HANDICAP PARKING RANT

[tlay]

O.K, I will get this out of the way and say that I am handicapped. I lost my left leg and broke my back. I don't think of it as a handicap but as a challenge. I don't want your pity but do want your understanding.
The purpose of this rant is the healthy young people who take the handicap parking. Today it happened again. Myself and my wife went to lunch. Of course all of the handicapp spots are taken. We were sitting down and I watched as perfectly healthy people came and went in these spots. Finally I had enough. A young woman parked in one and I got up and went out to ask her a question. I asked her what was wrong with her to make her park there. She said she has a placard. I asked her who's it was. She said her moms. I told her that according to Georgia law that the person who's name is on the placard had to be in the car. She had the gall to say she was just going in the store for a minute. I told her that many handicapped people need the wider parking spaces to be able to get to their wheelchairs. I could tell she was uncomfortable and started to leave. She said she was sorry and got back in her car.
I hope that she has a change of heart. I ask of all of you to please leave the spots to those people who need them. And tell others also. If you see someone who is taking advantage of these spots maybe you can remind them. Thanks for listening.

 

[glenncal1]

I grumble when I am in a crowded parking lot and I see a space and it turns out to be handicap but I don't park there. There is a lot of funny business that goes on with those placards

 

[Farmer17]

I think there is a big difference between someone in a wheelchair and someone who can walk. At least 90% of the people who park in ADA spaces can walk OK, some maybe a little slower than the rest of us. I know one guy who walks miles a day at his job and also climbs ladders daily but he has the sign to hang on his mirror and parks in the handicap places.

 

[snowman]

I hear you, sir. I have to use crutches to walk, and can't walk over 30yd. or so on hard surfaces. I've seen a number of vehicles without placards in the handicap spaces. Store personnel won't/can't do anything about it, and LE rarely passes through to check. Therefore the signs which warn violators of being fined don't really accomplish much.

Part of today's common mentality, I guess.
Andy

 

[Mike McLellan]

I have a handicap placard in my car, as does my wife. However, I don't feel any burning need to describe my medical disabilities to anyone. If placards are abused, or there's "funny business" surrounding them, it has nothing to do with me. I have a legitimate need, and the legitimacy of that need is nobody's business. If there aren't enough spaces available, that's just the way it is. There is a formula under ADA for determining the ratio of spaces in any given parking lot. Often, that ratio is not met.

 

[tlay]

Most of the time If there is a regular spot close I will use it to leave any handicap spots available to those with wheelchairs. It is only when all the spots are filled and I have to walk a long ways do I use one.

 

[snubbyfan]

I've got degenerative peripheral neuropathy and I worked hard all summer relearning how to walk. We have placards for both of our cars but I rarely use them anymore. Yeah, I walk kinda funny and not very quickly but I can make my way across a parking lot.

 

[Fishslayer]

Most of the time If there is a regular spot close I will use it to leave any handicap spots available to those with wheelchairs. It is only when all the spots are filled and I have to walk a long ways do I use one.

^^^ This. My wife has bad knees and can walk, just not very far. I try to leave the spots if she doesn't have to walk far.

And yeah... it kinda torques me when I see perfectly healthy people pull up & use (obviously) somebody else's placard.

 

[mg357]

As you fine folks know i am a wheelchair user and it burns me up to no end to see a healthy young adult use a handicap parking spot.

 

[hannstv]

I think those parking permits are handed out much too freely. If you have ever been in the building industry you will have been driven crazy at one time or the other trying to conform with the ADA regulations and the idiots that enforce them.

 

[BruceHMX]

My Dad was a combat vet of both Korea and Vietnam. By the time he reached his mid 60's he was dealing with a lot of health issues. He tried his best to stay in shape but his body had just been through hell. The last two years of his life he had many heart and neurological issues. He had handicap plates and would often tell me how he went somewhere and the spots were full with folks who were younger, not handicap, etc.

I lost Dad in 2000.

About a month after losing him I went to the local grocery store. As I was walking through the parking lot a red neck in a jacked up pick up pulled into a handicap space. Guy was mid 30's and not a thing wrong with him. I looked at him and smiled and said; "you know that's handicap parking?" He yelled back, "who are you the f'ing parking police?" I just laughed. Went in got my stuff came out and the truck was still there. I walked over got my leatherman tool and pulled two valve stems off the tires.

Got in and drove off.

Naturally I don't recommend or condone this action.

Guess I was grieving and thinking of my Dad. I laughed and cried all the way home.

 

[Comrad]

In NJ you can have a handicap license plate issued, a little more substantial than a placard that can be moved around. My mother has one and when I drive her, I drop her at the entrance of the place we are going and park in a regular spot.

 

[walkin jack]

O.K, I will get this out of the way and say that I am handicapped. I lost my left leg and broke my back. I don't think of it as a handicap but as a challenge. I don't want your pity but do want your understanding.
The purpose of this rant is the healthy young people who take the handicap parking. Today it happened again. Myself and my wife went to lunch. Of course all of the handicapp spots are taken. We were sitting down and I watched as perfectly healthy people came and went in these spots. Finally I had enough. A young woman parked in one and I got up and went out to ask her a question. I asked her what was wrong with her to make her park there. She said she has a placard. I asked her who's it was. She said her moms. I told her that according to Georgia law that the person who's name


is on the placard had to be in the car. She had the gall to say she was just going in the store for a minute. I told her that many handicapped people need the wider parking spaces to be able to get to their wheelchairs. I could tell she was uncomfortable and started to leave. She said she was sorry and got back in her car.
I hope that she has a change of heart. I ask of all of you to please leave the spots to those people who need them. And tell others also. If you see someone who is taking advantage of these spots maybe you can remind them. Thanks for listening.

