Not Much of a Role Model

never EVER park in P&C spaces if you can avoid it - that is where the worst of society linger! I swear!

I drive a small car and once used the P&C space and got blocked in by a woman in a people carrier (literally she parked across the back of my car) and got out and started shouting and ranting at me about the spaces being for parents! She didn't even take the time to notice my DDs in my small car! she just went off on one it was scary, she demanded I present my children to her, now at this point she was blocking us in and shouting and there was no way I was exposing my children to that sort of behaviour so I refused to get my children out of the car (you could see the top of their car seats anyway if you looked) and it became quite scary.

I now always park further away, "normal" car park users are much more civilised than the un-official self appointed P&C police

Oh and FYI, the woman in the people carrier yelling and ranting and physically blocking me and my 2 small kids: 1 kid in her car! A tween!

I get cross when I see the disabled person staying in the car. Especially if it means I can't get a disabled space.[?.
It happens frequently. I need a wide space to get out of the cat and then have to get my scooter out with the hoist. It's such a palaver I very rarely visit a shop at all.
(Apart from the jewellery shops on the cruise liners)

Why do people do that? It also happens with P&C parking Galen - Mum or Dad, pops put and leaves the children in the back of the car -to beat each other to death.

If they're old enough to be left then they can be left in any old parking place. Same with disabled passengers who opt to stay in car.

I sympathise Galen, DH would not ever let me use his badge or a disabled space unless he is getting out of the car although a disabled solicitor friend assures me it is legal and would not breach the regs of blue badge parking.
Hoist by his own petard though one day when I parked a bit away from Waitrose in a regular space, and while I was out of the car he decided he needed to go to the loo so had to walk all the way there and back.

According to the CAB, it's against the rules to use your badge to park if you’re not planning to leave the car, and you can be fined up to £1,000.

And it's up to you to make sure anyone driving you or in the car with you knows the rules.

That's interesting Ana

That's how I understood the blue badge regulations

That's as I understand it Ana, although TBH I think the ones who do it probably know that too and do it anyway

It depends how long I am out of the car for. It's 50 miles to DDs and by then it's time we often need to stop for a quick pee. We often use a car park by a reservoir and at about 10am there are rarely any disabled drivers anywhere nearby. So we use those disabled spaces nearest to the toilets. I do not do it anywhere else.

Just as well we didn't then or we'd have been in breach of regs wouldn't we.

Perhaps you should put your friend straight, Daphne!

Ana - who is going to charge the £1000? - if it is on private land do supermarkets have the right to do that? I'm interested as I don't see how any fine could be enforced.

I was just quoting from the CAB website, Granarchist.

I really don't think parents of children who are perfectly capable of walking etc should use the parent and child anyway. Surely it should be for parents with prams/pushchairs and toddlers etc. Those who need the extra width to get babies in and out of child car seats. Once children are using proper seatbelts they are old enough to walk a few yards.

agree granarchist

IMO they don't need to be near the door, disabled spaces do

They DO need to be somewhere with a safe path to the door to keep small people safe, they do need bump space for getting in and out of cars, but they don't need to be right near the door and they're certainly not needed for older children who can learn to be sensible in car parks and are tall enough to be seen by reversing cars.

It's hilarous (except kinda not) that one of my local supermarkets actually has 2 P&C parking areas, one RIGHT by the door, and one away to the side but with a wide path to the entrance. The one to the side is almost almost empty while the P&C crazies in their people carriers practically play bumper-cars to get a space in the other P&C area near the door.

That's another reason why I avoid P&C (even when I had a new baby, actualy, ESPECIALLY when I had a new baby) - because the driving around P&C is so aggressive and sometimes downright dangerous.

As I said, P&C brings out the worst - avoid!

Do any other Gransnetters think, as I do, that this disgraceful scene would not have happened in the fifties and sixties? I wonder whether people these days take cues from the ghastly uncontrolled rantings we see on TV - Eastenders for example. It's all me, me, me and MY rights these days and kindness seems in short supply.

It's always good to correct misinformation Ana even with regulations which are rarely enforced.

Jaxie it's certainly a sign of the times.