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Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
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Where I live they went overkill on handicapped parking. There are so many that you rarely see them filled up with even handicapped people, much less, non--maybe at Christmas. It makes it kind of hard for some people who have a hard time getting around who can't get a handicapped placard for one reason or another--can't afford a doctor or it's a temporary disability, etc.--but need it just as much.
I guess you need to write your city officials to start with b'c some cities seem to be very well managed as far as that goes. I rarely see anyone use the spaces where I live. But when I was in Alaska I used to see it a lot. Someone would get out and jaunt to the store or mall, clearly not handicapped. Sometimes they had the placard but it was probably for someone they drove around or someone else's vehicle. Yes, that's abuse and it makes me angry. We didn't have an over abundance of handicapped parking in Alaska like we do in Washington--or at least in my city.
I also lived in Alaska, and I have no idea whether there were adequate handicapped parking spots or not. However, I had a friend who'd just had surgery on her ankle and was on crutches - a friend drove her to the store and pulled into a handicapped spot to let her out, since that was the only place without a curb for her to step up on. While she was getting out of the car, a cop came by and gave them a ticket for 'parking' there, even though the motor was running and the driver had planned to park elsewhere and then pick her up there again, and they told him so. Oh, it was also winter and there was a lot of snow and ice, so her crutches wouldn't have been much use getting across the parking lot. At pretty much the same time, one of the city cops was by far the worst offender for parking in a handicapped spot in front of the grocery store. He didn't want his pregnant wife to have to walk an extra 20 feet to get to the door. Of course, HE never got a ticket - sometimes he used his cruiser, sometimes it was his personal car, didn't make any difference.
I also lived in Alaska, and I have no idea whether there were adequate handicapped parking spots or not. However, I had a friend who'd just had surgery on her ankle and was on crutches - a friend drove her to the store and pulled into a handicapped spot to let her out, since that was the only place without a curb for her to step up on. While she was getting out of the car, a cop came by and gave them a ticket for 'parking' there, even though the motor was running and the driver had planned to park elsewhere and then pick her up there again, and they told him so. Oh, it was also winter and there was a lot of snow and ice, so her crutches wouldn't have been much use getting across the parking lot. At pretty much the same time, one of the city cops was by far the worst offender for parking in a handicapped spot in front of the grocery store. He didn't want his pregnant wife to have to walk an extra 20 feet to get to the door. Of course, HE never got a ticket - sometimes he used his cruiser, sometimes it was his personal car, didn't make any difference.
I broke my leg just before Thanksgiving and am still non-weight bearing. When we go out, if I have the crutches and not the wheelchair, my husband will either pull up to the curb to help me out, or pull into a handicapped space (for the place with no curb) just to let me out and then park elsewhere. I didn't apply for a temp placard because I keep telling myself it won't be that long until I can walk again. (Unfortunately, it's already been 9 weeks and I'm still not allowed to put any weight on it at all!) If a cop gave hubby a hard time for that, I'd want to beat him with my crutch! I can understand the need to keep healthy people from those spots, but using it as a drop off point for someone who truly needs it is ridiculous, especially when there is no convenient place to drop off a person with a handicap.
When I have the wheelchair, we park at the back of the lot. I've always been a back of the lot parker - I need the exercise and usually no one else wants to park there so less dings on the car.
Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
9,516 posts, read 20,000,387 times
Reputation: 9418
Quote:
Originally Posted by karibear
I also lived in Alaska, and I have no idea whether there were adequate handicapped parking spots or not. However, I had a friend who'd just had surgery on her ankle and was on crutches - a friend drove her to the store and pulled into a handicapped spot to let her out, since that was the only place without a curb for her to step up on. While she was getting out of the car, a cop came by and gave them a ticket for 'parking' there, even though the motor was running and the driver had planned to park elsewhere and then pick her up there again, and they told him so. Oh, it was also winter and there was a lot of snow and ice, so her crutches wouldn't have been much use getting across the parking lot. At pretty much the same time, one of the city cops was by far the worst offender for parking in a handicapped spot in front of the grocery store. He didn't want his pregnant wife to have to walk an extra 20 feet to get to the door. Of course, HE never got a ticket - sometimes he used his cruiser, sometimes it was his personal car, didn't make any difference.
That one could have been contested and easily won with proper documentation.
