carpark rules
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Forum Name: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26540
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Topic: carpark rules
Posted By: lisa85
Subject: carpark rules
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 8:47am
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O.K. so yesterday I had one of those incredibly rare days here I got a parent carpark at the mall. You know those parks with a picture of a woman pushing a pram. So as I'm leaving to go home I'm packing the twins and the stroller into the car and a woman pulls into a free parent carpark next to me. (By the way at this mall there is only 3 or 4 parent carparks that I know of) She gets out the car and starts to head inside with no child or pram???? I thought maybe she didn't realize so I said "Excuse me but did you know you parked in the parent carpark?" She got really agro and snapped that her child was inside! I couldn't see a carseat in her car so I wasn't really impressed.
So my question (after that massive story, sorry) is what are the actual rules with parent carparks? For all I know she may have had a child inside but I'm guessing it was a much older child. The picture on the park shows a pram so I always assumed it was for people with young babies and toddlers that require a pram? It takes me ages to get the double pram out and load the twins into it so I prefer undercover parking in the winter which is almost impossible to get let alone trying to get the parent carparks which a few and always taken. Personally it would really peeve me off if I had to try and wrestle the girls into the pram in the rain while someone with an older child that doesn't require all that fluffing around takes the parent carparks undercover  -------------  
TTC #3 since Jan 2010 - PCOS MC April 2010 |
Replies:
Posted By: noodle
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 9:25am
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people just park there for the sake of it, we went to the mall this one time and the carpark was packed and we drove past the parents parks and sitting in one of them was this car with a guy sitting in it with his dog in the passenger seat, no carseat no nothing DH stopped and beeped at him and yelled out the window (warning carpark rage ahead lol) ďts a parents parking where the f*** is your kid?" and the guy says "ďm just waiting for my wife" and he wouldn't move so we found another park and proceeded into the mall well R and i did anyway DH went over to pay this guy a visit god knows what he said but i highly doubt it would of been pleasent! anyway we went up to the information desk and told them and the woman looked wild and sent a security guard down to see him, it just so happened at the time the security guard was giving him a bolliking and telling him to move my sister was walking passed and heard and saw it all, needless to say the guy wasn't too impressed. it just highly annoys me when people just park in these spots just because and even worse when they park in the disabled parks! coz all the normal parks are so small and ya have to leave the buggy at the back of the car whilst organising ya self and ya baby (let alone 2 babies!!!!) while loonitics (sp) are hooning round the carpark! grrrrrrr sorry it just winds me up if ya coulnd't tell lol
Sorry didn't answer ya question but i had a good b***h lol ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Daizy
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 9:29am
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She may have had a baby in a capsule inside? I am not sure of the rules but it too does really annoy me when people who clearly dont have a young baby just use them because they are handy. I do often wonder how old is one considered a 'baby'? I dont use them so much anymore as my girls are older and I dont feel I need them as much as others would. ------------- 
 
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Posted By: lisa85
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 9:43am
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Haha I'm with you noodle! I get bad carpark rage especially at people that go really fast... idiots!
I hardly ever take the parent carparks. In fact if its a nice day I would never take one because I often think of people with newborns. I know when the girls were little and I had to park in the open on a hot day the car would get insanely hot. I only really take them when its a miserable day because it takes me ages to get the girls into the pram so I prefer to keep them undercover. I think once they start walking its different but if your Dependant on using a pram then you should be able to use the parks. The picture is of a pram so shouldn't that be the requirement to park there? -------------
TTC #3 since Jan 2010 - PCOS MC April 2010 |
Posted By: noodle
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 10:46am
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yip i definatly think that the requirement to park there should be if ya using your pram, when i'm just wipping into the shops or going to the supermarket and carrying Rory i dont use the parks i leave them for parents who need the space to set up their buggys etc.... ------------- http://lilypie.com">
http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Febgirl
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 11:17am
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I agree that the criteria should be if you're using a pram. Being completely practical, you need the wider spaces if you're trying to assemble a pram/get your child into it without whacking your car doors on the neighbouring car! ------------- Two little girls under 2! 
