my mum parks in the diabled spot at somerfeild but thats when its closed and shes picking me up but what ticks me off is at our store u put a pound in a trolly but the babY and diabled ones are free wehat pisses me off is you get perfectly able people nicking them and the u get some person in weel chair or a woman stuggling with a bay and they have no suitable trolly so now because of this customer now have to ask its not right

In my opinion the morons who park in disabled and child spaces are the worst kind of low life...they have no thought whatsoever for the disabled and parents and only think of themselves.It is about time that wheel clamping and car removal is brought in and the car put in the crusher.
I am severly disabled and many times I have been unable to park because some low life has dumped their banger in a disabled space with no disabled badge on show.My comments also apply to the specimens who use a disabled badge belonging to a disabled person...may their cars break down in the fast lane of the motorway!!!!!!!!!

So I am a liberal do gooder just because I want my children kept safe and they mean more to me than a car. In my books that makes me a parent, not some liberal do gooder

Since when is complaining about the abuse of an act of consideration being a liberal do-gooder?

And you still haven't told us what you drive. From what you said on previous posts, it's not expensive, but you've spent a lot of money to 'keep it in good nick', it's either a classic, or more likely given your previous motor, a pimped up hot hatch.
Last edited by marknotgeorge : 29-03-2005 at 10:51

Of course the 'real problem' is that 'ordinary parking spaces are no longer large enough to allow parants and children out of a car without bashing three coats of paint off the car next to you.

I was a child once and 'when I were a lad' there was no such things as 'parent and child' parking spaces, and for many years I was able to get our of cars without damaging the next vehicle and it was not that difficult. Whereas today I struggle to open my car door sometimes in parking spaces, it certainly is rarely possible without touching the car next to mine.

To me it is obvious that those responsible have gradually eroded the size of parking spaces in order to cram more in the limited area, until they have been caught out and now as a special service to our family customers we provide specially enlarged and marked bays for the customers with children, so they can enjoy their experience at (insert shop name here). Its another b****y con.

Oh gawd, I'm old, moaning about the good old days again......

Yes this is part of the problem. The other thing to bear in mind is that children are now (well should be anyway), straped into car seats. This means that parents need to be able to reach into the car to unstrap them. Before this parents could just hold the door open, ensuring it doesnt hit the car next to it.
I dont have a problem with not parking in parent and child spaces, unless the reason I cant is that they are full of people without children. I wont park in them when the children are not with me.

You're dead right Hamlet. I was at my local college the other day, I pulled into a space and despite parking straight and central between the two cars either side, there wasn't enough room to open the door and squeeze out of the gap! So assuming that the others weren't central in their bays, I drove off to find another space - only to find exactly the same problem when the cars either side were parked centrally in their bays! In the end, I went to the other side of the car park where there were no cars so I wouldn't have to worry about coming back to dents in my doors.

One thing about the width of parking places is that people with children tend to own four door cars whereas many people without children, own *two* door cars which need more space to get the the door open.

If there is a pinch then I try and park passenger door close to passenger door so as to give as much access to the driver's doors as possible.

True. I personally have a 2 door car which I use if I only have 2-4 of the children with me. I wouldn't have this through choice, but it is a company car and preferable to taking the 7 seater we have out when I dont need to. I only use the larger car when we are all going out and tbh we dont often all go out to the supermarket. I tend to go either when Mr AS1 is at work and the older three are at school or when Mr AS1 is at home to look after the children.
Therefore, I usually have 2 children, both still in car seats to get out of the back of a two door car.

I parked in a child and parent space at 1am in the morning at my local ASDA, to be honest i was quite tired and hadn't really noticed. There were only about 3 cars parked in the whole of the place anyway.

Anyway a very unfriendly woman came across and gave me a right lecture about parking in this space. (And no before you ask she wasn't pissed, she was dead serious)

Being upset at being awoken from my tired state i preceeded to give her a lecture on child obesity and suggested that they move the child and parent spots to the other end of the car park, so that the children are could get more exercise.

I also thanked her for pointing out to me the Child and Parent spaces, and reassured her i would not do it again in the future.

You're quite right, the stores have reduced the parking space size. At my local Sainsburys, they resurfed the car park and made the spacers smaller!

