pull ur head out ur ass matty, one day, if ur ever lucky enough to have kids, then you'll appreciate how annoying it is when some tosser or pair of tossers if its a couple park in a bay for parents and children when they have no kids or none with them...

The majority of the time we have to take kids with us as we have no other option, and why the hell should we go at less busy times.. wot we supposed to do, wait til after the kids have gone to bed and leave them alone in the house sleepin....its only inconsiderate 'singles' and childless couples with ridiculous pig headed opinions like this... And why should we park at the far end of the car park.... so it makes life easier for the people who think they're above everyone else... if i go shopping on my own then i park in a normal space, not a child one....

its called consideration for other people,

rant over

more of mattys word of wisdom on the parent/child parking spaces......when photographed in a p&c bay at a supermarket..





if u enjoy shopping when its nice and quiet, then u go in the middle of the night and let us normal people with families shop at decent hours..

I remember a time when it was just parking lol.

And when the Disabled at First and then the Child Parent parking
came along i was well miffed as i had to park and walk further.
But that was so long ago now.

Now i'm happy to do the extra walk.
I do think there a good idea, and they must be a great help
to parents.

I remember this topic



Clicky

All i would say is i don't mind them any more.
I'm seeing parts of car parks i didn't know existed.

People will always abuse them (Parking Spaces )and think there better than
everyone else, as we have seen numerous times on TV.

And we see and hear it on these forums too mark...

er hate to be the one to point out..thats a CSI vehicle..not an operational Police vehicle...still doesnt excuse it though parking in a disabled bay...

LOL

i have a few random moments where i park where i want, some times over several spaces (but only when no-ones about). 90% of the time i do consider others and park in correct spaces. if i'm just poping in for a minute or if i can't be arse walking, then the nearest to the door is stu's space, no argument........

Lol

I dont give a toss what people think, parents get everything nowadays, if you dont have kids, you are considered by the labour government to be somehow a second class citizen and a non-priority in the scheme of things.

I have the same right to park outside a shop as a person with kids does, as I say, the disabled dont have a choice, they have a difficult time without asking for it... jeeze parents nowadays, WTF did you do before parent and child spaces, what do you do when they are full (bearing in mind there arnt many of em anyway), you do the same as the 80% of people who have kids and dont manage to get in one, or what people did before these spaces existed, and you just effin get on with it.

Why do parents think that because they have kids, they somehow deserve special treatment, why do they think that they are above everyone else and everyone who doesnt have kids should make way for them.

Dont you go shopping if there arnt any parent and child parking spaces available Jonah, do you honestly just drive home and wait till there are... because what do you do in a normal space, you just get on with it, its never bothered you before they started parent and child spaces, its shouldnt be a hassle now, or am I missing something, has modern day shopping suddenly become too hard on the molly coddled and nanny statified parents?

Im not having a go at you directly, I just dont see why parents should have preference over anyone else. I know people who are disabled but not registered as such (thanks to Labours pathetic disability system), and have difficulty sometimes using car parks, but they dont get any preferential treatment, they just get on with life and park a bit further away where the car park has more space.

BTW, I dont go out of my way to park in Parent and Child spaces, more often then not I cba with the mad rush at my local Tesco's (Bidston), so to avoid the "dogfight" for spaces nearest the Tesco, I just park down the bottom of the car park and walk up instead.

But if I spot a parent and child space not being used, I dont think twice about using it.

I reguarly look after my 4 yr old niece and sometimes a friends 1yr old lad, and often go to Tesco with them (when I have my car I visit Tesco most days). And very rarely get in a parent and child space, but I dont have any problems using a normal space, or parking further away...

This aint about parents getting everything. Its about a business who wants to make a profit. They are concerntrating on there main consumers and the main consumers are people with a family (mums etc). Have a look at the adverts on supermarkets they are all aimed at family's with kids.

Take a look at this one from asda for example:
http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=20790

Sharon Osbourne clearly says:
"can make a difference to the tough old world of being a mum"

How much do you spend Matty in Tesco? (my guess £20-£30)
I would say family's spend around £70-£100+

At the end of the day they have to feed to kids and businesses want their money!

Easy access for parents mean better quality service and better quality service means recommendations and recommendations means more customers.

I mean at the asda in brombourough ther aint a problem, becuase all the disabled, parent and child spaces are on the far right at the very front and on the far left is the ordinary spaces also at the front. so its both equal

I generally tend to do my shopping a bit later at night, the store is generally quieter, and If parents have their kids out at the time I go shopping, they have more to worry about than me parking in one of their bays

Like Pomp said though, its aimed at where the supermarkets get their customers, and making parking closer, easier access bays attract the customers with childeren and make it easier. If I do go shopping earlier it common courtesy not to use them - I know if I had kids, Id appreciate being able to use those spaces...

If nothing else, it helps stop car park rash from doors being opened on your car..

Wow Pomp Really good reply.
Yeh i would agree with you 100% on that one.

Its the Stores that make these places,
and if i was a parent i would be glad that those spaces
were available. It can even make the difference to where
some mums and dads shop.

