Disabled Parking
 

WTF is going on?
I see so many who can walk the store/shop/mall with permits, so many with no lift or walking assistance using the spaces that do not have to use the scooters when the get inside.:mad:
Why do they need a permit? Why do they park in the space that those like myself need so desperately?
If you turn 60 that does not entitle you to a parking permit, it is an accomplishment.. but you don't get to park in the blue spot as a door-prize if you are overweight you need to walk more, not less (one of my best friends likes to argue with me that his is a disability... his Dr. DISAGREES).
I have actually had people say to me "you are in a chair, why not just park at the back of the lot?"... my response is "do you think you could see me in your rear-view mirror?", I know the answer to this. A parking lot is NOT a safe place for a wheelchair, trust me on this.
I see people parking in disabled spots constantly that are NOT disabled.
Let me clarify, if you are sick that does not mean you have a mobile disability, if you have heart disease, that does not mean it is harder for you to walk an extra five spaces to your car.... yes you are sick, yes I am sorry that you are not well, no you do not deserve a better parking spot.
Also, those who are disabled but do not have a lift should not park in loading spots before all other spots are taken-up, this is just common sense... but they do because they are just onnne spot closer. It is just mean spirited and I'm tired of it. I got in trouble when I used to work at a grocery store for calling cops attention to customers to did this, I did it when I worked at a bar and I will now start taking photos with my phone and calling the cops on people and posting them on a site that humiliates them, you put a card on their window with a nice message for them and the url.
BTW, there is NEVER a "just ran in for a second" excuse.:eyebrow:
I am also going to start counting spaces, four spaces for every 100, if not it is an ADA violation.

http://caughtya.org/category/united-states/

http://caughtya.org/drive-by/2006/08...a-notices.html

http://www.apparelyzed.com/parking/

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...azie1zn0au.jpg

That sucks. I hate people that park in them with no reason. Back home, almost all of the spaces are van accessible. It drives me nuts when you see people parking in the places with the yellow lines that MAKES the space accessible. It blows my mind how selfish people are.

I do have to say that my mother has license plate that her doctor insisted she get. She doesn't have a mobile disability, but she has severe asthma. In humid and cold weather, it is harder for her to breathe and therefore walk into store on those days. When she gets inside, it is better because the temerature is regulated. When she is feeling good, though, she parks in the regular spaces. We have gotten notes on her car because people didn't feel that she looked disabled and had no reason to park in handicapped spaces.

It seems like some stores used to have a few parking spaces reserved for expecting mothers. Not legally mandated, but as a courtesy, considering that pregnancy is a temporary mobility issue, especially in the third trimester. During our recent pregnancy I didn't see a single one.

I completely agree with you rkzenrage. We have some people here at work with handicapped tags who are no more handicapped than I. They just want some sweet parking spaces. I also saw a student in a really nice truck, young strapping dude, pull a handicapped marker out from under his seat and hang it up...then stroll happily into the building. That disgusts me.

So, when I have to walk a half a mile because the rest of the campus is full, I thank God that I have the ability to do so. People are so self-centered sometimes I wonder how I can live on this earth.

Our local Wal-Mart has them.

When I could walk with my cane I did not use the disabled spaces. If you can walk... you can walk.

I agree that the mother with asthma was an acceptable use of the permit.

My family members using my permit when I am not in the car, is NOT.

It sounds like we need a better legal definition of who should have these tags.

I totally agree with this. I used to drive my mother's car a lot before I got my own and never once even thought of using a handicapped space.

I think the problem is there are tags that hang from the rearview mirror and there are license plates that designate handicapped. It is not that hard to get the tags that hang from the window. To get the plate, you have to have a doctor agree that you need it. That is my understanding about the laws in PA.

Here in Fl you need a Dr for both, you just pay more to get the plate.

The problem seems to lie in the criteria the doctors use: it's like the excuses we get for some of our student's lack of satisfactory progress. Some doctors will write whatever you tell them to.

I'm nuts. Should I get handicapped parking? No, nor do I want it. It is for those who have mobility problems, not psychotics! :D

Then there needs to be specific critera that has to be met by an impartial third party. Pretty simple.

It's amazing how aggressive people get with their doctors over this, too. I've had people scream at me and threaten to make trouble for me with the Medical Board when I told them they didn't need the tag they were demanding. :eyebrow: Or if I was on a locum, they would just stomp out and come back the next week when their regular doc was there. I think a lot of docs cave because they're so sick of fighting and being abused about it. (No, I don't agree with that. But your office life sucks significantly when you constantly have to stand up to the agenda people.)

Love the sticker you came up with, rzkenrage! :D Is the adhesive permanent, by any chance?

It is not mine... I have ordered them... I think it is a regular car bumper-sticker style.
This is why I think a third party system would be best, like SSI.

Kind of like the commercials that say ask your Doctor about <brand-name medication> huh?

