Car park etiquette

And I’d you don’t have a banana you’re already at the supermarket so you can nip in and buy one.

Yup. But seeing as I’m only going to be a few mins, I’ll probably park in the cycle park bit.

People used to get on perfectly fine without P&T spaces. But we’re an advanced and progressive society and in progressive societies we think and consider things like this. Unfortunately not every member of the public are advanced or progressive. I suspect these are the same people who are not aware that cars have indicators or seem unable to drive around a roundabout without wandering across lanes.

I think what you’re supposed to do is start shouting “Here, mate, I think you’ve lost your kid – this man’s lost his child ! What does the kid look like mate ? Hold on, I’ll get security for you. What’s the kid’s name ?”

People used to get on perfectly fine without P&T spaces. But we’re an advanced and progressive society and in progressive societies we think and consider things like this. Unfortunately not every member of the public are advanced or progressive.

If advanced and progressive means that people now expect everything given to them on a plate or think that just because something’s been provided then it’s their god given right (like a stroppy teenager) to kick up a fuss if someone else they deem less worthy than themselves happens to be using it then that’s a real shame.

If the few P&C spaces are full just park across two bays and run the risk of people tutting or leaving a passive aggressive note on the windscreen.

Don’t be a Dick

Hey – we don’t use gender-specific insults here. 😀

So exactly what year would you like to roll back these “pointless” traffic safety improvements to?

Were things really much better in 1979 when over five times as many child pedestrians were killed on the roads?

But hey, your kids survived so it must be pointless fussing eh?

think that just because something’s been provided then it’s their god given right to kick up a fuss if someone else they deem less worthy than themselves happens to be using it

I haven’t seen one post that suggests someone without kids is in any way “less worthy”.

The only thing that makes them “less worthy” is being a dick and using specially designated spaces that they don’t need, but other people do.

Who in their right mind takes children to a supermarket when you can get your shopping delivered by a nice chap in a van 😯

I have a theory (one of several) that you can estimate the level of fitness in a town by where people park in supermarket car parks.
I’m reasonable fit, so prefer to park in the far corner to avoid getting my car dented. Being reasonably fit, I manage to walk the 50m to the shop. Other, less fit people, can’t so park as close as they can.

It may not just be a measure of fitness, maybe importance as well. Clearly, if you’re really important you can’t afford to spend 30 seconds walking, you must park within 5 seconds of the supermarket.

Clearly this is in conflict with P+C and disabled parking, which is why idiots park in them.

I tap on the window. “Hi mate, you’re in a child space and I could really do with it. Could you move please?” Him: “**** off”. Me: “OK well thanks anyway. Enjoy your pie.”

Short of actually having a fight in a car park whilst your children watch, there’s nothing you can do.

So let me get this – so rather than simply going to find another space (or double space if you must open your door fully), you’d rather get out of the car to go and knock on a strangers window whilst leaving your car as an obstruction in the middle of the access roadway (presumably with said child also in the unattended car)!

The mind boggles!!! Really wonder how on earth people used to cope 10 years ago before parent and child spaces started becoming common? [/quote]

You’re voting Brexit, aren’t you.

P+c parking spaces aren’t there because of safety, they are there because families spend more money, and they hope this will encourage them into there store.

Were things really much better in 1979 when over five times as many child pedestrians were killed on the roads?

The main reason that so many child pedestrians don’t get killed/hurt on the road anymore is because most kids aren’t allowed to play outdoors these days, don’t go anywhere unless they’re driven and remain mostly indoors, wrapped in cotton wool surfing YouTube on their iPads.

Sure, less deaths on the road but equally THIS or perhaps THIS

@ Garaham S – Causalities on public highways not car parks, what are you on?

One day you will sit down and realise all this anger is a pointless waste of your time.

You could make yourself a uniform, become a self-appointed Parking Tsar, 5 gold stars on your epaulets, grow a moustache, wear aviator sun glasses and pretend you used to be in the military!

I’m not sure which is worse, inconsiderate morons taking all the parent and child spaces and disabled spaces, or people that don’t think this behaviour should be challenged and stopped.