I don't use them, because i keep thinking Watch Dog
will jump out the bushes or North West Tonight on another Drive lol


I have a feeling you will be in the minority with that statement.
I don't know which families you know but the families i know don't think there above the rest at all.
Nor do they think they deserve special treatment either.
As pomp says its the stores that offer the service for cars with children.

a lot of people dont give a toss wot u think either matt, but ur opinion is forced on us time and again.. Parents dont get everything matt, far from it, ur more likely to get more if ur an immigrant, but thats not the issue...Yeh u are just as entitled to park outside a shop as anyone else, even parents, but parent spaces are there to make life and shopping that little bit easier for parents who have to take the kids with them to shop...they're not out to persecute childless people at all, they just realise that its more difficult for us to shop and that we need a bit more space to get kids in and out the car..before these spaces existed, i had no problem because i never had kids... how old do u think iam. i dont think i deserve special treatment or i am above eveyone else, its about consideration, which is something u dont seem to have for anyone else, yet u expect it from others. If there are no spaces then i will park anywhere,not drive home and wait, but i'll try and get as close as i can to make things easier than pushing a full trolley and my kids across a busy car park where idiots drive round like a race track.. its just aboutr consideration matt

I pointed the fact that its the supermarkets wanting more custom from families earlier on I do believe:


Anyone who honestly thinks the supermarkets do anything to help people needs their heads testing lol, as they are 100% switched on to getting every last penny out of you (not just Tesco or Asda either, they are all the same).

As ive said, I dont go out of my way to park in a p+c space (although I know a lot people that do, simply because they wont walk), and its very rare I actually do, I prefer to park further away and walk the distance to avoid the dogfight for spaces and waiting around for people at the front of car parks, but if I happen to see one empty I will use it.

And to be honest and fair to kids, its not actually the kids that I see walking across the car park lanes in front of traffic, its usually adults lol.

If the supermarkets really cared that much, they would have pathways going along the supermark, which to an extent they do, but people prefer to use the road a lot of the time, and also they dont have too many pathways as that means less spaces.

In Tesco in Bidston for instance, when I park in the second car park or the overflow, I get the luxury of s LOT more space, easier access to spaces, no dogfight, and a pathway that leads all the way into Tesco, which diminshes the argument for the need and help of p+c spaces. Families wont use that out of a choice however (they will if they are forced to, ie the car park is jam packed), I assume because its a bit further to walk, so I think there are two sides to this story and I believe that p+c spaces arnt the only option for families to have an "easier" and more pleasent shop, and are put there to make supermarkets look "parent and child" friendly to get more custom.

It must be Tesco's becuase i have jst been to brombourough Asda just then and had a front row parking
and it aint parents and child space or disabled.

Thing is to get to the Asda takes me 5-7min and urs only 2min from where you live so you should
be made up.

so now i'm thick too and need my head examining... nice.....maybe, just maybe supermarkets do actually care about there shoppers as if they didnt, they wouldnt have a business, and maybe if they made all spaces just that little bit wider then the battle for the p&c spaces wouldnt be as bad as it is now...

I agree with that matey

But supermarkets only see £££ signs, and more spaces means they can handle more shoppers and this means more revenue/profit, so they cram in as many as they can.

As a Father of 2 daugthers, both under 2, I dont care where the p&c space is postioned within the carpark, I just like to benefit from the wider space, as I have to fully open my door to take out the baby carrier, and then again to fasten it back in safely and securely, sure, I can do this in a normal space with a little struggling.

So Matty take this scenerio, all p&c spaces were removed and only Disabled and normal spaces remain, You park in a normal space and go about your shopping, a parent parks next to you, again in a normal sized space and struggles removing the baby carrier whilst only able to open the door to half capicity, in the struggle the car door is swung fully open colliding with the side of your car and damaging the paint, oopsy, would you be happy then, also private property so your insurance or their insurance doesnt cover it.

I never go shopping by myself with the babies, so if I cant get a p&c space, I will drop the mrs off with the kids near the door and then go and park up anywhere. or she will get out and get the babies out before I squeeze into a space, holding traffic up as we do.

my opinion is that Disabled spaces should be closest to the shop, then normal spaces, then wider p&c spaces. If the p&c spaces are the furthest away only people that need the extra width would use them.

I also think parents with kids that can strap themselves in shouldnt use them.

That sounds pretty fair to me, and very true that if they were further away, people who shouldnt use them, wouldnt use them, and wouldnt feel like they are not getting equal treatment just because they dont have kids.

Also, the issue of when a person needs one and when a person doesnt is a bit touch and go, as ye pointed out, as soon as a kid can strap themselves in, they shouldnt really be using them, but many parents dont really care and just continue to anyway.

Along with the p+c spaces being further away from the store, many supermarkets would have to improve access paths to the store itself, when they exist, they are usually very low quality

I think the Tesco in Bidston could quite easily turn the overflow into a p+c only car park, nobody who doesnt have kids would park there through choice, and the overflow is always very empty anyway, with maybe 1 or 2 cars parked in each half at most times, and a direct path with shelter from the car park right the way to the store.

I know if I had kids, I would feel much safer getting them out of the car in the overflow car park, then the main car parks, as they are full of traffic, kid drops something and runs out to get it and gets hit by a car is always a very real possibility, in the overflow it doesnt have tons of traffic or morons treating it like a race track...

Also, by designating a whole section of a car park to p+c, they could realistically shut the car park off to people who dont carry p+c permits, by means of an automated system, or even a manual system.

or like what already been posted, make all spaces wider.

some really good point been made here, nice to sit and read through it all !

thought you would be having trouble sitting.

.... only if it was on the fence!!

I think Waddi's hit the nail on the head here. Having childeren, he is perfectly qualified in making his statement in that parents appreciate a bigger space to open doors, regardless of where they are in the car park. I belive they are closer as it helps parents with smaller childeren as they dont have to go as far accross a potentialy dangerous car park.

Ultimatly, I think its quite selfish how some people cant appreciate their use.

IMHO the p&c area of a carpark is by far the most dangerous, as people will hang around waiting for a space, then when they see someone leaving or reverse lights coming on, they race for that space. especially TESCO in bidston, where its a one way system, they drive around the one way car park looking for a p&c space, and then see someone coming out of one in the rear view mirror, its then a race to get around the one way system and get to the space before someone else.

which was my point in the first place mate... thats y i thought this deserved its own topic..