Visual Deficiency Syndrome

[ranworthbreeze]

11 minutes ago, Poppy said:

I'm off to Tesco's soon with 3 year old grandson .

Inevitably there will be no p+c spaces as our betters need them for their X5s, Range Rovers etc  Or are too prcious about their car and can't be ar**d to park away from the rest of us....

Hello Poppy I didn't think you were rich enough to shop at Tesco

Regards

Alan

[LondonRascal]

I'm going to be honest, I have parked in Child & Parent parking bays, but I'd never parking in a Disabled parking bay.

Indeed, recently I was told off, in person by an angry husband. He asked me if I had any children? I looked around and confirmed I did not (his wife chipped in "don't start it's not worth it"). I was parked in one of the Child & Parent bays, of which there were 7. 5 of them were still free. He was parked in one two spaces down from where I was.

Now, he then told me how it had taken an age to find a free space, and he had two children and how it was so hard when ignorant fools like me parked in such bays to get the kids out and their push chairs, I could have argued back, but I simply accepted my wrongs, apologized and took it like a good boy. He said "quite right too" and that was it, as he and his wife walked off.  He then got in his car - Audi Q7 - but, wait a moment, still no children.

Maybe it was the day before where I was sat, in a pay & display bay on a street with engine off when a cyclist went by and shouted a few expletives at me followed by ...BMW drivers... or the fact that a lady who was parked on the no parking yellow 'zig zags' outside a school yet mouthed 'twenty and stuck two fingers up at me as I moved out around her car - when I was doing 17 MPH, but I had just about had enough of being had a go at.

My normal patients gave way "Oi!" I shouted as I walked toward their car. They hurriedly shut the doors, passenger side window lowered a little..The wife asking "Yes..?" Well, I was just wondering, where your children were? Her husband leaned forward and stated "We've got a baby seat in the back" - they did, but still no children. Well, I said, I guess we are both ignorant fools then aren't we and with that the window went up and they drove off.

So why did I park in the bay in the first place? Well, I simply have grown sick and tired of parking somewhere - coming back to find someone else's paint on my side door, a new dent, a new chip and more pain and expense getting it sorted. Having spent a fair amount to have dings and dents removed I'd rather not again, so I have three choices: The first is park in the far corner of a car park in the hope that nobody will come alongside me - this is my usual method. Secondly to park taking up two normal bays and really annoy people - which I have not done personally, or thirdly park in a Child & Parent bay. I'd not do it if there was only one or two free, but if there are three or more free, then I would.

So that makes me...Selfish, but I've never come back out of the store to find in my absence the other bays have been taken - so far then, I feel I have not inconvenienced anyone, but it still means I am selfish.

[Poppy]

You can now download this notice for future use.....

https://manbehavingdadly.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/VDS-Awareness-Leaflets.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3YxSHPNfz9_-83AHQguccD1rA7sfZJqs2rzaf6Z5qBQXeVG1bXNsPzTec

[Ray]

This discussion is becoming a bit like one of those Moral Maze questions, when is doing the wrong thing technically OK morally!

In life there are shades of grey of course, in general I've come to a personal conclusion that the point of view put by Speed Triple in those circumstances convinces me that his parking in a Child and Parent bay is understandable and acceptable.

On the other hand ahem Robin, as a fellow car owner I sympathise with everything you said but can't agree that we should use a Child and Parent bay even if several are free. We don't know when someone or several people who need it will arrive. It's there for a reason, whether or not we agree with that reason and not for us to protect our property from others. Like boating, driving means accepting there will be bumps and knocks, it's a pita but there it is.

However this is not a personal crusade and I wouldn't let it stop me sharing a pint and a chat with you anytime 

[grendel]

just admit it Robin, you are a tad on the plump side and need a little extra room to get in and out of your car.

reccomended size for parking bays is 2.4m x 4.8m with 6m between rows, with modern cars that is still quite tight, add to that the tendency for supermarkets to skimp on the dimensions of their parking bays and you get the 'well I can fit the car in there, but if I do I dont think I will be able to get out of it' syndrome. 

[Poppy]

39 minutes ago, grendel said:

just admit it Robin, you are a tad on the plump side and need a little extra room to get in and out of your car.