I’m not saying individuals should always challenge it face to face – I wouldn’t fancy my disabled wife telling some tattooed thug to shift his car. But if Tesco’s etc were prepared to be proactive on behalf of their valued non-dickhead customers, attitudes can change.

I’d suggest the following tannoy announcement: “Will the prize bell end who parked the chavved up red Corsa vehicle registration AB12CDE in a disabled space without displaying a blue badge please move it in the next 5 minutes before we clamp it and charge you a £100 release fee. That’s right, sir, you. The fat guy with the shaved head in the Superdry vest”

No-one seems to have addressed the important elephant in the room.

How will Remain/Brexit affect our right to park like ****s?

most kids aren’t allowed to play outdoors these days

And no wonder when self-entitled bellends can’t even respect the facilities that are put in place specifically to help keep those kids safe.

It’s two sides of the same coin I’m afraid.

Perceived traffic danger is a major reason that parents don’t let their kids play in the streets.

@ Garaham S – Causalities on public highways not car parks, what are you on?

My understanding is that traffic incidents involving serious injury or death are attended by police and recorded in STATS19 data, even if they happen in car parks.

Apologies if that is not the case, but the general point stands: kids do die in car parks, avoiding that is a good thing.

all this anger is a pointless waste of your time

I’m not remotely angry.

Just filling in some time between waiting for my PC to finish compiling and wondering what is for dinner tonight.

I’m not sure which is worse, inconsiderate morons taking all the parent and child spaces and disabled spaces, or people that don’t think this behaviour should be challenged and stopped.

I’m not saying individuals should always challenge it face to face – I wouldn’t fancy my disabled wife telling some tattooed thug to shift his car. But if Tesco’s etc were prepared to be proactive on behalf of their valued non-dickhead customers, attitudes can change.

I’d suggest the following tannoy announcement: “Will the prize bell end who parked the chavved up red Corsa vehicle registration AB12CDE in a disabled space without displaying a blue badge please move it in the next 5 minutes before we clamp it and charge you a £100 release fee. That’s right, sir, you. The fat guy with the shaved head in the Superdry vest”

Whilst I agree with your sentiments about inconsiderate parking, I’m calling you out on your classism 🙂

In my experience, it’s just as likely to be some tosspot in an expensive motor than it is to be, as you put it, a “chav”.

Never mind that, my local tesco has a bike rack in the farthest corner of the carpark, out of view to most.

So I just lock mine to a rail near the entrance which I think is designed as a bump rail for people in cars who have no spacial awareness, but the rail goes all round the post so the bike’s protected from cars. Am I going to hell?

@ Graham S – I’d be interested to see (overstating it a bit) the historical breakdown of “serious injuries and fatalities” in UK car parks, are there any stats for that?

Glad it’s not boiling you over, there’s bigger fish to fry 😉

Boy racers I knew it!

Never mind that, my local tesco has a bike rack in the farthest corner of the carpark, out of view to most.

So I just lock mine to a rail near the entrance which I think is designed as a bump rail for people in cars who have no spacial awareness, butvtje rail goes all round the post. Am I going to hell?

I have the stats on that. No utility cyclist has ever gone to hell. I think you’ll be OK there 🙂

Agent007 – If only it was just stroppy teenagers. The only shame in this whole thing is that there are some people in society who think they’re special and that the usual social rules and etiquettes that most of us seem to be able to adhere to don’t apply to them.

So people on here have kids, buy a big SUV to protect said kids (sorry – squash the other vehicle in an accident), and then expect everyone else to ‘make way’ for them. Hey we’re far more important than you because we have kids don’t you know 😀

They do this in our local supermarket. I’ve been using the same supermarket once or twice weekly for 12 years. And three years on and off before then.

I’ve heard the announcement once.

It was me, i parked in the disabled bay 😳

The disabled badge had fallen off the dash in the wind and ended up in the door pocket of all places.

Why the hangup with SUVs?

All cars have got bigger, even polos. Spaces haven’t, well, no way near as much as the cars have. They updated our works carparks 3 or 4 years ago. Lost about 5% of the spaces. They are still a bit on the small side if you have a large saloon or estate.

