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!

Sign me up!

I've got a 3 door car so it is even more difficult to negotiate getting the seat out and I am so fed up of circling the car park only to selfish childless idiots walking away from a space ahead of me.

My local Sainsbury's have at least started adding extra wide bays away from the front door for anyone to use. It doesn't seem to stop the parent & child spaces being abused but at least I can get the baby out and set the buggy up safely.

count me in!
my car is 3 door so oh is usually in the back so he struggles to get out..,not that that matters but getting baby out in car seat then sorting out pram etc would be much easier if i could ever get a parent and child space..but no the oldies nab them dont they!

Add me too, a woman in a 2 seater sports car sat & watched me struggle to get lo out of car whilst she st in a parent & child space waiting for someone, just to make it worse tesco only have 1 of those trolleys designed to take seats so had to use a normal trolley which car seat fills, where am i supposed to put my shopping??

That reminds me of when I was in a factory outlet centre car park and a middle aged man in a sports car parked it in a parent and child space. Seeing the car I loudly said to my hubby that I bet the driver of that car doesn't have children not realising he was walking behind us. I should have challenged him but thought its probably not worth getting into an argument although I did get cross when an elderly gentlemen stopped his car opposite the only available parent and child space blocking it. I waited patiently thinking he might move. However whilst waiting I was asked to move by someone wanting to get out of her space. At this point I saw red and on when the horn. Eventually he moved. If he was disable than why didn't he use one of the free disabled spaces?

[Modified by: deidre on January 24, 2008 10:41 PM]


[Modified by: deidre on January 24, 2008 10:42 PM]

I was pleased to hear about Asda but went to the Earley (Reading) store after it was introduced and can tell you that they weren't operating it and even worse I had a "discussion" with a woman who thought it was OK to park there so she could leave her dog in the car with the window open!!!!!! I reported her to the security guy who said they weren't doing anything until the following Monday, it was Saturday and 1 week after the so called rollout - wow that feels better!

After loads of issues at my local Sainsbury's (Bracknell) I flipped this week and spoke to the Deputy Manager. He assures me they are bringing in a fining system (similar to Asda, I wonder why!!!!) and that it will mean both parent/child and disabled bays are policed. Fingers crossed........ oh and one man wound me up so much I opened my smooth peanut butter, grabbed a handful and smeared it over his door handle!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I shouldn't but he told me I shouldn't have had a baby if it meant I couldn't get her in and out of the car:evil:!!!!!!!!!!!!!:x:x:x

Finally, I have posted a poll on Toluna to gauge people's opinions - take a look: http://www.toluna.com/polls/51191/Do_you_use_disabled/parent_spaces_but_neither_apply?

I will post the outcome once it is finished! Watch this space.

It 'drives' me crazy too, together with the people who block the pavements with their cars so you can't get a pushchair (or wheel chair) past. We need more parent and toddler spaces in all car parks and fines for the selfish people. Patrols of the car parks would be good, we can dream!

i think moms and dads should be able to use disabeled parkin like they r aloud to park in our spaces to make it easier for all us users!
as it goes for people without children or without a disability should be fined!

I never park in the P&C spaces if I don't have my daughter with me and never did before she came along. After complaining in my local Tesco I was told that if all the P&C spaces were taken I SHOULD park in the disabled spaces. I haven't thought of a decent P&C put down yet, but to those who use the disabled spaces just to get closer to the store, I usually ask them if it's a brain disability since they obviously can't read the signs!

i agree faithsmum my local asda r brill they are strict wiv people who take the parkin spaces for granted but people who use the disable and p & c places just because there lazy are out ov order my cousin is disabled and is in a wheel chair and when we all went out on a girly day this couple drove straight in2 a disabled place and there was nothing wrong wiv them and when we said we needed the place more then them they said we havent got a say and its not there problem!

sum people are so pig arrogent!

sam x x

Please include me in the parking petition.

All the best with the campaign, Denise

Like many a mom who has already signed this petition i have experienced abuse from people when i challenged them on using p+t spaces when its clear they have no child with them. The stores are not interested in monitoring who uses the spaces they just want to be seen as ticking the right boxes - yes we provide spaces for p+t. Why dont they have spaces for the over 60s, lazy good for nothings, we have a nice new car, and the other catoegories of people who think the world owes them a space nearer the door. Its time people old and young stopped thinking about themselves and realise exercise is good for them. Support the petition and hopefully society might only might be more understanding on what these spaces are there for - THE SAFETY OF OUR BABIES. Babies have to be in car seats and you need room to get one in and out!