People and their senses of entitlement. I don't understand it. Why are so many "take take take, gimme, gimme, gimme" Have they no pride?

Thanks for the doc's point of view, ortho, and welcome! :)

rzkenrage said: 'This is why I think a third party system would be best, like SSI.'

I agree. Hate it when the government sticks docs with decisions over access to benefits. I'd rather just supply, on request, a statement of fact about diagnosis and physical findings and let the bureaucrats say yea or nay.

Yup. People would have nothing to go to their Dr. to complain about (not that they would not do it, but it would be unreasonable and the Dr. could pass the buck).

I'm curious, when the cops are called by me and they get a ticket or are towed. Some venues will do so at the owner's expense.
Do you think they will actually feel sorry for themselves?

I see that a lot here in Fla...perfectly healthy young people driving a car with a disability tag and utilizing it. I assume they are mostly using someone else's car and just being assholes. I scowl at them but rarely say anything, because I'd hate to disparage someone who actually had a disability that simply wasn't obvious to me.

I do wish more stores had temporary spots for pregnant women in their third trimester. The only store in Clearwater that I know of is Babies R Us and they'd better have them!! In my last pregnancy, I literally became housebound because walking any distance was so terribly painful. I would only go out if my partner was driving and could drop me off close to the front doors. Severe back damage isn't helped by carrying an extra 30 lbs around at an awkward angle and the extreme swelling of my extremities due to toxemia made every step agony. However, it is only temporary and can be dealt with.

And yes, people will feel sorry for themselves when they get a ticket or towed. If they really believe what they are doing is wrong, they wouldn't be parking there in the first place. For people like that, I hope they one day experience something that gives them firsthand knowledge of how selfish they were. :mad:

Stormie

I think this is the system in the UK. You still get fuckwits in the disabled spaces though.

Those tags never seem to run out, either. I have a neighbor who had knee replacement surgery a while back. Naturally, it was pretty hard for him to get around for a while. Now his knee is all better and he STILL uses that tag.:eyebrow:

I can't say I agree with this - but only on personal experience from within my family - I accept you have much longer and more personal experience:

My Dad drives my Grandad to the supermarket every week and parks (with my Grandad's disabled pass) in a disabled space. Grandad has Parkinsons, walks with a frame and needs help in getting into and out of the car. The extra space in the disabled bay makes it much easier for him. The shorter distance to the supermarket means there is less chance of a fall before he gets to a trolley. He has never fallen in the supermarket car park, but at 84 and with a history of other falls behind him, he doesn't want to risk it. He doesn't walk anywhere unattended btw - it's not just this trip that he is cautious of.

Even in the weeks before his knee replacement op, when walking with a cane was painful and getting in & out of the car was difficult, my father has never used Grandad's disabled badge unless Grandad is in the car.

I totally support strong penalties for able bodied people using disabled spaces. I think it should be legal to let their tyres down. Thought you were disabled did you? You are now. Or glueing flyers like the one you posted to their windscreen. In a hurry were you? Just popping in for a second? Lets see you take the time to scrub that off before you can drive.

But I am for the same penalties for people who park on double yellow lines as well. They're there for a reason folks, show some common sense and personal responsibility.

One thing though, we need to take into account the different situations that can arise for each disability and handicap (yes there is a difference between the two). My example being up north the sidewalks get icy during the winter, and it would better for someone with a walker or cane or some kind of disability that affects walking to use the close handicap spaces than someone who is in a motorized chair that will have much less difficulty moveing over the ice. Environmental conditions like ice or snow or slush or sleet greatly influence who needs the closest and most accessible space. On top of that, all the handi spaces I've seen are "lift spaces", I have yet to see a handi space without the extra car sized space next to it in any parking lot in any state I have lived in. Not here in OH, not in TN, and not in CA.

That being said, I think there should be more handi spaces, 4 for for every 50 rather than 100, even just for the fact that our elderly population is growing larger and larger (the largest it has ever been I've heard). And also so that there is no competition for spaces or resentment towards other disabled or handicapped people whose disability or handicap may seem to be less severe at first glance.

If they are just walking in to use a powered cart and not walk the whole store, I have no issue with their using the space.

Grandad walks in the shop - leaning on his shopping trolley. In the UK there are specialised trolleys (carts to you I think?) for people who usually walk with a cane or a walker. They are not motorised, but are designed to support people who cannot walk unaided. On a bad day Dad has to be with him every step of the way as Grandad's Parkinsons mean his shaking hand is likely to knock a shelf-load on the floor.

Dad uses a normal trolley, but even that means he doesn't have to use his cane while shopping - they do have a stabilising effect.

Again, I don't know how things are in the US - in the UK (at least in the supermarkets I use) every disabled space is either directly in front of the store, or is in a section where each space is adjacent to a paved pedestrian area - with a zebra crossing to the store. This means no matter which space a disabled driver parks in, they will not be walking/ wheeling/ motoring across the carpark.

No-one with a disability should have to worry about inattentive drivers.