Disabled parking bays

lisyloo

Just out of interest what kind of response do you get from people when you appraoch them?

Are they embarrased or are they rude and defensive?
Is it worthwhile approaching them?

I can just imagine some people either not caring less or being very rude.
In which case have you gained anything?

Is it worth approaching people?
Do some respond in a way which implies they might behave better in future or do you just get a mouthful of abuse for your troubles?

tight_wad_7

The idea of disabled & parent & child spaces does not bother me at all, although I am not sure the mix is right sometimes between the two.
What does incense me are non disabled people parking in disabled bays & people without young kids in their car parking in the parent & child spaces.
I usually report these people in store but generally the stores don't give a stuff. >:(

poppycat_3

My children are 8 and 6 so I don't feel justified in taking up the parent and child spaces at my local Sainsbury's. I am expecting my third child in August so then I will happily use those spaces if available.

When my kid were younger Sainsbury's reorganised their car park and they swapped the disabled spaces with the parent and child ones. Although they clearly marked the spaces, the parents had no trouble using the new spaces but the OAP's all seemed intent on using what had now become the Parent and Child spaces. This meant that all the parents steered clear of the new disabled spaces but the OAPs carried on using the spaces they had used before and so there were never any parent and child spaces.

I knew the main car park attendent quite well and i pointed this out to him one day, after trekking half a mile across the car park with 2 toddlers. He said it was a problem but it was perfectly acceptable for me to use a disabled space if there were no parent and child spaces left, due to the fact that the OAPs were pinching all the parent and child spaces.

So on my next visit i parked in an available disabled space, as the car park attendant had advised me to do and what happened? I got acosted by an elderly man who stopped short of whacking me over the head with his walking stick because i had parked in a disabled space. (there were LOTS of empty disabled spaces left) I politely told him what the car park attendant had told me to do but he was still really nasty. So after that i just went back to parking half a mile away.

COS

You say the attendent gave you permission so you were with in your rights and justified to park where he says.

I thought the idea of Parent with child places would be for ie: Buggies or children who are of the age where they cause restrictions upon the parent to shop.  

As for the old B , that is typical as I came across this many times whilst taking care an 8 year old in a body cast and disabled children whom don't appear to be disabled, I will say no more, just the thought of some of these arrogant old b's gets me insensed. Not to mention the times I open a shop door for one of them and get no thanks, where are peoples manners  ?

I think i'm drifting near to the Vent board >:(

Trix

Poppycat (and others with the same view)
Could I point out once again - my disabled child is only 6!

A lot of people keep refering to the holders of blue badges as OAP's. It could of being someone like my daughters space you took, NOT an inconsiderate OAP (although I'm sure they're not ALL like that).

I don't believe in the 'eye for an eye' method as it is the people who have done nothing wrong that end up suffering. Two wrongs DO NOT make a right!

COS

Trix

I'm in agreement with you

COS

So on my next visit i parked in an available disabled space, as the car park attendant had advised me to do and what happened? I got acosted by an elderly man who stopped short of whacking me over the head with his walking stick because i had parked in a disabled space. (there were LOTS of empty disabled spaces left) I politely told him what the car park attendant had told me to do but he was still really nasty. So after that i just went back to parking half a mile away

Since they have 24 hour shopping I think they should allocate the hours 3 to 5am so old b's like this can shop and then bar them for the other times.

Galstonian

My children are 8 and 6 so I don't feel justified in taking up the parent and child spaces at my local Sainsbury's.

If the spaces are safer then why not? I know some car parks have an aisle between parked cars (sometimes covered) which makes it much safer for older children to walk along. Some stores have P&C spaces which mean you don't have to cross any roads. I think that you have every justification, you are a parent with a child. What the age limit is for a child I wouldn't like to say but its not over 30 (see previous posts)

poppycat_3

Poppycat (and others with the same view)
Could I point out once again - my disabled child is only 6!

A lot of people keep refering to the holders of blue badges as OAP's. It could of being someone like my daughters space you took, NOT an inconsiderate OAP (although I'm sure they're not ALL like that).

I don't believe in the 'eye for an eye' method as it is the people who have done nothing wrong that end up suffering. Two wrongs DO NOT make a right!

Trix, apologies if my comment offended you. I wasn't trying to generalise and say that all badge holders are OAP's, my point was that in this particular situation, the old folk that were badge holders had trouble realising that their old disabled spaces were now parent and child spaces and these were the ones parking in the wrong place, not that everyone with a badge was doing the same.

Sainsburys made the change because there were originally twice as many parent and child spaces as disabled ones so obviously demand had influenced thier decision to swap them round. On the day in question there were at least 10 empty disabled spaces and all of the 6 (yep thats how many were now assigned to parents) were all taken up.

I would never have taken up the last available disabled space but because there were so many and because i was TOLD to do this by the attendant, i used a disabled space.

The car park situation is the same now, all the parent spaces are always filled and there are always lots of empty disabled spaces.

My children have good road sense and are careful and responsible when walking across the car park with me so I would rather one of those 6 precious parent and child spaces went to someone with a young child. Its all swings and roundabouts.

Trix

Poppycat - I had just read so many references to the people using disabled bays as being pensioners that I lost control for a moment.

BUT - the attendent was still wrong to tell you to park in the bays. What would have happened if the 10 empty bays were then filled, either by people like yourself (I don't mean that nastily - just as in had also being told to park there) or blue badge holders before someone like myself got there?

Extreme case and unlikely to happen maybe - but I have heard people saying 'well there were loads empty when I parked'. This does not mean it is a permanent situation.

In the situation with your car-park, an attendent should have been around for a couple of weeks to advise anyone who 'didn't notice' that the disabled bays were moved to stop the P&C bays filling up.

I agree that the P&C bays are also misused as I have experienced seeing young people without kids and old people saying 'this is my child', when the 'child' is in their forties using them. (never stops making me laugh - NOT)