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 12:16pm
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they are a courtesy thing tho and not a legal requirement that you have to have a child or pram to park there. sure i get a bit hmmmf if someone without kids park there but its not like the disabled parking.... ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 12:45pm
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Ive never actually used one myself.......
I think the disabled parking is worse, these people can find it difficult to walk great distances .... ------------- 
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Posted By: lilfatty
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 12:55pm
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I use them without a pram ..
Issy wont stay in a pram in the mall so I usually have to carry her. I'd prefer not to park miles away from the door, whilst heavily pregnant waddling whilst trying to carry a heavy 15 month old 
Oh and I also wouldnt have a problem with a pg woman using them .. she is with "child" after all 
Fortunately our Westfield has quite a few parent carparks .. (at least 10) and they are all right by the door to all the "kids" shops so super handy! ------------- Mummy to Issy (3) and Elias (18 months) I did it .. 41 kgs gone! From flab to fab in under a year  http://www.femininefitness.co.nz/category/blog - LFs weight blog
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Posted By: KH25
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 1:12pm
I don't use them anymore either - but sometimes look longingly at them lol if it is raining! I still need room to get Ashleigh out of her carseat which alot of carparks aren't wide enough to open the door right up, plus carparks are also really dangerous for walking preschoolers who decide to bolt if you slightly relax your grip of their hand  So right by the door is good lol! It bugs me at our local supermarket, the parent parks are down the front of the shop so you don't have to cross the carpark at all, but there is no trolley return things anywhere near so you have to leave your child in the car alone and walk for miles to return it! Well I didn't when I used them, i just used to just leave it on the footpath  ------------- Kelly, mum to DD, 19Jun06 (26wks 1lb15oz) DS1, 24Oct10 (32wks 4lb11oz) and DS2, 31Dec11 (32wks, 4lb11) http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: GuestGuest
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 2:38pm
| Are they wider?? All of the ones I have seen are normal size and uncovered and I often wonder what the point of them is. It's not like mothers are disabled! |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 2:41pm
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All the ones I've seen too aren't any wider and uncovered.. the only advantage to them is that they are closer to the shop when its raining so I use them ocassionally.
I do however remember getting a nasty note left on my car window when I used one when Daniel was about 2 months old and I had used DH's work car (so very clean) and taken in the capsule so from the outside it looked like it wasnt a family car and no evidence of kids and I was really pissed off when I got back to find that because I was carrying Daniel in his capsule. |
Posted By: grrrgrrrr
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 4:20pm
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Mmm I get really annoyed when I try to get a carpark at newworld cause the parent carparks are actually wider there and we drive a volvo so the doors are slightly longer which means I need a wider park to open the door without slamming it into the cra next to me when gettign Mattias out of the car. The other day I went there and there was a little BMW roadster parked in the only parent carpark! You coudn't actually take a child in that car since it has an airbag on the only seat other than the drivers seat! Grrr ------------- Mattias 2yo Henrik almost 1 |
Posted By: yummymummy
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 5:44pm
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The ones I've seen are wider - at Sylvia Park they are 50% wider - so much easier to get babies in an out of prams/car. They are also closer to the doors so very handy.
I think they are meant to be for people with a young child and a pram but, as Bizzy pointed out, they are not legally enforcable like disabled parking. I have seen on quite a few occasions people parking in those with no baby seats but what can you do? When they were first introduced in Akl (before we had kids), I used to park in those too - they allocated all 10 carparks at my supermarket (closest to the doors) as either pram or disabled carparks ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: HoneybunsMa
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 6:19pm
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My accountant won't park in a disabled car park which is fair enough whyw ould you. But she will park in a parent carpark which i can kinda see her point as its not like a mother is disabled. I've only really seen them at sylvia park and those are up the top on the roof and not under cover anyway and some at countdown in highland park which yet again aren't undercover anyways. I can see it being a bonus when its christmas tho as those seem to be empty majority of the time ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: Febgirl
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 7:37pm
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I don't see it as being 'less abled' or anything like that, more that there is less chance of me banging my car door into the side of your car while trying to get baby out of carseat! But then again, all my local parent parks are wider, it's not really the same argument if they are just closer to the shops... ------------- Two little girls under 2!