No, we have P&C spaces so our kids don’t dent the side of your Audi whilst admiring the Orange 5 on the roof…..

How does it compare with providing stats for people who aren’t prepared to accept a general point in an internet discussion?

I presume you’re missing the irony that the person for whom the space is provided and it would be especially useful for isn’t the one in this situation who considers themselves to be more important…

The question is, exactly what is wrong with providing such spaces to help those people who the supermarkets want to attract because they spend lots of money for whom life is a little more difficult. Given such spaces are provided, what exactly is wrong with challenging people who abuse them because they’re lazy?

No one’s saying that shops shouldn’t offer P&C spaces if they so wish, or that they’re not a good idea. Some of us are just saying that if you arrive at the supermarket and someone you deem less worthy than you is parked in one of them them then ‘so what’, drive on find another space. No need to throw your toys out of the pram.

Jeeees, if you get stressed about stuff like this then perhaps deciding to have kids was a PLC (poor life choice).

Well there you go again. It’s not exactly an opinion here is it? Nobody is suggesting people who are fully able and have no children are less worthy, well unless being a selfish dick makes somebody less worthy, but I’m not sure I’d like to make that call.

and there you go again, again. I’m not at all stressed about this.

In a similar way to those confronting people parked in parent and child spaces, I have had it 3 times in the last year when people see me pull into a parent and child space and don’t even wait to see if I have kids in the back to march over and start telling me how selfish I am for parking in a space where others need it. I then open the rear doors and extract the kids from the car and watch them shrink back within their self-righteous busy body bubbles with a non verbal look of **** off.

Some people just love a good confrontation.

That’s a bit bizarre LHS, is there something missing from that story which explains why people thought you had no kids?

Nope, only thing I could consider is that I am a man on my own without my wife and the back windows of the car are tinted so you can not see in so hard to see if there are kids in or not, but, these people did not even wait 15secs to check if I opened the rear doors to get the kids just rush over all confrontational. It is a Waitrose so people tend to be particularly uptight!

Had it once in the US too.

The obvious answer is car parks are going to hell because society is going to hell. Lots of rules, but rarely any consequence for breaking them, and for the large portion of the population with no conscience, this means the rule may as well not exist.

We have a different problem round here though. Theres too many disabled and P&C spaces, almost to the point you need to take a bike to tesco to ride from the nearest ‘normal’ space to the door. Wouldnt mind so much, but 90% of the time, 90% of the ‘special’ spaces are empty.

Never had that one myself LHS and I also have tinted rears and a penis (untinted).

Mind you I don’t shop at Waitrose so maybe it’s that.

@ aracer – Misrepresenting statistics is de-rigueur now-a-days, I’ll get over it.

I’m not expecting GrahamS to provide any stats 😉 although if you want too you can!

I don’t have any stats specifically covering car park deaths chester but they’d hardly be conclusive either way – advances in car pedestrian-impact safety have almost certainly lowered deaths, whilst increased numbers of cars and car parks will probably have raised them.

agent007 – twit

No one’s saying that shops local councils shouldn’t offer P&C spaces build cycle paths if they so wish, or that they’re not a good idea. Some of us are just saying that if you arrive at the supermarket and someone you deem less worthy than you is parked in one of them them then path and someone happens to be driving their car in one ‘so what’, drive cycle on find another space route. No need to throw your toys out of the pram.

Facilities are put in place to help those who would otherwise be endangered by mixing with traffic, NOT to facilitate an easier life for those experiencing a slight inconvenience by their presence.

Would you also effuse the use of disabled spaces in the same way?

I’ve never had that sort of problem – though whilst I do shop at Waitrose (and have used their car park with kids) I don’t think I’ve ever used the P&C spaces there – nor do I have a drug dealer’s car 8) Mind you I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody confront somebody about this around here – TBH I don’t think it’s such an issue as it is in some places, maybe we’re all a bit more laid back in our little backwater.

Drug dealers car would have front windows tinted not rear windows.

I have all windows tinted. And sunglasses on.
That’s how I roll in my diesel, grey Galaxy.

#livethedream