Recognise this?
Yes a supermarket car parking offence ticket!
My ‘offence’?
Parking in a disabled parking space
Now before I get going on this post, I would like to make it very clear that I am not being anti disabled in anyway and I do not feel I have the right to park in a designated disabled parking space all the time, which I don’t. And this rant is only concerning supermarket car parks and not public ones. I just wanted to point this out . Thank you.
This is in fact the second time I have found one of these tickets stuck to my windscreen – the last one I had was last year for doing exactly the same thing as I did on Saturday – and it makes me mad actually, as I will explain.
I went to a well known supermarket on Saturday, the one where you can really taste the difference, with Jenson and I drove round to where the mother and baby spaces are allocated and there weren’t any free spaces. Then I went over to the other side of the carprkl where there are a few more and again, no spaces. So I decided to return back to the main mother and baby parking spaces to see if anyone had left since I had last looked and still there were no spaces.
However, what I did find in both areas of mother and baby parking bays were families sat in their cars obviously waiting for Mum to do her shopping. Now I am sorry but unless the children are going into the store aswell, then I don’t think people should park in these spaces, afterall, I thought the whole purpose of the mother and baby spaces being allocated was to allow for more room to open the car doors to get children in and out more easily. Therefore, if the children are not going shopping why do they need to park in these larger parking bays? Also, if all the family expect Mum are staying behind in the car, then surely they should park in a normal parking space to free up the larger mother and baby spaces for mums and dads who actually need to get their children out!! I saw at least 4 cars full of people parked in spaces that I wanted to use.
Now I appreciate that I am not meant to park in the disabled parking spaces, and it clearly states on the signs by the allocated area that only disabled badge holders are permitted. And I know that for the same reasons as the mother and baby spaces, disabled people are given parking bays near the front of the store to make it easier for them to get to and from the supermarket from their cars , and again the larger spaces make it easier for getting in and out of their vehicles. Now when I pulled up in to the disabled parking spaces, and indeed when I returned to my car with my shopping, there was a whole row of disabled parking spaces empty and I was only popping in for a few things so I didn’t feel guilty about parking where I did. I am also not saying that anyone who can’t park in the mother and baby parking should take up a disabled person’s space. I was just a little annoyed with the carpark as a whole that afternoon! However, I have seen badge holding vehicles park in the mother and baby bays and the disabled occupant has remained in the car while the able bodied person has got out and gone into the store. Is that really what the blue disabled badges are for ?
However, what I resent most of all, and the point of this rant, is that I was given a £50 fine for parking in a disabled parking space! Yes £50!!
Yet I often see disabled badge holding vehicles park in the mother and baby spaces and not just at my local store either, and yet they never return to their car and find a parking penalty for doing so! Probably because mother and baby cars don’t require a badge so those spaces are a free for all and are abused by shoppers.
Yet I often see disabled badge holding vehicles park in the mother and baby spaces and not just at my local store either, and yet they never return to their car and find a parking penalty for doing so! Probably because mother and baby cars don’t require a badge so those spaces are a free for all and are abused by shoppers.
I think it is unfair and I wont be paying the fine and if I get contacted about it I will put a letter similar to this post in writing to the store if need be, to show my frustration and anger. They either need to make more mother and baby spaces for their customers or they need to hand out fines to people who abuse these spaces and prevent parents like myself from being able to use them for the right reasons.
What do you think? Has this happened to you ? Have you ever parked in the disabled spaces in a supermarket and got a fine? Have you parked in the mother and baby bays when you shouldn’t have done? Come on spill the beans .
I am now waiting to see if I get any come back from my parking penalty!!
DAY 14
I am also linking this ranty type post up to a fab little feature called
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Thank you xx
Thank you xx
I despair that the rules for parent & child spaces are not enforced. I have taught my children to say ‘they can’t park properly, can they, Mummy?’ in a loud voice. I have reported people and the staff do nothing. I once left a stroppy note on the windscreen of one car! I wouldn’t park in the disabled bays though. I park in a regular space miles away from the entrance and hope no one parks next to me.