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Posted By: caitlynsmygirl
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 7:40pm
at the risk of upsetting people , and no offence meant to anyone , I agree with that , my mother was able to park in a normal car park with 3 kids under 4 and she managed, as did most women from our parents generation . If a pregnant lady or a lady with a baby was wanting to use one tho , and I saw a lady who was neither using it I would be miffed tho, but more on principal, they SHOULD go to the mum with baby first I think . And if the mum parks are wider then thats an understandable reason why they are popular as well -------------
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LittleSal wrote:Posted By: Ella1
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 10:02pm
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I've never seen these car parks, where are they???
I often wondered if they existed, especially when Mika was only a few weeks old. Now we're on the topic of car parks, I do really hate it when people park so close to you that you can barely open the door, how am I gonna get the capsule in??? This happens on average once a week. And twice now people parked so close, that I had to squeeze myself in through the passenger side, cause I couldn't get to the driver side (FYI I'm a size 12-14, so these people parked insanely close!)
Sorry, just saw my chance to vent here. |
Posted By: linda
Date Posted: 16 May 2009 at 10:36pm
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If the lady had left a child in the car then wouldn't that be illegal?
The other advantage with parent parks in some locations is that they are located in a safer area...they might be in front of the shop or in an area that is not so busy with cars looking for parks. As for cars parking to close to your car, have to agree! Once when I was 8 months pregnant I couldn't get into the drivers seat because of this. Your tummy doesn't exactly squish when you are this pregnant...with twins! Had to get in from the passenger side and then maneouver into the drivers seat, not easy ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
Alex 6 and Harry 8 |
Posted By: pomikiwi
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 8:23am
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I use them, but wouldn't if I didn't have kids.
The paretn space's at The Warehouse are nearer to the entrance but they are standard size which is really annoying. I mostly shop at countdown and all of their parking is undercover! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
DD-Carys Amelia 17.03.06 |
Posted By: CuriousG
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 8:47am
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Those parks make me cringe purely because people are getting their kids in and out of the car and are perhaps not so careful about doors being banged etc. I have seen it and have had it happen to me while I was IN my car so I avoid them like the plague.
------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: tishy
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 10:22am
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The parks at Woolworths are for 'Parents with prams and expectant mothers'.
This was great when pregnant as then I would always remember where I parked my car
I find even with the parent parks I still can't get my buggy beside the car so I tend to park at the end of a row instead where there is more space beside the car |
Posted By: Snappy
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 11:06am
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I park in them if I have Jackson. The ones are westfield (Well, the first ones they made) are really wide so I love having enough room to get his buggy out.
I get more annoyed with the mothers at school who cant park! Every day I count about 5-6 potential parks that have gone to waste because they park OVER the white lines in a diagonal park. Used to really drive me batty when I couldnt get Jackson out of the car because someone has parked too close to me. Grrr!!! ------------- Mummy to two beauties... Formerly Kaiz. |
Posted By: Bobbie
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 12:48pm
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They're usually wider where I shop - except Foodtown but they have theirs nearer the door and before the speedbumps so you're not having to navigate those.
