Parking in Handicap Space

[Jules Of All Trades]

A few months ago I got a handicapped permit of my own (after much protest) and since I've had it I've really taken notice to people who park in the spots. While I've never said anything to anyone I have been sooooo tempted to.

I have a bad hip and am in constant pain. Anyone watch House? I'm a bit like him minus the drug addiction, lol. I use a crutch or cane any time I have to walk a distance longer than across a room in my house. Since my hip isn't getting better (gearing up for another operation next month) and I struggle with so much pain my doctor suggested I suck it up and get a permit so I don't have to do as much walking.

I get embarrassed pulling into the spots sometimes, or I wonder if someone is going to mouth off to me before they see me get my crutch from the passenger seat. I feel like I get a lot of strange looks if my crutch isn't visible because from behind the wheel I look like an average fairly young woman. Or perhaps I'm just paranoid.

I do see a lot of people that I internally question whether or not their parking in the handicapped spot is legit, but who am I to judge. As a lot of you have pointed out handicaps are not always visible and come in all sorts of forms and ages as well (I'm only 31).

I do get a bit miffed when all of the spots are taken and I see someone hop out of their car and sprint into the store (not if there's an ederly person in the car though). Or the people who don't have a placard but seem to think that it's ok to sit in the handicapped spot and wait for someone who is in the store. I guess since the car is running they think they're not parked? But, being the person I am I just park, walk the extra distance and hope that Karma gives them a nice big splash from a mud puddle some day.

Anyway, just my $.02 worth of rambling.

[Pagan]

If they have the handicap placard for the rearview or the license plate, I'm not going to question a thing. (I really wish I could have had one when I broke a toe. I had a hell of time walking anywhere for a couple of weeks. )

Now, if they don't have a placard or a license plate, depending on my mood, I'll light into them. How would they like it if someone did that to their little granny or whatever? People just don't put the shoe on the other foot enough anymore. It's called compassion folks!

[Lace Neil Singer]

I once saw a guy in a Jaguar park accross 2 disabled spaces. I didn't say anything to Jaguarman, instead I nipped off and told a parking inspector about him. He came back with me, and gave the car 2 tickets cuz he was using 2 spaces that he wasn't entitled to. XD

[protege]

I once saw a guy in a Jaguar park accross 2 disabled spaces.

Around here, if he did that...there's an excellent chance his car would get messed with. Same thing with the idiots in riced-out econoboxes. These idiots take up 4 spaces (one wheel in each) and then can't understand why people leave nasty notes on their windshield, or worse, leave key marks in their nasty paint jobs.

[BunnyJas]

As long as there is a handicap sticker hanging in the car, I don't question the owner's disability. Like many have said, it may be something that isn't visable (breathing troubles, heart conditions, bad hips, etc.).

The self-righteous guy was rude to heckle you, but I don't think you should have parked there if your grandmother was not going into the store or if you didn't have an emergency. You may have been only two minutes, but in those two minutes you may be blocking someone else who was disabled that may have needed to use that space.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My grandmother used a cane and then a walker so she had a handicapped placard for the windshield. My library used to have racks of mass market paperbacks that had no due date, and you could borrow as many as you wanted. My grandmother read a lot, so I used to drop her off at the library and run errands so she could have time to look through them (and figure out what she hadn't already read! lol) and I could get my stuff done quicker without her. Then I'd go back and park in the handicapped spot and run in to get her. I was always waiting for someone to say something but no one ever did. I didn't worry too much tho cuz they have at least 6 hc spots and the lot's not that big to begin with so there's plenty of normal spots that are just as close.

The Wallyworld that just opened in my town recently has some handicapped spots that are perpendicular to the rest of the regular spots, so the side of your vehicle is facing the lane instead of the car next to you, so there's no problem with ramps and wheelchairs and such. I'd never seen that before but it's a great idea if you have a lot big enough to accommodate it.

[myswtghst]

I agree with a lot of the people here--I never presume to know whether or not someone is handicapped. Two of my best friends from college are handicapped, and only one of them looks it. My best friend Brian is in a wheel chair and has spina bifida. He had permits to park ANYWHERE on campus, since our handicapped spots were so few and far between, and he still got ticketed (even with a campus permit and handicapper plates) for parking in handicapped spots. He did let me borrow his car for class sometimes, but I never parked in handicapped spots--I did, however, abuse his other permits and park in "Professor" spots. My other friend, Ty, only has one leg, due to an accident when he was young. Looking at him, you see a guy who looks like Superman (6'4", buff, etc) and without seeing the prosthetic, you would never know he's handicapped. I didn't even know until about a month after I met him--I just thought he had a limp from a sprained ankle, or something. He drives a nice silver sports car, and people always gave him crap about parking in handicapped spots if they didn't know him, which ticked me off. You can't always know just by looking at someone.