I can empathize with you tlay. I don't pity you but I do understand where you are coming from. From two different points of view.

First of all I have had to learn how to walk 3 more times than most of you. Got my left leg broken out at the knee and shattered the tibial plateau (top of the tibia where it enlarges to go into the knee joint). I was 30 years old. The doc put me back together and after 20 years I had a full knee replacement. 4 years after that it had to be replaced again.

So I have had temporary placards on 3 different occasions while I was healing. Lots of times there were just no places to park without having to crutch it all the way to the door. In fact the original injury happend in 1973 so I don't think they even had handicap parking back then.

Also I'm a member of the Deer Park Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association. And as such have assisted our PD in enforcing handicap parking. We are civilians and can not write tickets or issue summons but we take pics and document the offending car and turn it in and the courts issues a summons. You would not believe some of the stories I get from people coming out of a store and catching me writing them up. I just ignore them. Some people have absolutely NO concern for others.

But like was posted above it is somewhat irritating to see all those empty handicap parking spaces open and not being used and I have to walk a quarter mile from where I could find a spot. Too bad there is no way to figure just how many spaces is needed for a given location. If anyone ever figures that out it will be a great day for every one.

Still. I never park in a handicap parking spot. I'd rather walk a mile and see 50 open spaces that have a handicapped person not be able to park close to the door. As I said I've been on both sides of that issue. I do understand.

 

[SW_shooter]

I think those parking permits are handed out much too freely. If you have ever been in the building industry you will have been driven crazy at one time or the other trying to conform with the ADA regulations and the idiots that enforce them.

When I was still walking I may have shared your sentiment. Now that I have to use wheels instead of feet your comment makes the hair on the back of my neck bristle. If you knew what it took to obtain a HC plaque you would understand.

I used to be a designer/draftsman and had to incorporate HC facilities into my designs. I never understood why or how they affected HC people. Now that I am one of those people I see everyday how these standards and requirements are not very good. What seems like a pain in your backside may be one to me too because of the poor design or implementation by a contractor who didn't care how well he built it.

Each time I am in a parking lot and see what appear to be normal healthy people park in a HC spot and sprint into the store I get mad and frustrated. I never knew how a HC person felt or how much difficulty they faced until I became one. The Mrs gets embarrassed when I want to confront one of those people who take a HC spot.

 

[labworm]

I think when a perfectly healthy person takes a handicap spot, in time they eventually will end up with handicap plates themselves.
I wonder how they would feel seeing a vehicle without tags parked in that reserved spot.

As far as I am concerned, they should be arrested and forced into community service, helping the real handicap individuals.

The paper tags should be eliminated and only license plates should be issued.

 

[kwselke]

Here in Houston we have civilians that volunteer and are trained and authorized to write Handicap Parking violations. Misuse of placards is hard to spot, and just plain stupid. The fine for a violation is $500.

 

[moosedog]

That was one of my favorite tickets to write.

 

[Grayfox]

My wife had a Handicap placard. Completely legit, she had serious health problems.
About six years ago I had knee surgery. I had healed to the point where I was able to walk some with a cane. I also had a bad case of cabin fever. We needed a few things from the store, so I decided to go. Stupid move on my part, but like I said, I was going stir crazy.
My wife wasn't home, but her car was. So I figured I'd use it, park in a handicap space and use the little electric buggy once in the store. Sounded like a plan!
Of course there were no handicap spaces avalible and I ended up parking in the south forty. I hobble my way towards the door and every step hurts more and more. By the time I approach the Handicap spaces I'm in real pain. I'm sweating!
Then it hits me. The very first car in the handicap spaces is small. That struck me as odd because handicapped people rarely drive small cars. Too hard to get in and out of.
So I look and there's no tag, no placard, no nothing. Well it just hit me wrong. When I got inside I went to the Customer Service counter and politely asked the lady to call the Police and ask if they could come check out these cars illegally parked.
As I left the store I saw a woman who I can only describe as trailer trash, open the trunk of that car and start stacking in cases of beer. I made it to my car and drove back by just in time to see her walk around front and discover the ticket on the windshield.
The look on her face just made my day.

 

[DeathGrip]

The paper tags should be eliminated and only license plates should be issued.

When I take my Dad out it comes in handy to have his hanging permit like when its raining and he has a bunch of groceries.

Most times I drop him off at the door and go park in a regular spot and meet him inside.

It depends on the situation.

 

[Taurus627]

I have got to agree. My wife has some medical issues and has a placard to use those parking spots. I only use the handicap parking if she is in the car. We do catch a lot of grief for those who think one needs to be in a wheel chair to get one, so I just dig out her scooter and it shuts them up right away.
To me, it's all about respect, and sadly, there are a lot of folks who need to be taught to respect others.