirements (note that I do not say needs), but on the whole, most of us are reasonable people and should perhaps make an effort to be more aware and less intolerant.

equality:
[mass noun] the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, or opportunities:
I undertake a voluntary job that means I need to be on call for emergency 999 calls in my local community, I would like to fight for the right to have a special parking zone for people on call that is close the the supermarket so if I am called whilst in the supermarket I can get back to my car quickly.
I would also like to fight for the right of pregnant ladies to have special parking zones close to the supermarket so they are do not have to walk far, these parking zones should be graded in distance depending on how far into the pregnancy the lady is.
I also think there should be female only parking areas that are better lit and close to the supermarket, though these would only need to be in operation at dusk or during the hours of darkness when single females are more vulnerable.
There needs to be a separate parking area for learner or recently passed drivers with extra wide bays to facilitate easy parking until they have got the hang of it.
Finally, single active, well built, fit males should have to park as far away as possible as they have no need whatsoever to have to park close to the shop.
And before you all ask, yes I have had kids and yes I know someone very close who could be classed as disabled (father - stroke).
The use of this forum is to discuss points of law and hopefully learn new information from others with more experience.
Arguing and calling each other idiots is not the way to do it.
Please review what you are posting and try to be a bit more tolerant, everyone has a point of view and everyone has the right to that point of view, this does not make them an idiot because their beliefs do not fit in with your own.
If we all learnt to be more tolerant we might get on a lot better.

Question for Andy K,

When you go shopping and baby falls asleep do you put them in the trolley (which has little to no support for their bodies) or put them in a pushchair?

For all the silly arguments a family parking bay has been designated as such to HELP families do their shop just as blue badge bays are there to help those who need the extra space FOR WHATEVER REASON.

Discussing the ‘what and wherefores’ keeps us all entertained but does nothing in the long run because others who debated as we are decided to put them in place long ago!

Sean I am not angry just irritated at stupid questions! I do read the posts clearly. You were included in my remark because if YOU paid more attention to what I wrote I went on to say that playing dodgems also was a problem for parents with young children. So selfish people like you and Jen that admittedly park where they are not supposed to and risk the health and safety of people who these bays are allocated for, need to think more carefully if you want the injury or death of someone on your conscience.
When you use one of those bays because as you say there is nowhere else for you to park, you deny somebody who may have no other choice but to go home if that particular bay is not available to them because it is too difficult for them to cope from a bay the other side of the car park.
Supermarkets dont just think "oh lets just stick a few convenience bays here" for the fun of it. Thought goes into it for a reason - perhaps you should use your common sense and just because there are idiots that dont use them correctly does not mean to say you have to be one of them. Or are you one of those that if everyone else started to run into a supermarket and loot it you would join in with that too?
If you feel very strongly about these issues, join your local Access Group, they will be glad to have you instead of grumbling on the side lines.

Carole...you need to calm down and read the posts a little more closely.....I have never said I would or have parked in disabled bays. I don' t advocate it either.
As I have previously said, with the exception of disabled bays....ALL bays should be wider, then maybe this rather little irritant won't occur......now, how angry are you going to get over that comment?

Yes i do understand that Kevin, I have a daughter, but at the supermarket I always use a trolley and they always have a seat to put the child in.
A lot less hassle than using a pushchair and trying to get round the supermarket!

Or you could go shopping and leave the wife and kids at home! Then you can Trolley surf and do fun things without the wife telling you off!

If that question is directed at me? Does being in a wheelchair preclude the fact that children still have the usual transportation needs? I will spell it out......
Husband gets wheelchair out of car....I get in.......
Husband gets pushchair out, puts kids in........
I wheel myself into the store. he pushes the kids in.
I put supermarket trolley in fromt of my wheelchair....we shop!

Anymore questions?

Shop much, Andy? We had twins, leaving them both in the car was tempting but it might have damaged my wife's career in Social Services.
.... and before you ask, no way was she going to leave me alone at home with them to go shopping and,
.... no way would she stay at home and trust me to do the shopping instead!
Of course, now they're teenagers and no trouble at all ......

