To have been upset by this encounter today

Georgesgran, at my local Asda the notice says that spaces are for parents and children up to 12 years. Absolutely ridiculous!

suzie20

Georgesgran, at my local Asda the notice says that spaces are for parents and children up to 12 years. Absolutely ridiculous!

Unfortunately, because young families tend to be the biggest money spinners for supermarkets they have put all sorts of marketing ploys into place to attract them, including special parking spaces.

I say 'unfortunately' because, while most shoppers have the sense to realise these spaces are a concession but not a need, there are some gullible and self entitled people who take this concession as an endorsement of some kind of 'special' status they've accorded themselves.

Very sad to read of people living with disabilities who've been convinced they shouldn't park in these spaces when blue badge spaces aren't available. Please rest assured that no decent or right thinking person would begrudge you those spaces.

Farzanah. Taking your elderly mother shopping I would think it appropriate to park in P&C places. I saw recently a father and teenage boy parked in a P&C place. Is there amy age criteria for P&C places?

Milest0ne, as suzie20 says in her post about Asda, some supermarkets do specify an age for their P&C spaces. Whether they enforce such criteria, I have no idea.

I think, by law, facilities and access must be provided for disabled people, but whether that applies to having children I wouldn't know.
I would think the parent spaces are more of a courtesy thing.

Beswitched

Yes both of my parents needed disabled spaces in their later years. I don't think some people realise how essential they are, and how much more necessary than p&c spaces. The latter are helpful of course, but not the lifeline that disabled spaces are.

No parent should ever use a disabled space as a substitute for a p&c space. The other way around is perfectly justified.

Disagree. They other way round isn’t justified. If you park in mine, I will park in yours. Crack down on fake users of blue badges and there will be enough spaces for the genuinely disabled. Should be no reason for the disabled to encroach on parent and child and vice versa.

If all the blue badge places are taken then someone who is disabled are allowed to park in a parent and child space . The reverse is not true . P/c spaces are a courtesy only , shops don’t have to provide them at all if they don’t want to . They do have to provide blue badge spaces for the use of DISABLED people.

P&C parking spots are such a life saver for parents - not for the convenience, but for the safety of the kids.

I have used them depending on how my kids were doing that day and how much energy I had patience I had left.
Having a kid who loves to run to the parking lot and he/she is too young to understand the danger of cars - it is a situation that parents deal with everyday

The lack of empathy in some posters is very discouraging.

I also have a disability parking permit and I respect the rules of the parking spots - parents with kids, parents with infants, pregnant women, veteran parking, 30 min parking, electric cars, etc- they exist for a reason and their needs do not trump mine.

That young woman was somebody's daughter - what would you think if she was yours?

If she was my daughter I'd be ashamed of her behaviour.
I'd also be eternally grateful that she was able to get out and about.

It is very difficult to get issued with a blue badge where I live, I think it might vary across different local authorities. Despite a supporting letter from my GP, my initial application was turned down and I had to go for an assessment - ironically at an office block in town with no parking! The first thing I had to do was go for a walk outside with the assessor. We set off, me using two walking sticks as both my knees are affected by arthritis, with the assessor asking me questions about my walking ability as we went. Fortunately she realised that I was struggling and out of breath very soon so she stopped and we went back to her office. There I was asked loads of questions about what I could and could not do while she input my answers into her computer. At the end, the scores were added up and I scored highly enough to be awarded a badge for three years when I have to reapply.

I am sure in other patty’s of the country the process is different, had I been able to walk any distance, my application would have been turned down. There was a total disregard of the new categories for hidden disabilities. I wonder if it’s so difficult near me because we have an elderly population so disabled car parking spaces are in high demand?

Even with a badge, I cannot easily go shopping as I cannot always walk from the space to the shop door let alone walk around the shop. I think I need to consider borrowing one of the stores mobility scooters but I’m not mentally ready to do that yet. I wasn’t aware that I could use parent and child spaces, I need to think about that, I don’t think I’d like any confrontations!

I mainly use my blue badge to allow me to pop out to small local shops and park on single yellow lines or other restricted places. But I have never parked on double yellow lines, far too scared to break that law!

I just hope I get mine renewed in November this year, I won’t have had either of my knees replaced by then.

That does sound a hard process.
I'm sure it is fairly simple here, as everyone over about 60 seems to have one, whether their mobility is bad or not.

