Disabled parking bays

Galstonian

To be fair to Pal he did ask for an explanation and whether the extra distance made a difference. There are obviously many different (valid) explanations and yes, the distance does matter.

Like so many other things the system tends to work if everyone obeys the rules, I believe the vasy majority of posters here do follow the rules. Unfortunately some people consider that if a car park is busy it is somehow okay to park in a disabled space possibly forcing someone who is disabled to have to walk (or be pushed) a far greater distance than they would ever choose. That is wrong. On the other side of the coin some people do abuse the disabled parking schemes and have disabled badges that they do not merit. I am not talking about people whose disabilities are genuine but not obvious, I know of trade in fake badges and people who have managed to get genuine ones for what is nothing much more than a sore leg. This again is wrong.

Can we all just agree not park in disabled spaces unless we are eligible to?

mistral_2

That also goes for all the cars with child seats and no children .
I have seen many people who abuse the system this way.
I suppose you know who you are

lisyloo

I have seen many people who abuse the system this way.
=======================================

What exactly have you seen?

For example someone fit and healthy who is collecting a disabled person is eligible to use disabled parking spaces.

It was reported in my local paper that a local lady got a very nasty note on her car saying that "she did not deserve to have her legs if she wasn't prepared to use them".
She was actually collecting her disabled mother and the police confirmed that she was eligible to use the space.

I'm sure a lot of people abuse parking spaces, but in this case it was a disabled person who was wrong and being very spiteful.

Be careful when you are making judgements.

Galstonian

I couldn't park in a parent and child space with my two year old daughter but when I was approaching the shop I saw two women getting out of a car in one of these spaces. I couldn't help but mention that these were reserved of the use of others and the older women quite seriously replied "She's my daughter" and continued on their way. I'm not great at judging ages but the "child" was probably in her thirties!

Sometimes you jump to conclusions, sometimes I feel like I've been pushed!

System

That's one of Peter Kays jokes, he always shops at Asda with his mum as he likes the parent & child spaces.

I confronted a couple once parked in a parent and child space without kids, "we do have children - they are at home" was their justification, if they have kids they should understand ???

I want to carry a red lipstick with me to write "SELFISH" on their windscreens, but that's another story

lisyloo

Just to play devils advocate for a moment.

Do you think other people should be disadvantaged by your choice to have children?
If you have created the problem yourself by deciding to have children (which is mostly something you have control over) then why should other people be disadvantaged?

Some people think not and therefore decide to park in these spaces.

Is it selfish that they are not prepared to be disadvantaged by your lifestyle choices?

(These are not necessarily my opinions - added for debate).

System

Good point

Maybe we should include a nw question when questionning people for their disability badges, "did any of your actions contribute to your disability?" if it did for example paralysed in a parachuting accident, that was a lifestlye choice lets make them park further away from the store, or if your disabily is related to smoking/drinking they too can go & park further away.

Not my opinion I am just applying the lifestyle choice a bit further.

Personally if you want to give people with kids a wider spae I think it's a great idea, much better than a child trying to be independent & bashing their car door into the car next door, try shopping with kids & see how tricky it is to secure them safely in with little room to manoeurve.

Galstonian

Shops with parent and child spaces are generally supermarkets. Families with children will spend more on groceries than those without children. It is simple economics trying to make products more readily accessible to your target market.

If having to walk further than the disabled and parent/child spaces at your local supermarket is the best you can come up for feeling "disadvantaged" then you are quite simply not disadvantaged and are plainly selfish.

In my opinion, not having children is often a lifestyle choice made by those who do not wish to give up a rather self indulgent perhaps even hedonistic lifestyle. In my experience you are more likely to find these are the kind of people who "care deeply" about the environment, eat organic produce, donate to "right-on" charities while all the while are using parent/child spaces to park their over-powered, inefficient convertible or, worse still, gas-guzzling 4 wheel drive bull-barred monstrosities that are about as likely to see mud as they are to drive on the moon.

The devil's other advocate

Tim_L

The answer I always try to bite back to the "children are a lifestyle choice" argument is "well, my children will be paying your pension"

Surely the question of not parking in disabled/m&c bays is not rights and privileges or advantages and entitlements, but a question of simple courtesy and consideration for other people. When my children were younger, I found the spaces extremely useful; now they are older I don't use them and to be perfectly honest I don't find the extra 3 minute walk a week this causes to be a major problem.

Are we as a society now so obsessed with the self-centred idea of not being at a disavantage to others, of in some senses winning the competition of life at all costs, that all common sense and fellow feeling is vanishing?

Nile

In my local Tesco, you're grateful to get any parking space however far away from the entrance it is.

On a weekend, especially Sunday, it's impossible to find a parking space in the local Asda car park.

I agree with Sanny, the world would be a better place if we could all show courtesy and consideration to others.

I'm fed up with the competition to 'get one over' another person. Some people find that the urge to snigger about the discomfort, embarrassment or predicament of others is their only reason for being.