Mother and Baby parking bays really get me ranting too! Several times I have had to park in a normal space and get all the children out of the car whilst there are cars that CLEARLY either do not have children or have children that are more than capable of getting out of the car without needing extra space parked in there! Several times I have seen people pull into these spaces and get out…with their TEENS!! I’m sorry, but you do NOT need a Parent and Child space for that!!!
I once went shopping with my brother when he was a few months old. I pulled into a space, didn’t look like a disabled or anything. There was even a warden who stood there and watched me park! Returned to my car to find a ticket! There was a very very faded disabled sign on the floor and this traffic warden stood there, watched me park and get the baby out and not say anything!
I hate traffic wardens!!!
I think that there is two quite separate issues here. Firstly mother and baby spaces. I had two children under 18 months old and had to use both sides to get them in and put, so needed the wider space. If there wasn’t one available, then I would park further away and walk. I think that M&B parking spaces are too close to the entrance and if they were further away then other people wouldn’t use them. However, the unavailability of a M&B space does not give you the right to park in a disabled parking space. My mum had a blue badge, as she couldn’t walk far, so we needed to park close to the doors.
yes they are both good points and I am not saying I have a right to park in disabled parking bays, it just makes me a little frustrated when anyone can park in the M & B ones and nothing is done about it. obviously i am not condoning parking in spaces which are for blue badge holders, and i don’t make a habit of it (i have done it twice and for got fined both times so the car park attendant is very observant!) but equally I have seen cars with badges park in the M & B spaces and the person who is deemed as disabled is sat in the car and the more able bodied person has got out to get the shopping.
i think your idea about making the M & B parking further away is a good one because it would stop just anyone parking in them
thank you for commenting. xx
I think they should have badges for mum and baby parking too because they are abuse way too much. I once got a ticket because I had part of a tyre on part of the white line! I wanted to punch the attendant. I appealed and I still had to pay the thing in the end. Parking tickets in general get right on my wick!
I very rarely head for the Mother & Baby spaces now. Instead I go to a quiet space in the car park, but near a trolley park and take up two spaces so I have enough room to get both boys out and into a trolley, then get both boys in and put the shopping in the car too (I only do this when I’m by myself or with anyone other than my husband)
I can’t say other things I want to say about disabled spaces/disabled people & mother and baby spaces because it will come out wrong and I don’t want people to be offended or hate me.
Fingers crossed they don’t chase up the money from you. Good for you for not paying it! xx
It drives me mad too seeing the people without any children parking in the mother and baby. It’s so hard to get a trolly as well if you park in a normal bay as the twin ones are usually nearest the mother and baby spaces. I agree it’s an excellent idea to put them further away as long as there are trolleys close. I don’t mind walking because once they’re in the only it’s fine.
I wouldn’t park in a disabled bay but I can understand your frustration. I just wish they could enforce the parent and child bays so keenly as they seem to do the disabled ones. It would make shopping a much nicer experience.
Anyway thanks a lot for linking up. Hope that’s the last of your parking fines.
Oh it infuriates me sometimes at the supermarket and for the record I agree with what you did. I think there should be a way of monitoring and fining people (or at least threatening) if they park in M&B spaces when they don’t need to. I have never parked in one without a child and I would never dream of it. I haven’t parked in a disabled bay yet but I wouldn’t rule it out. There are always far too many disabled spaces in car parks anyway and that annoys me.
I have seen so many people abuse the M&B spaces, usually van drivers and flash cars with lazy owners. I drive round glaring in saying ‘there’s no baby seat in there!’ and it really riles me. I agree that I wouldn’t care about the proximity to the shop itself, this might deter lazy people. At my local Asda they have a designated area for disabled badge holders with a barrier, I think they should be the same facility for M&B. You have a child you get a pass. Sometimes I realise I get too stressed about it, when all said and done it’s just parking but some people are so inconsiderate! x