‘Rude’ note left on dad’s car at Birtinya Stockland as he took his infant son shopping leaves him furious – but others question why there are ‘parent only’ parking spots

A furious father has unleashed an aggressive note on the writer which was left on his car while he was shopping with his son.

The Queensland father had parked in a stroller car park at the Stockland shopping center in Birtinya on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

When the father returned to his car with his son, he discovered a rude note that he believes was wrongly addressed to him.

“Parent parking,” the note said.

‘For people with babies/children in the car. Not selfish bastards like you.”

To express his anger, he shared a photo on Facebook of the note he and his son were holding.

His blue car is parked in the background in the parents’ designated spot.

“Thank you to whoever left this note for us in Stockland,” he wrote.

‘(I) didn’t know my child didn’t count as a child…’

Shoppers were shocked by the ‘rude’ note and many supported the father.

“What a disgusting thing to write, the language is completely unacceptable,” one person wrote.

“People need to chill, shame on them,” said one.

“Some people are so low that they bother to write such a rude (and) unnecessary note,” wrote another.

The post also attracted shoppers who expressed their distaste for designated parent areas.

‘I don’t understand why parents are given parking preferences. They have no disabilities. They chose to have children,” one man wrote.

“These spaces are for convenience, parents are not entitled to them just because they have children,” said another.

People quickly jumped to the defense of their assigned spaces.

“The parks are bigger so we can get the kid in and out. Why is it so difficult for others not to park in these places?’ wrote one.

“Normal parking spaces are too narrow to fully open the back door without hitting the other car,” wrote another.

According to the NRMA, designated parent parking spaces in shopping centers are not subject to the same legality as disabled parking spaces.

The car spaces are located on private property, so the management of the spaces is up to the shopping center. The center may ask motorists without children to leave the parking lot.

“Parking spaces for parents with strollers are provided as a courtesy by car park owners and are not enforced by law,” a spokesperson said.

‘Legally, there is nothing to stop someone without a pram, or baby, from parking in a pram spot. Management decides how they want to enforce the parking rules for parents.

‘They are usually larger than regular spots, so parents have more space for strollers and babies.’

The NRMA said the spaces were created for safety reasons.

“They are often closer to the entrance, to reduce the distance young children have to travel in a high-traffic area,” the report said.

‘Children are at greater risk of being involved in an accident because of their unpredictability around cars and they can also be difficult for other drivers to see.

‘It is therefore very important that parents with young children can easily park close to the entrance.’

The NRMA also said the system only works if people are courteous.

“Just because you can’t be punished by law for parking in these spots, it’s not okay for people who don’t need them to use them,” the report said.

“It comes down to respect for others and basic civic duty.”

The spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that people should not approach people who have parked in the space without a child.

“It is vital that parents do not take matters into their own hands if they see someone parking in a space reserved for parents with pushchairs when they should not be,” they say.