I have emailed my local Sainsbury this week to complain as they have reduced the amount of p & c parking spaces. I also questioned them about how they manage them as so often people without children or with teenagers are parking in them. This is the reply I got

"Thank you for taking the time to email us. I am sorry that you are unhappy that the amount of parent and child parking spaces at our Holywood Exchange store. I can certainly understand how disappointing it must be that they have reduced since the refurbishment.

I have spoken with Gavin Plant, Duty Manager at the store. He has informed me that the perent and child spaces were reviewed before the development. They planning department decided to move them closer to the store to make them more convenient. However, this did mean that the amount would slightly reduce. I am therefore sorry you are unhappy with this decision.

I would also like to say how sorry I am that you have witnessed them being misused by other customers. We aim to make shopping at our stores as convenient and easy as possible for all of our customers. To an extent, we do rely on our customers understanding the problems faced by those customers with special needs. Some of our car parks are owned and managed by other organisations and so we do not have direct control over them. However, wherever possible we are putting further measures in place to reduce the unauthorised use of both parent and child parking bays and disabled parking bays.

It is not always easy to tell if our customers are wrongly parked in our parent and child bays, unless we see them leaving or arriving at their car without small children. However, if we believe that customers are misusing these bays our policy is to ask them to move their vehicle. If they refuse to do so, and the car park is managed or owned by us, we will issue the driver with a fine. Indeed, in 2007 we issued more than 5,500 penalty charge notices to customers misusing parent and child bays and disabled parking bays.

Following customer feedback we have started a 12 week trial to provide roaming car parking attendants on motorcycles. This trial will cover 22 stores within the M25 area. The attendants will issue ??????50 fines to drivers who misuse parent and child bays, or who park in disabled bays without showing a blue badge. If at the end of the 12 week period we see a reduction in the misuse of the bays we will consider rolling the scheme out to all our car parks that are in our control. "

All seems like a lot of waffle to me really, and the new parking spaces are NOT closer to the store. :roll:

fine ppl who use it who aint got kids

I think that when you have a baby you should get a permit for these spaces. Then if you don't show you parent child permit you should get clamped, that would soon put people off!

Supermarkets could easily do some sort of permit scheme along with there loyalty cards.

why is it always boy racers or big shot company cars who park in parent spaces. it always annoys me when i go out with my friend and her baby. i bet they'd moan like hell if their car wasw bashed in a normal space becaussse you've go the door wide open to get the baby out of the car seat. then of course you have to have the buggy somewhere near so that's a scratch in the paintwork. i'm all in favour of fining them and using the money for plush parent and child facilties in store. :\)

im pregnant with my first baby but for years have been looking at cars who park in the mother & baby spaces and clearly have no children. like the two seater sport cars! who are you kidding? i know there is no legal protection over these spaces like disabled but its common curtiosy! the shops do not have to put mother and baby spaces but they do, especially in supermarkets, but they know that mothers who shop do tend to have children with car seats and prams! but its ignorant drivers who feel they have as much right to take these spaces. what more can we do to prevent this? we need to make these spaces like the disabled ones.

Perhaps a good idea would be that all new parents b provided with some sort of badge or sticker when they leave hospital (or from their midwife if having a home birth) and then would have 2 display it in the windscreen when using a parent and child space. This could then b enforced in the same way as disabled badge holders only are allowed 2 park in disabled bays,and anyone parked in a p&c space with no badge on display should be automatically fined. Any thoughts? xxx

Really annoys me too, so much so i've set up a site to name and shame these idiots!

Take a photo of the offending vehicle with your phone and upload it on this site : http://www.parking-idiots.com/

http://www.parking-idiots.com/

Time to take at least some sort of action till the offenders/supermarkets take note.

I just checked your site out - good idea & maybe there should be a notice saying something like 'you've been snapped by parking-idiots.com!' that we could put on after taking the photo.

Re permits - Tesco gives these but I don't know why as they aren't monitored, I've displayed mine - fat lot of good it does though. At Sainsburys I gave some woman the evils for parking in the space when she had no kids - she had car seats but I made a point of looking for the kids...she looked a little scared but I am yet to ever vocalise to any of these offenders which is shocking as I have a right gob on me!
I'll be carrying my camera from now on!