Elderly people parking in parent & Child Spaces


I totally agree with this. It might be a bit awkward to keep an eye on a toddler while walking across the car park but most of us have done this without any great trauma. I think it is a lot more awkward for elderly people with heart problems, arthritis or who are just generally not very strong to cart bags of shopping off to the far distance of the car park so that thirty somethings have the convenience of a space by the door. Extra wide spaces certainly, but why can't they be in the general area of the car park with a trolley bay located near by.
 
@ Joe Q Public

What a load of rubbish - we shouldn't need legislation where common sense and common courtesy would suffice.

How pathetic can you get - "A good lawyer would argue that none of these made up parking spaces on private land are enforceable" and "I would use them all the time. They are unenforceable bits of paint"
 

I don't have a problem with wider spaces for parents with children being further from the door but the argument about elderly people doesn't really hold true. Surely if someone has arthritis or heart problems then they can get a disabled sticker and use those designated bays.
 
I haven't really noticed much of what the thread title refers to.

Plenty of much more annoying car park shenanigans to get worked up about IMO anyway. As I'm not a parent maybe it's a problem that is a little more off my radar though.
 

It's not that easy to get a disabled sticker. A lot of elderly people have medical issues that wouldn't actually warrant a disability badge but which make it more difficult and tiring for them to get around.
 
It would also maximise the risk of having small toddlers around cars in the car park, instead of minimising this risk. Why would you want to maximise this risk?

Are they unable to use a trolley?

liaconn said:
It's not that easy to get a disabled sticker.
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Actually, it is quite easy for older people.
 
Complainer said:
It would also maximise the risk of having small toddlers around cars in the car park, instead of minimising this risk. Why would you want to maximise this risk?


Are they unable to use a trolley?


Actually, it is quite easy for older people.
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Actually, it's not that easy. And, if they are old and a bit feeble or shaky on their feet, a trolley and lifting bags out of it is not exactly a brilliant solution. Also, it's really not that difficult to grab onto a couple of toddlers and negotiate them across the car park. I have done it many times.
 
Well should elderly people not be getting onto the relevant shops to try to get some elderly parking spots instead of taking someone else's? Do you think elderly people should park in disabled parking bays?
 
Is this not an issue of common courtesy? The places are indicated for parent and child, there's a reason why the supermarkets provide them as a need exists and a nice thing to do.

Not all pensioners are arthritic and on the verge of collapse and we're hardly talking about car parks where they have to walk additional miles if they don't park there, it's a matter of yards. If they're able to walk around the supermarket, then they can add on a couple of yards to that walk. It's not that difficult to manage toddlers and a trolley, fine, it's not that difficult to manage a couple more steps.

I don't park in those designated spots, even if they're not legally enforceable, mainly because I'm actually ok with driving a bit further on and adding on a few yards to my day.

Maybe I wouldn’t have been as aggrieved as the individual, but then I still think it’s a poor show of courtesy by the elderly couple. I mean: a handful of spots out of all the ones in the car park and they feel entitled to it just because they’ve passed a certain age. Bully for them, but you don’t get to excuse common courtesy just because you’re over a certain age and find bladder control a bigger task than it used to be.
 
Jaysus, more crap. Remember these little kiddies you all don't give a flying **** about now will be the ones paying your pensions in years to come!
 
The parent & child spaces are fairly recent (about 10 years) & I have to say they were a godsend when I had 3 kids under 3......I only had 2 arms and they had no sense!!

A friend of mine was parked in one & I congratulated her on the new arrival (tongue in cheek) & she got quiet uppidy about how she had "kids" so she was just as intitled to park there (her youngest is 7 & wasn't even with her. These spaces are there as a courtesy & should be left for those who need them.

I'm surprised there haven't been pensioners on to complain how they are all being portrayed as helpless, fraile, incapable people. My Uncle is in his late 70's & he plays golf nearly every day & rows for about an hour a day also. If a pensioners mobilty is so limited that they are not capable of making it into a shop they will be almost certainly be entitled to a disability pass - but many pensioners do not realise this & assume they must be in a wheelchair in order to qualify.

I always head to the further part of the car park as there is usually loads of spaces & the walk won't do me or my kids any harm
 
Nobody is objecting to spaces being allocated to parents with babies, just to the fact that they are beside the door, thereby making them inaccessible to everyone else. Sam H I'm glad your uncle is fit in his 70s but what has that go to do with the fact that many elderly people are infirm and the doors beside the entrance should not be made inaccessible for everyone bar young couples with children.
 
DB74 said:
Surely if someone has arthritis or heart problems then they can get a disabled sticker and use those designated bays.
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Actually, it's extremely difficult to get them. My mother has serious arthritis and both her knees replaced. The doctor said she wasn't disabled enough. She can walk much better now with the replaced knees but still needs to open the car door to its full extent so she can swing her legs around.
 

A few years ago, I used to make the effort to get to the gym before work. I'd arrive before 7:30 and notice that most of the disabled and mother and child slots were in use.

The irony of that used to amuse me. People making the effort to go to the gym to improve their fitness and lose weight, yet looking to park as close to the front door as possible so as they don't have too far to walk !

Back on topic .. elderly people are welcome to do as they choose and I'll never challenge them on it. When I get to that stage, I'll be parking inside the supermarket if I can get away with it !
 

I have no problem with this as I have only one child and am optimistic that I will be able to control him when he starts runing around. If I had three small children, I'd be very worried about getting them and the trolley safely to the far end of the carpark.

Joe Q Public said:
Why has the government not legislated for these spaces?
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And why exactly should everything including parking spaces be regulated by the government? What happened to logic, common sense and some basic courtesy?


I agree with this. No issues with the elderly BUT not all of them are that frail and incapable. A person with bad arthritis (or any other condition which would make it impossible for them to walk a few more yards) would not drive a car, regardless of their age. Plus, by using those parent and child spaces, they may be putting their very own grandchildren in danger of being knocked over on the other side of the carpark.
 

Not true. Lots of disabled people, never mind people who are frail and elderly but not disabled, rely on cars far more than the rest of us and do find it difficult to walk and push a heavy trolley or carry bags of groceries.. I think that's a very unfair comment.
 
I think these parent & child spaces are just a way for the shopping centres to be "nice" to certain people - a bit of clever marketing if you will. Before they existed the car parks were still full and I don't recall any major issues. There are no parent & child spaces in multi-stories, where spaces are tight, and none on the on-street spaces. If there's one free when I've my kids it's a bonus, if not then I won't fret.

A much bigger gripe with me is people parking in disabled spots who clearly don't need them.
 
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