That one could have been contested and easily won with proper documentation.
Which one? My friend obviously had a cast and crutches, that was irrefutable.
As for the cop who used the handicapped spots as his personal parking place, he was a jerk otherwise as well - and it was a small enough town that NO one wanted to risk getting on his bad side. In fact, he pulled me over once because he didn't like a bumper sitcker on my car!
It angers me when perfectly healthy, able-bodied people take up handicapped parking and reserved seats/areas for the disabled. I understand that not all disabilities are visible, but I have seen people park in a handicapped spot and then jog into the store. How handicapped can one be if you can jog? If you can jog, then you can walk a few extra steps and park in a regular parking spot. Also, no handicapped permit or plate was in sight on the cars.
I feel blessed that I don't need to use handicapped parking. I am thankful that I have two strong legs, a strong heart and lungs, and I can walk across the parking lot from a far distance parking spot without any problems. Let's leave the handicapped parking to the disabled to use. It's the least that the rest of us can do.
I am not old, nor do I have a handicap card at this time. I can tell you on good days, I can run, mediocre days I can jog, and bad days I can barely walk. I have MS, I'm in my late 20's and really really hate it when people think someone should look disabled to be able to park in the spots. My disease is NOT visible. I can be fine going into the store, but by the time I finish my shopping I use SO much energy that I can barely make it out to my car without falling flat on my face. If they have the card, I give them the benefit of the doubt.
Really, I would find a better hobby.
Its just that I know to many people who DO NOT look like they are handicaped.
I once knew a man who had numerous heart problems, but he looked very stately, and very healthy. He was not.
To tell you the honest truth. My husband had heart surgery at 38 and then another additional one later on..........
You would be turning him in too, because he looks quite fine. ( on the outside)
You might be turning in a cancer patient also..........
I've known some leukemia patients that look like they are just off of a beach.
I really, personally get quite annoyed from the looks or the postings in editorials........about how someone shouldn't have parked here or there.
Looks can be deceiving........
Thank God for these spaces.........and bless all who use them.
Thank you Summering...
Before I turned 40 years old I had a " leg bypass...called a fempop"
I had over 200 staples in my leg. I was home 1- 1/2 days & had CHF (congestive heart failure). Went back to hospital, had tests done, found out I had a heart attack a week or so before all of this & I needed a quintuple heart bypass. They could only do a quadruple bypass, I didm't have enough vein. Holding fluid from heart surgery blew my bypass. Eventually had a cadaver vein transplant to that leg after healing up from heart surgery. Had 3 toes amputated. The cadaver vein leg surgery lasted 3 years. They amputated my leg below knee, then 8 weeks later amoutated my leg above the knee. I have very poor blood flow. All due to having diabetes for 40 years now, since I was a kid.
I have no feeling in my other foot, but so far I am able to get around. I have a prosthesis & most the time hate it. It's so hard to get around, especially since I have no feeling in my foot.
I'm just touching the iceberg here, with my health problems...
We all have health problems sooner or later. Like someone said, don't judge a book by it's cover.
I am very thankful for the disabled parking, and wish I didn't have to use it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrstewart
This drives me crazy as well. I saw someone without a placard continually parking in our parking lot so I called the police one morning...$200 ticket! They have not parked there again since!
MSTEWART...
THANK YOU. WISH MORE PEOPLE WOULD DO THAT
I personally know people who use these handicap plates and there is NOTHING wrong with them. The doctors hand them out like prozac. People abuse the system, and it makes me ill.
I used to have a temporary one, because the assumption was that the bulging disc that made it hard for me to walk was only a temporary problem. I was harassed no end because I was in my 20s with this handicap hang tag. Of course they weren't aware of the different colors for a permanent one and a temporary one as was the case in Texas.
Be very sure you want to point that finger at someone before you do. I can tell you I have never been so embarassed as when this happens. Under the law, even the police don't have the right to know WHY you have the handicap card, they only have the right to see the paperwork regarding it which does not state your diagnosis.
spots for mothers with children and spots for pregnant.
I've seen parking spaces for mothers with children, and frankly I don't get it. If I had the kids with me, I'd want to park as far away from the door as possible, making it easier for me to buckle and unbuckle them safely away from traffic.
Having kids isn't a disability. Neither is being pregnant, in most cases.
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