By the by, sorry for the random, rambling nature of my rant--I tend to write like I talk, which isn't always orderly. Thanks ADD!

[SuperDan]

My other friend, Ty, only has one leg, due to an accident when he was young. Looking at him, you see a guy who looks like Superman (6'4", buff, etc) and without seeing the prosthetic, you would never know he's handicapped. I didn't even know until about a month after I met him--I just thought he had a limp from a sprained ankle, or something. He drives a nice silver sports car, and people always gave him crap about parking in handicapped spots if they didn't know him, which ticked me off.

Just wait till warmer weather rolls around. It's amusing seeing people with prosthetics and shorts (and would probably drop some jaws with these asshats if they saw what they were really criticizing... handicapped doesn't mean helpless).

[Bella_Vixen]

I don't know if this is something that is being done, or just an idea, but I heard that here in Milwaukee, they keep track of who has handicapped parking privilages and why. They check on this constantly, and heaven help you and the person you got it from if you are using a card that doesn't belong to you.

[tollbaby]

At least the OP had his grandmother in the car WITH him. My mom has had a handicapped sticker since I was about 5.... and a lot of the time my dad will park in handicapped spots even when she's not in the car with him. I gave him crap about it once, and he said, "What? We have a sticker"... and I'm like "yeah, but it's not for YOU"... he still doesn't see what's wrong with that.

I gave up on having a handicapped bus pass... I had to go through this major rigamarole with forms and doctor's notes and had to have a new picture ID taken for it, and what did the bus driver say when I (9 months pregnant, mind you) asked a teenager to let me sit? "That person paid as much as you did to be on the bus, and he was here first." er.... HANDICAPPED, AND HUGELY PREGNANT! What the hell was the point of paying the $20 for the special handicapped bus pass (that says RIGHT ON IT, "I am handicapped and can not stand in a moving vehicle") if the drivers themselves refuse to enforce the regulations?? argh.

Now I just do my best to stand and not fall on anyone's lap. Might get a sticker when I finally get a car though, cause those spaces are HUGE, and I *suck* at parking (just recently got my license, and I haven't yet mastered it).

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My problem with non-handicapped people taking advantage of the fact that they have a sticker because of a handicapped family member is this: I feel like they, of all people, ought to be sensitive to the needs of the handicapped. You take granny's car out and park in the spot because, hey, you have the sticker, takes a special kind of insensitivity, in my opinion. I feel like family members of handicapped folks ought to really be aware of how frustrating it can be for handicapped people, especially when they see able bodied people parking front and center, leaving them to struggle.

I had an aunt that used to do this. Her husband was handicapped. She, however, was spry as I was. She didn't need to take that space up, but yet, she did, all because she had a sticker and felt entitled. This same aunt made a career out of not putting two and two together, so I shouldn't have been too shocked. I love her dearly, but some of her choices left her with some real problems that could easily have been avoided by using a little common sense.

[RogueOne]

What does one do when the (non-handicapped) owner of the store parks in a handicapped spot when there's a snowstorm due to start any hour?

That's sucky and the car should be towed.

[RogueOne]

With us, my wife needs the placard. Indeed, her car has the plates and we have a placard that stays in my car so she can park in handicapped spots. I prefer not to have the plates on my car because even though I would never take advantage of it, I don't want to deal with comments.

[Jack7957]

I don't know if it's our County or all of NY, but my wifes placard on the experation line has the last three digits of her drivers liscense so if law enforcement questions it, she can prove it belongs to her.

[skeptic53]

I don't know if this is something that is being done, or just an idea, but I heard that here in Milwaukee, they keep track of who has handicapped parking privilages and why. They check on this constantly, and heaven help you and the person you got it from if you are using a card that doesn't belong to you.

I wish they'd do that here in Seattle. One of the local papers did an expose'. It revealed that the majority of people parking all day downtown (normal limit 15-120 minutes depending on the spot) were using placards illegally. All sorts of scams... placards that belonged to deceased relatives, borrowed placards, forged placards, you name it. I have a placard in my car that I only use when I take my elderly and very frail mother someplace. But when we do go out, it can be very hard to find an unused handicapped spot.