Just a quick question but why are you getting a pushchair out of the car when you are going to the supermarket?

The biggest shock that Jen would find is that she would probably not even be able to get out of her car door if she was disabled, certainly the wheelchair would not be accessible or the person who needs to get into the wheelchair would not be able to exit the car because you cannot open the doors wide enough to be able to get them in the chair.

This is usually also the case for parents with pushchairs but then Jen would not understand that as she has opted out of all things around children. As for doing all three things at once as Dawn points out, my husband is guilty of having to do that!

Perhaps Jen/Sean you would prefer that people in wheelchairs should play dodgems and have to wheel their wheelchairs down the aisles between the cars as people back in and out and because they are in a chair will not be seen by those same cars? Also Parents with a baby and a toddler have the same problem when they have loads of shopping. How many hands do you have?? So you just park right outside and nip in for your shopping and don't worry about the safety of anyone else.

Oh I'm with Carole.

I love walking in the rain and also I have a 1yr old and a 5 yr old.

Jen you do dry out! And join the parents then you get special privileges.

XX

Not, of course, all at the same time!

Jen, Sean, you have clearly never tried to get a small child ( or children) out of a car and in to a pushchair, or yourself or a loved one out of a car and in to a wheelchair, safely and without risking damage or obstruction to other vehicles or people around you. I have done all three, and I hope you never have to - it will come as a shock.

Oh and by the way I find you rather offensive. To say that putting parents in the same category as disabled people is offensive is saying disabled people are offensive. I think you should just keep your selfish comments to yourself, they do not offer any advice, so in future don't bother writing anything else unless you can refrain from offending people.

Jen - the fact was there were other spaces. You are NOT a parent and you parked in a space that was not marked for your use because you were lazy. Buy a mac or an umbrella and stop being so selfish! Your comments are worthless opinions trying to ease your conscience because you know what you did was wrong.

Jen T....you are a woman after my own heart....I replied in an earlier post that some of the biggest 'culprits' of the so called misuse of these spaces are parents themselves.....perhaps when some of them start to lead by example...others won't abuse these so called parent spaces....I for one, will continue to use them if there are no other spaces available.......if the supermarket want my business, then make my life easy...

I read this board with interest aftr being verbally attacked by a mother in a supermarket car park just this morning.

My local store has several PARENT and child spaces close to the front door. It was approx half past nine, peeing down with rain and yes I chose to park in one of the 20 or so empty spaces to nip in and get milk.
A women beside decided to have a word. Now some of you may think this right. However some of the arguments she used, and that I see here, I'm sorry, but are complete tosh.

One commenter states:
Equal opportunity to behave as normal people and go shopping if / when they want is not a lot to ask, either for parents or disabled people.

Are parents really in the same category as those with a disability? Really? I find that offensive.
And why because I chose not to have children does that mean I have to get soaked for the sake of five minutes? Am I now to be treated worse because I have no inclination to repopulate, and in some causes, over populate the world?

Add to that the parents I see sat in the car in these spaces with their kids still sat in the back while no doubt their partner runs in for a few bits and pieces, you can see why I see very little wrong with using a courtesy space when several others are still available.

Remember, you chose to have kids. The inconvenience of that was not forced upon you, unlike those with disabilities, you opted for it.

Perhaps Sean they don't even bother and only attend Waitrose, Marks and Spencer and any other perceived upper market food stores however I still think you will find their cars wanting to be parked nearest the doors!!

In the town i mentioned there is a couple of rather nice butchers, a Farmers market store with fresh produce and a Garden Centre with a Fresh Produce mostly organic) and specialty food store attached. It does a roaring trade with these people who love to park their cars in the disabled spaces which are right outside the doors and are not policed or monitored. It is the arrogance that is so annoying. Sometimes my wheelchair just happens to accidentally bump into these cars when they park so close to mine even though I try so very hard to avoid them! Such a Shame!!