MissAdventure

That does sound a hard process.
I'm sure it is fairly simple here, as everyone over about 60 seems to have one, whether their mobility is bad or not.

Where do you live? My LA is Stockport but I live just on the edge of Cheshire in Bramhall. I used to live in Solihull, West Midlands where it seemed to be easier to get a badge, like you said, most older people had one.

I'm in Essex.
3 people immediately spring to mind who have a blue badge, as well as a bus pass.
I'll just say I know all three well, and have done for years, and I am surprised they qualify.

Miss A

Then the issue is that they are given too freely?

Who knows what happened for this person to get so mad, who was there to park first, if p&c spots are taken routinely by disability cars, had a hard day, etc...

Frankly, who cares?
It's a shop, not a branch of the samaritans.

As for the badges, I couldn't really say they're given too freely.
Perhaps we have more sympathetic assessors, but I have never known someone have to demonstrate what they can/can't do.

It matters because if too many blue passes are given unnecessarilyband they take over other parking spots - I can see it may annoy people, like perhaps the young mother in this case

Yes very possibly that was the case.
People often comment that where I live is a hotbed of mobility scooters, and they're not far wrong.

I have an 'invisible disability' and am frequently pulled up by older drivers literally ranting that at my age I can't be that disabled...

2ND week in December I met my daughter at a local Tesco superstore, which has disabled spaces but further from the store than the P&C spaces; and much fewer of them. My daughter got the last space with DGS. It was about 8ft from the door and one of over 30 such spaces.

There wasn't any type of parking for me apart from a tiny space in a rounded corner spot, which I had to take. It was as far as it was possible to get and still be in their carpark.

It took me 20 minutes to park, get across the parking to the door, while my daughter sat waiting snug in her car. As I walked down the disabled row of 12 BB spaces, I was amazed to see 7 cars, with no BB's, but baby on board stickers and baby seats.

I went indoors, joined the queue for Customer Service and complained. The girl basically said, she understood the problem of parking FOR PARENTS and would do nothing. I was livid, asked for the Duty Manager. He duly appeared, apologised, but pointed out 'that superstores were designed more for families, so he wouldn't enforce disabled regulations'.

My daughter asked if that meant he considered her budget shop more important than my probably more luxurious one? He blustered but had painted himself into a corner. My daughter then said she didn't want to shop if that was their ethos, asked for my Tesco club card, her own, handed them over and stated that we wouldn't shop there again. We left, she drove me to my car and we went to Sainsbury- where we both parked with relative ease. We've shopped there ever since.

I was screamed at by an older security guard once for parking in a parent and child bay while heavily pregnant and having severe hip issues.

I had parked there out of habit as I usually had children with me.

"people like you ruin it for everyone"

"you aren't even pregnant"

It was awful. I walked past him the next week with my pram and said "oh look, I was pregnant"

Anyway there is no excuse to yell at people

But there is no excuse to take a parking bay that isn't yours either.

Doesn't matter if having children is a choice

Doesn't matter if how many children you have is a choice

Doesn't matter if parent bays are not law

They allow people to get their children in and out of the car safely. That is why they are there

If you haven't come back and found you can't get your baby and small children into the car seat because there is no room to do so then you probably wouldn't understand what a bad situation that can be

So why did you park in a child/parent bay when you didn't have a child with you?
Are you excused from being one of those people who doesnt understand?
Was it because of your severe hip problems?

Blue badges really aren't that easy to get. You have to qualify for higher rate DLA/PIP or AA and you also have to have supporting evidence in our local authority, even in the case of terminal illness.

Has anybody tried lifting a heavy baby out of a car seat with reduced space. It’s a terrible lift…can’t keep back straight,twisting motion. Tried to get a double buggy near a car?? Not excusing rudeness, never right or necessary at any time, but without knowing full story can never judge. You sure need the space though.

No, nobody ever lifted a baby before parent spaces..

MissAdventure

So why did you park in a child/parent bay when you didn't have a child with you?
Are you excused from being one of those people who doesnt understand?
Was it because of your severe hip problems?

I already explained, out of habit.

I did ask if I could stay as I was heavily pregnant and struggling to get in an out of the car or walk but he continued to yell... As I moved it

I complained for the yelling and was told clearly, I had a baby on my person and could park there anyway. I didn't, it had been an hiest mistake