Saying that people managed in the 'good old days' is not really comparing apples with apples. The cars are wider, there are more of them so you often have to walk for ages from the park you do get, car parks are narrower and prams are wider so all up I think they're a jolly good idea. Personally I get grumpy with people who take them and don't have children but only if I see them pull in and they obviously don't have any. Last time I was at the supermarket and it was raining and cold and all the Parent parks were taken but one (and most of those didn't look like they had kids) and then this big guy pulled in to the last one with no child. So I pulled up alongside and said - 'Buddy I have a baby and I'm pregnant and I could really have used that park' He looked a bit shamefaced but told me he was picking up his kid. I'm sorry but a) I didn't believe him for a second and b) if his kid can be picked up from a supermarket then he doesn't need a parent and pram park IMO. Oh and I ended up at the far end of the supermarket carpark which took ages to get to the cover of the shop. But definitely parking in those is nowhere near as bad as parking in disabled parks - those people have to pay for their permits so it is really really bad when able bodied people take the parks. -------------  
 
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Posted By: Lanata
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 7:30pm
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We had a good one yesterday at Sylvia Park. All the disabled and parents carparks are by the lifts and all were empty except one where the disabled person parked in the parents one... Aren't they pretty grumpy about "normals" taking their carpark and then they use a parents one that is literally 4 or 5 steps away fom the disabled!! talk about double standards..
I think parents carparks are for babies that can't walk yet IMO so need to use a pram but if I'm going to carry Tayla I just use a normal carpark ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Daizy
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 7:42pm
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I find them really handy having to deal with Maddi in a pram and Keira walking along side. Trusting a 3 year old to hold on to the Pram while walking though a busy car park is a little scary.
I think once the baby is walking they are a lot harder to control in a carpark than a baby in a pram. Also another time they are really handy is when I have to pop in the supermarket just to grab a few things, I can leave the girls in the car (with DH of course) and can still see them and makes the trip a whole lot quicker. -------------
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 8:10pm
yeah but to be fair they may not have realised. i dont know how many times i have parked in a normal park cause i thought the parents ones were disabled ones... i see the yellow pic but dont really see what it is and assume it is a disabled park. And there are so few disabled carparks around i wouldnt care at all if a disabled person parked in a parents park. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker">
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Posted By: AandCsmum
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 8:21pm
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This really sh*ts me actually!! It happens so much at our supermarket!
------------- Kel http://lilypie.com"> 
A = 01.02.04 & C = 16.01.09 & G = 30.03.12 |
Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 9:04pm
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there is a big brohaha going on at the moment in the town i used to live in in the UK over this, when a woman parked in a mother and child space with her 9 year old son and got a 70 pound fine (about $200)
the comments at the end are the best bit! http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Mum-s-fury-70-fine-Tesco-car-park/article-956688-detail/article.html - http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/news/Mum-s-fury-70-fine-Tesco-car-park/article-956688-detail/article.html ------------- |
Posted By: shadowfeet
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 9:57pm
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Grr, I hate it when people use these parks when they have no reason to. I haven't had cause to use one yet. When mine and my friends DH's found out we were pregnant they were both excited to be able to use these parks in the future ------------- 
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. Kinda pathetic, but cute in a guy way.Posted By: Nutella
Date Posted: 17 May 2009 at 10:10pm
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I wonder why they don't put some of the parent parks further from the entrance and then those with only one child in a pram could easily use those ones without danger. Personally, I prefer to park at a distance coz then ya don't have as many people parking next to you! And don't have the 'stalkers' waiting for the carparks coz they are too lazy to walk the distance. ------------- 
 Oct 11
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Posted By: Lanata
Date Posted: 18 May 2009 at 9:40am
Yeah your right I was suppose to add that the same colours of logos mean you can accidently go into the wrong park but I already hit post and was too lazy to edit or reply again lol hehe  ------------- http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow">
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Posted By: hannibal
Date Posted: 19 May 2009 at 7:10pm
| Yip annoying when people steal them! My local supermarket has two only. I challenged a lady one day who told me she was pregnant (she looked about 50 thats why I challenged her). I have found that not many places here in Dunedin have them - none in any carparking buildings - I wrote to one of the carpark buildings - but have never had a reply - guess us mums don't count! |