 

Then perhaps a walk from the remote and less crowded part of the car park would be beneficial 

[ChrisB]

49 minutes ago, grendel said:

just admit it Robin, you are a tad on the plump side and need a little extra room to get in and out of your car.

reccomended size for parking bays is 2.4m x 4.8m with 6m between rows, with modern cars that is still quite tight, add to that the tendency for supermarkets to skimp on the dimensions of their parking bays and you get the 'well I can fit the car in there, but if I do I dont think I will be able to get out of it' syndrome. 

And the doors on the SLK are enormous so you need nearly another bay free to open them fully.

I speak from experience. Great on the open road... Driving The Great Ocean Road, roof down, listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash..Wonderful.

Parking nose in, at an angle between a Ford Ranger and a Dodge Ram in Ararat bl*%dy nightmare. I had to ask someone to see me back out onto the road.

[SueH]

Our gripe about these is their location.  Generally they appear to always be in the only place where there is any shade.  As someone who regularly visits other areas and 99% of the time with a dog in the car seeing these (usually empty) is like a red rag to a bull.  

[CambridgeCabby]

3 hours ago, grendel said:

just admit it Robin, you are a tad on the plump side and need a little extra room to get in and out of your car.

reccomended size for parking bays is 2.4m x 4.8m with 6m between rows, with modern cars that is still quite tight, add to that the tendency for supermarkets to skimp on the dimensions of their parking bays and you get the 'well I can fit the car in there, but if I do I dont think I will be able to get out of it' syndrome. 

Pot , kettle ????

[grendel]

more like tea urn or casserole in my case CC

[ChrisB]

Compare the dimentions of a 1978 Granada  with a 2019 Fiesta. There is only about 50 to 60 cm difference in length.

 

Edit: the 78 Granada is the big old square one.

[Paul]

Sadly there are lots of ignorant little sh1ts around who decide their convenience is more important than the safety of young children. These spaces are made available to ensure parents with young children can get them out of the vehicle safely and to the store usually without needed to cross roads, or be on the route of pedestrian crossings. 

The issue of these ignorant low lifes abusing the parent and child parking in the one supermarket in our village came to a head over a year ago when a young woman was physically assaulted after asking a person parking without a child to move. The police were called, an arrest made and a man convicted of assualt causing actual bodily harm. 

A facebook campaign followed urging parents to boycott the supermarket until they started policing the parent and child spaces, over a hundred people signed up and eventually the supermarket caved. They are now policed by CCTV cameras and anyone can report abuse to the parking company either by text or app and they will review the evidence and issue a £95 parking charge notice.

Hopefully more supermarkets will follow suit, expecially if enough pressure is bought to bear. 

10 hours ago, grendel said:

in reality the parent child spaces should be called accessible spaces and not restricted to just parents with children, such that anyone who requires the extra parking bay width to access their vehicle should be allowed to use them.

[Ray]

The assault is indefensible and your description of the perpetrator is appropriate, however to apply it to everyone who parks in a mother and child space without knowing their circumstances is far too wide a generalisation.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

24 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

Compare the dimentions of a 1978 Granada  with a 2019 Fiesta. There is only about 50 to 60 cm difference in length.

 

Edit: the 78 Granada is the big old square one.

Sorry, what is your point?

[OldBerkshireBoy]

24 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Sorry, what is your point?

Sorry that sounds so rude put like that and I can`t edit it now

Mods please feel free to delete

[OldBerkshireBoy]

1960 Hillman Minx was just under 5ft 1" wide

2017 BMW 5 series saloon was just under 6ft 6"

Just saying.

[Paul]

I think the point is cars are bigger now, hence a modern Fiesta, considered a small car is little different in size to an old Granada, in it's day the largest car in the Ford range. Parking spaces have not kept pace. 

41 minutes ago, Ray said:

to apply it to everyone who parks in a mother and child space without knowing their circumstances

Their circumstances are, do they have a child .... Y or N. If they are entitled to disabled parking and they should have a blue badge. I meant to add below the quote of Grendel's post above that simply making these spaces "accessible" would never work as everyone would come up with some excuse to need an accessible space, most of which are an excuse for bone idleness. 

