This really pisses me off, but my husband says "stop moaning" whenever i comment on it.
I live about five minutes walk from a Tesco store, and for a big shop we take the car, and some of the 8 Parent&Child spaces are more often than not taken up by either parents with children over the 5 years stated the spaces are dedicated for, single people or couples minus children, elderly people (even thought there are disabled and other spaces nearby) and vans, 4x4's and anyone else who doesnt care where they park. :evil:
I found this really annoying when by baby was in his car seat, but find it no easier now he's a year.
We need the room to get in to lift them out/buckle them up, and/or take out car seats/buggies etc.
I too have complained to Customer Services to no avail and am glad to hear ASDA are picking up on the matter.
I never park in the P&Ch space if my baby is not with me, nor do i take up a disabled space if no P&Ch spaces are avaliable for us-mind you, if i did, something would get done about it!!
I hope something gets done to help all of us parents

I have printed off a load of the Prima Baby SOS posters, and I always carry them with me and put them on offenders cars. Im renowned in my family for being a bit of a hot-head and always ready to challenge people who abuse the p&c spaces. I was getting into my car recently at the local Sommerfield (who are one of the worst I know for not enforcing the spaces!!!!) and found a note on my windscreen saying that I was in a 'non-parent parking space' and to phone a number! I phoned the number and started to rant about how normal spaces were for anyone and that the p&c spaces were the ones being misused. The person on the other end was arguing back at fist, then burst out laughing. It was my nephew!! He knows about my 'campaign', had spotted my car, and decided to wind me up!! (it worked too!! )

I wonder if the supermarkets started putting the spaces further away from the stores, whether people would still abuse them?

Its horrendous people who dont have babies/toddlers use the parking spaces! I get so annoyed, you dont realise how much room you need until you have a child of your own! I think you should be given a car badge to park in them just like disabled spaces! I get parent and child parking rage now and tell people to move if I see them parking in a parent and child space without a child:x

Add me to the list!
I have a 7month old and the spaces are invaluble when getting my baby in when he's in his carrier car seat...why don't supermarkets make some of these spaces further away from the store? I don't mind walking a bit further, all I care about is having enough space to open my car door wide enough.
x

I'm pleased to read the news all Asda stores are going to patrol parent and baby spaces and fine the lazy people who park there! I'll be interested to see if it works in one of the stores which I used to use though (Carcroft Doncaster) as I've had upteen rows with offenders, managers and have written to head office several times, only to be told its the 'Store greeters' job, but he obviously didn't think this was the case! I even complained as I'd seen staff parking in there (and they presumably would be taking up that space for their entire shift!!!) when the staff car park had building work in it! So things can only get better. I shop at Tesco now where I have a permit or get my shopping delivered! It always seems to be a certain type of person (obviously selfish!) overweight middleaged women or younger guys who don't want to scratch their cars (who does???)
I have tried to shame everyone I see into moving, much to my OH's disgust (and fear for my safety) but the more people who do it, the better, maybe the message will get through!
Sorry for the rant, but I feel better now, baby no 2 due anyday, so its obviously the hormones!

I think if the spaces were further away from the door then people wouldnt use them so much if they didnt really need them. Personally, I wouldnt care if they were furthest away from the door as long as I could get one. As long as I had room to open my car doors fully, get car seat and 3 kids in and out and open my boot to get pram in/out then I would be happy to park further away from the door. I think it is too tempting for lazy people as the spaces are always so close to the main entrance.

Like disabled spaces - the car must display a badge/pass - then why not get customers with babies/toddlers - or pregnant as big bumps need room to get in and out too! - to apply for a permit - it may be easier to police then.

xxx

I get so aggrevated when people who have no children or even just have an empty car seat use the parent child spaces. I am seven months pregnant and have a two and half year old. It is difficult enough trying to get myself and my bump out of the car without struggling to wrestle my toddler through a narrow gap as well. If i don't have my daughter with me i use a different space as I am aware of the inconvenience it causes so why don't others have the same mentality.

on our local news it said Asda Leeds were the only store to do the patrolling thing??? I have e mailed Asda to ask if its all stores as reported on your web site, but haven't heard anything yet! And couldn't agree more re people using spaces when haven't got their children with them, they should know better! I am 9 months pregnant with a 19 month old and shopping is something I now avoid like the plague!

This really annoys me and I have been known to have arguments in the middle of the car park with inconsiderate people using the Parent & Child/Disabled Spaces who are basically lazy and obviously shrink if they get wet in the rain.

My son is 8 years old and I dont use the Parent & Child spaces as I know how valuable they are to those with young babies. When my second child is born (within the next four weeks) I will restart using them but only if the baby is with me.

I think this petition should be directed at all Car Parks where there are designated Parent & Child and Disabled Spaces and not just Supermarkets. Getting all the large supermarkets to join Asda in this petition would be so advantageous too.

people who use parent and baby spaces are bloody selfish.
i have 3 children all who need their seatblets doing for them and when its a tight fit to open the car door its awful. i dont think ive been able to find an empty space for at least two weeks and ive seen childless people use the spaces provided for us. i must say they do get an ear bashing off me when i do catch them ggrrrrr!!! these spaces are for people with children or expectant mums how hard is that to understand????????????

count me in. People seen to think that parents with children r 2 lazy to walk. However, it not about that. Its about safety and needing the extra space 2 open car doors. Only exception should be pregnant ladies which I think is accepted anyway and disabled badge holders if there are no available disabled spaces.

count me in. People seen to think that parents with children r 2 lazy to walk. However, it not about that. Its about safety and needing the extra space 2 open car doors. Only exception should be pregnant ladies which I think is accepted anyway and disabled badge holders if there are no available disabled spaces.

