People who park in Handicapped parking spaces...- Page 2

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 11:17am

This is true but I feel very unfair-

My sister is both mentally and physically handicapped. She can't walk. My mother is her only source of transportation. So-when my mother takes her shopping, or anywhere else, they both struggle to put the wheelchair in the trunk of my mother's car (she's 85). My mother is NOT ELIGIBLE for a handicapped parking sticker because it has to be the driver who's handicapped. This is in Florida.

Also interesting-there was a survey taken about parking habits-it takes a person who is vacating a parking space much longer to pull out of the spot when there is someone waiting for it, than when there isn't.

go figure.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 11:28am

I am thinking back to the Seinfeld episode where George parks in a handcapped spot & an agry crowd trashes the car.

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 11:46am

I hate when people park in handicapped spots when they are perfectly healthy. People should be grateful that they are able to walk that extra distance and not be disabled.

just because someone appears to be healthy and can walk does not mean they dont have a disability.

[Jilani]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 11:59am

My mother is NOT ELIGIBLE for a handicapped parking sticker because it has to be the driver who's handicapped. This is in Florida.

Jane, I'm not sure where you got that information, but it's not correct. In order to be eligible for a placard in Florida, you need to get certification from a physician that you have one of the disabilities listed on the application form; as long as you qualify on that basis, the placard can be used with any vehicle that transports you, whether or not you are the one driving it:

http://hsmv.state.fl.us/dmv/faqdpp.html

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:16pm

My best friend in Costa Mesa has had about 10 surgeries on her knees, and has had her knee caps removed. Of course, she walks very stiffly, and if she's going to be walking for a bit at the mall or something like that she has what she calls her 'sticks'. If there's a spot that's decently close to where she's going she'll park there, and leave the handicap spots open for someone who might need it more than she does. Even when we went to all the theme parks, if a line for a ride wasn't unbearably long, we didn't take advantage of their 'jump the line' policy. We waited like everyone else.

She went to a grocery store that was extremely crowded that day. Her option was to either leave or use one of the spots that she has a handicap placard for. She was barely out of her car, when some guy comes up to her and starts yelling at her for parking there. She happened to be wearing jeans, so he couldn't see her sunken in knees or the criss-crossing scars that she lives with everyday. Nor could he feel the pain that she deals with on a daily basis. She was so shocked and upset at being attacked, that unfortunately he was gone before she could recover and give him a piece of her mind. Knowing her, she probably would've dropped her jeans to show him what she lives with 24/7.

So someone could have a handicap that's not visible to the rest of world. Obviously, this doesn't pertain to the people that are sitting in the spots waiting while someone else runs in wherever.

I work with a woman who has handicap license plates. She uses the spots at work and pretty much wherever she goes, which I've called her on many times. I thought she had the plates because her husband has medical issues. Her husband doesn't come to work with her, so why should she park there. I recently found out that the plates weren't issued for her husband. They were issued to her deceased father who has been dead for about 10 years. When I heard that I pretty much gave her a piece of my mind, but it didn't faze her in the least. Entitlement isn't only reserved for the teens of today.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:30pm

Jilani, thanks for that info. I ask my mother every time I visit her in Florida, why she doesn't have the handicapped sticker. Each time I ask her, she tells me that she tried, and was told she wasn't eligible.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:33pm

So someone could have a handicap that's not visible to the rest of world.

EXACTLY!

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:42pm

bdgirl,

Report her to the police. That'll take care her her using her dead fathers plates.


I have a friend who has gone thru many surgeries, and he is registered as handicapped and has a tag and everything, but one day, after he got back to his car, he had a group of people in wheelchairs blocking him from leaving. They thought since he seemed to be walking okay, he had no right to park there. He had to call the police.

It seemes that these folks were trying to get money out of people who were parking illegally.

[KelRel]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:45pm

Abba, I didn't mean that only people who can't walk deserve the accommodation, I was just using that as an example. I think that those of us who are healthy and aren't in need of the placard should be grateful for it and not abuse the parking spaces that are reserved for people with disabilities. My father can walk and appears healthy, but he has deteriorating spine disease and he has a problem with prolonged walking and mobility from time to time so he was issued a placard. He doesn't "look" like he needs it, but he does. That being said, he doesn't always use it because he knows that there are people out there who need those spots more than he does.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 12:58pm

Once, I carelessly (!) left my car keys in the door of my car in the Newark airport parking lot and flew to Cleveland. Someone took the keys out of the door and locked them inside so the car wouldn't be stolen, but helped themselves to the handicapped parking placard. Go figure.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:01pm

How nice of the A-hole.

[Jilani]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:03pm

Maybe it wasn't the same person who did both things.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:05pm

You mean, someone would open the car door, with the keys hanging out of it, steal the parking pass and then leave the keys in the door...?




I don't think so.

[Weez]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:29pm

People who park in disabled spaces without being disabled are assholes. I know that not all disabilities are visible (I used to be in a youth group with a teen who had a stroke; he brought his placard along whenever we had group outings), so don't judge people if they appear to be able-bodied.

However, parent & child spaces are not legally enforcable, so I have nothing LIKE the same respect for them.

I'm also able-bodied and hate having to wait for a spot, so I tend to head for the furthest reaches of the car park first, 'cos there's more likely to be spaces out there. I'll only park in a parent & child space if 1) I have my sister's small child with me, 2) it's 2am and I'm answering a craving at a mostly empty store, or 3) if I've been all around and there are literally no other spaces.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:36pm

What are these "Mommy and Me" parking spaces you speak of?

I've never seen them here in LA.

[DG]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:42pm

I just saw an 'expectant mother' space for the first time a couple of days ago.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 1:44pm

Maybe this is because I live in NY and just LOVE to walk (plus it's good for you) but I always laugh at the way my relatives with cars will spend half an hour circling around and waiting for a spot near the entrance to a store, and follow people with keys in their hands, hoping they'll vacate a close spot.

I mean, really, is it going to kill you if you walk a few yards? Yes, I know you'll have packages when you come out, but you also have those packages in a shopping cart on wheels! LOL!

[etoile]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 6:07pm

Jane, if your mother doesn't feel she qualifies for plates then your sister should certainly be eligible for a placard. Your sister's physician would sign her form. She doesn't have to have a driver's license, just meet the health requirements and possess a state identification card. That might be a lesser complicated way for your mom to go.

[Jane2]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 6:11pm

Thanks, etoile. I plan to suggest this to my mother immediately. My sister does have one of those state id cards.

[wexy]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 6:29pm

Its usually some idiot in a Hummer round my way.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 6:45pm

Cars should be towed, fines excessive, and the a$$es who park there should have to volunteer at a rehab center.

[Marianne2]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 7:18pm

I totally agree and hate it when people who are not handicapped or can afford to walk take those spots. However, even people who are legally handicapped should not abuse the priviledges. On my college campus, there was some girl who had an obvious disability with her walking. However, I saw her walking everywhere, including up to the fine arts building, which is up a huge hill. I actually felt bad for the girl, but if she was willing to do it, then I give her total props. Like I said, if you really feel like you cannot walk too far and have the thing on your license plate or a tag for your car, then definitely you should be parking in those spaces.

And as for parking space hunting, my friends always wasted like 5 or 10 minutes looking for close parking spaces. I don't do that myself, even in horrible weather, because it's just easier to park further away. Even with my car on campus, if I had to park away from my dorm, I was annoyed, but I dealt with it.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/27/08 at 9:00pm

I'll never understand the concept simply because I know too many people, like my dad, who have placards use the spaces and don't really need to. He's just lazy. If he can get away with it there seems to be something wrong with the system.