There was a new poster up saying the car park was now LARGER! I looked and thought... well the land space is exactally the same, HOW?! So I asked at customer services... reply: We've made the spaces smaller!!! Each row can down accomodate 2 EXTRA cars!

Nice one Sainsburys... now where are those lovely BIG parent and child spaces...!!!

I am surprised the silly bit*h didn't give you an ear bashing on shopping with children at 1am!

Now there is an instance! Would anyone say anything if you saw someone at 1am in a P&C space with a RUG RAT?

if you cant tell the difference between mother and baby and disabled spaces you are a fool we are talking about mother and baby and not disabled spaces

should have told her to go **** herself and point out that kids should be in bed at the time you went in the shop

but you are a liberal

How do you know they don't need them? Many people with bad backs struggle with the normal ones, and anyone with arthritis in the hands will find the trolley-pound interchange impossible. Some people are not bright enough or strong enough to work the mechanism. Some simply don't have a pound to put in it.
Perhaps if we all try to be tolerant of each others' small failings??

Am I?
Oh thank you for telling me what I am and am not. Get it right next time though

I park as far away from the supermarket as possible. I need the exercise. It saves people laughing their heads off at my ineptitued with regards to parking between white lines. I'm no good at parking at the best of times. I couldn't care less if my car gets dented or scratched by others. It's a brand new car - but it is only a car - a mode of transport. I'm not related to it.

Even on the very rare occasion I do have a child with me I still park on the other side of the moon. As I said I'm useless at parking.

As for disabled bays. I hope I never need to use them. They should definitely be used only by those who really can't manage to walk any type of distance. Period.

Life is too short to argue the toss with a mother who has 3 or 4 toddlers to look after. That's a job that would strain my last nerve, so I would not ever think of parking in one of those spots. One screamimg toddler is enough for me - so I can't imagine the stress 3 or 4 would cause.

Hey been there done that when we finally had enough of the screaming and needed somewhere to drive to in order to save our sanity and try and get the child in question to sleep.

Although to be fair more often than not I walked to the all night supermarket as DH couldn't be woken.....

Sally

As long as there is a safe path from the spaces to the shop I shouldn't think many people would really care. I really do value the fact that in the majority of the supermarkets we go to the P&C spaces have somewhere safe to put the trolley whilst I unload the children or for the children when I am unloading them.

Although I agree probably not even I would have taken you on at 1am

Sally.

I have to admit to regularly parking in the Disabled Spaces. I like the extra space around the vehicle which allows me to open my door fully and get out without performing a contortionist act or needing to be Harry Houdini reincarnated. Don't supermarkets realise the average car is getting larger? So why do they make the parking spaces continually smaller.

I also have received a lot of damage to my car parking in the Regular Joe spaces, so never again. The supermarkets won't be responsible for the safety of your vehicle or provide any compensation for damage incurred using their facility so bollocks to them now I'll park my car in the safest spot.

I do occasionally get people question me as to why I am parked in a Disabled Space, usally as soon as I get out the vehicle. I just ignore them and walk away with a limp, until safely inside then drop the act.

I do happen to have a disabled mother with a badge who regularly shops with me so the majority of the time everything is legal and above board. I just tend to leave the badge in the car all the time as it comes in quite handy when needing to run errands and not have to waste time looking for a carpark.

But it's not bollocks to the supermarkets is it? It's bollocks to the disabled, especially if you've taken the last disabled space. What if a person uses a wheelchair and can't open the car door far enough to get the wheelchair out? What are they supposed to do?

Oh, I know. They can go home and try again later when you've run your errand. It's not as though their time is as valuable as yours.

..and what about someone like me, who needs crutches, and can't bend my left leg at all, so can't get out of the car in a normal place thanks to lack of room to get the door open enough for me to manouver my way out.

How am I supposed to get out thanks to cretins like you, who can't be bothered to walk the extra few yards?


I hope she gets her badge revoked due to your pathetic abuse of the system.


I repeat my earlier post when I say people like you make me sick.

you telling me your not and you got a kiddie in new tonys pro euro shit hole

Originally Posted by AS1
So I am a liberal do gooder just because I want my children kept safe and they mean more to me than a car. In my books that makes me a parent, not some liberal do gooder



well i think if you say that to other people that your kid is worth more than their car i think you will have an argument there, i dont think people give a rats arse about your kids over their property mate