Well done Asda! lets hope the other shops follow suit...

I now always have some of the Prima Baby / Baby Expert leaflets with me that I have printed out from this website...as it really makes my blood boil when having had to park far away and squeeze in out of a normal space I then walk past somebody getting out of their car who shouldn't be parked there.

I will happily take them to task on this but if they're not there then at least I can pop the bright yellow leaflet (shame them!) on their windscreen!

We should keep 'bumping' this on to the home page to get more sign ups and help drive the awareness - if we were issued with car badges (like disability badges) it would certainly make all those ignorant, selfish people think twice!

Tesco do do badges but I don't think anyone pays attention to them.

I hate it when pepole park in the spaces, it is so annoying especially when there are other spaces availabe.
my friend has just recently had a baby and was waiting to park in a parent space, and while waiting for the other car to reverse out some woman on her own tried to get in the space before her, she actually got out of the car and had an argument with them, somethingi would love to do but never would

Totally back this campaign, have 3 kids aged 4, 2, and 6 months, and besides requiring more space to get in and out of car, it is the SAFETY element of P&C spaces which to me is most important. We can't be doing with having to cross over busy car parks with our kids, we need to be near pavements near shopfronts. Like others in this thread I don't mind a good walk, I just want a safe walk, so I too wouldn't mind it if the spaces weren't right at the front door. Just give us more spaces, and who on earth needs all those loads of disabled spaces that always lie empty?? I would never park in a disabled space as I am not disabled but I must say I was sorely tempted when preg with my third, having to cart two little people past loads of cars with no carseats in them and often men on their own reading newspapers all taking up P&C spaces. Also - last point! - I think it would be a gd idea to rename spaces PARENT AND PRAM spaces as this underlines that it is for parents of young kids, some people use the spaces for their 'children' of 14 / 15 etc! grrrrrr!!! gonna print off the Save our Spaces leaflet and start using it!
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[Modified by: roryadamlucy on January 21, 2008 02:01 AM]

Sign me up!! I get SO infuriated by the ignorant, rude, lazy, disrespectful chumps who park in these spaces without any regard for those of us who actually need them.

I had a small victory last week at Sainsbury's when I reported a van driver who not only cut my up and 'stole' the space I was heading for by driving the wrong way up the lane and swerving in front of me but then sat there and got his packed lunch out!! He was laughing on the other side of his face when I reported him to Sainsbury's Customer Services. Two staff went over and asked him to move, which he did, saying he didn't realise it was a Parent and Child parking space....er hello...???...how can you miss the big purple signs stating the above, the hatched spaces either side of your vehicle AND the parent and pushcair painted on the space itself??? But of course he didn't know!!!!

As you can tell I am totally in support of this campaign, bring it on!!!!!

Aggggggrrrrhhhhh. If there is one thing which gets me going it's non-parents parking in parent and child spaces. In a shopping centre just before Christmas I was waiting patiently for another parent to put their baby and pram in to their car so that I could have the space. As they reversed out someone else pulled in....2 women out for a shopping trip. When I expained I'd been waiting AND I have a baby they just told me to f off. Nice.
Supermarkets are the worse. People abuse the spaces because they are larger and closer to the store. Fab to hear Asda are trying to combat the problem.
If anyone can tell me where to get the Prima poster that would be great. I'm happy to leave a few on chosen windscreens!

definately sign me up too
i quite often have a go at people who abuse these spaces, i especially remember when my son was 3weeks old, he was born with a hole in his heart plus a broken collar bone, there was somebody displaying a blue badge just sitting in their car reading a newspaper in a p/c space when i challenged him he replied my wife uses a motorized wheel chair, "MOTORIZED" i saw red, there were 10 spaces 10 feet behind him, it was pouring with rain, the baby carrier is too big for the trolley so i had to carry him, not that he was heavy just the fact of him being poorly, which i explained to this man he didn't even flinch, i went into customer services and they didn't do a thing, however the amount of people who must have overheard me, and then walked past this man shaking their heads hopefully had some effect. but i wonder what it will take to protect these spaces, after all its more about safety, does it take somebody's child to get injured to underline the importance of these spaces............ i truely hope not, all supermarkets should follow asda.

But to add praise where its due, there is a rather man at one of our carparks in town, who had 20 disabled spaces turned into p/c spaces, which he allocates, the odd person without children do slip the net, he said it was a waste having that many disabled spaces when they weren't being used... good on him i say :)

I am 35 weeks pregnant with my second and have a 14month old little girl as well. I get very irate at people pinching the car parking spaces as well. I tend to sit and glare at them but it doesn't work either. Most annoying is watching someone pinch the very last P&C parking space without a child just as you get there and then you have to drive around waiting for one to become clear. Unfortunately on this pregnancy I am suffering with really bad SPD so walking is harder!! One day I saw an eldery gentleman with a disabled badge take the last P&C space but luckily a disabled place became available so I thought well why not?
I have printed some of the leaflets so one day whilst driving around and around waiting for a space a couple in their sporty Clio pulled into a P&C space with no children. I did the usual glare and when they had gone into the Supermarket I put a leaflet on their car.
When I returned the leaflet was stuffed back under my windscreen with "Get a Life Snitch!" written on it. Charming!