I do have a small modicum of sympathy for people of limited mobility who are considered not worthy of a blue badge, the system is little more than a lottery. It seems in some areas you're in if you have an ingrowing toenail but in others you have no chance unless you have lost both legs. I suffer with osteoarthritis of the spine, not a qualifying condition but that doesn't bother me too much. If I don't have the kids in the car I can usually drag myself to the shop from wherever i can park. 

What I would never do is park in a parent and child space if the kids are not in the car.

Whilst I'm on the rant front, can I share one other thing that really annoys me? I fall into the category of worked my balls of, despite my back pain, to afford a decent car, a Mercedes E Class AMG Convertible. (If you think the doors in an SLK are long, compare them to mine, yours are titchy ny comparison). When I don't have the kids I usually park as far away from the store as I can, where nobody else is parked. The number of times I come out to find some {{insert chosen expletive here}} parked 8 inches from my drivers door despite there being dozens of spaces available elsewhere is staggering. 

[Ray]

14 minutes ago, Paul said:

I do have a small modicum of sympathy for people of limited mobility who are considered not worthy of a blue badge

That's exactly what I meant, I don't think much separates our views...  I just have this thing about trying to see things from other people's point of view. A bit off subject but I hate it on Facebook when everyone starts calling someone who has made a mistake an idiot without knowing the facts and more amusingly when the so called idiot is right and all the name callers are wrong 

[Paul]

Another thing that gets to me is the disabled toilet vigilantes .... even to the point where many disabled toilets now have signs on them "not every disability is visible". Above once when leaving a disable loo I have been accosted by these vigilantes telling me I should be ashamed of myself or something  similar. I used to engage in conversation along the lines of "who gave you access to my medical records" and such like. Nowadays I can't be bothered and give a shorter, more succinct response, usually russian sounding, ending in "ov" 

[CambridgeCabby]

My mother (aged 87) asked her gp if she was able to qualify for a blue badge last year , she is on morphine patches for her rheumatoid arthritis ,he asked her if she drove to the surgery  herself to which she answer she did , in which case , he said , you don’t need or qualify for a permit ,

LEGEND !!!!

sorry mum xxxx

[Siddy]

Just looked for the pic of a large BMW which parked next to me in the multi car park in town, They had the near side wheels on the white line giving themselves loads of room to get out the other side. I had to put my fleece between the doors so as not to mark it and step on the sill and slide in. This was after leaving a note under their wiper saying 'next time you park like a pratt leave me a tin opener to get in". I got down to the barrier and the guy asked me what was up and told him and he went up to put his sticker across the windscreen.

No no to parking in the P&C or disabled bays but I'll tell Kaz to stand near one so I can pull round and pick her up, I park rows back it's safer.

Hands up you got me on the disabled toilet - yes I have both types of key in my van door. I often come over from the east coast late on or have to travel late from work somewhere and trying to find a toilet open so use the key or face a fine for watering a tree.

Lets face it once Maccy D's is shut there isn't a toilet to be found.

Tesco's - Stalham, The guy who painted that carpark most have measured supermarket style and took 20% of the measurements. It is tight. I sit and wait for Kaz just to stay with the van.

 

[grendel]

my usual bugbear in supermarkets is the width between rows, I park my car, there is 18" of car overhanging the back of the space as its so small, then another big car parks behind me in the next row, 18" overhanging, then a third long car rocks up and parks next to me. now I am stuck as I can reverse out, I cant swing much as the spaces are narrow, the car behind stops me getting far enough out to swing the nose past the back of the one next to me, cue 10 minutes of shuffling back and forth to get clear of the car behind and next to me, all the while the car park is filling up with more cars waiting to get past and now getting impatient, and all because of the small spaces and too narrow distance between spaces.

[PaulM]

Are the parking spaces any bigger?

[grendel]

what about modern minis, they are getting as big as my Volvo nowadays, certainly taller

[Poppy]

11 hours ago, Ray said:

The assault is indefensible and your description of the perpetrator is appropriate, however to apply it to everyone who parks in a mother and child space without knowing their circumstances is far too wide a generalisation.

It's not IMHO.