How many times have you lapped a parking lot for 10 minutes, hoping a handicapped parking spot will open up, only to get frustrated and park at the end of the lot? Chances are, quite a few.
So you park at the back of the lot and fight your way through the unplowed snow and the often times very unhelpful crowd, only to find that the cars parked in the reserved handicapped spots are lacking the proper identification. And you wonder why some people just don’t seem to care.
There many different views on the issue of reserved parking for the disabled. Many people, both disabled and able-bodied, feel that reserved spaces nearest the destination are necessary to help avoid trying to navigate a busy parking lot in a wheelchair or with a walker. Others feel that since disabled persons expect equal treatment in every other area, that the reserved spots should be eliminated. Still others feel that these spaces are necessary, but there are too many of them in some locations.
Cracking Down on Parking Violators
When police in Oakland, CA, began cracking down on violators, they found that many of them work for the city, state or federal government. On one particular day, officers cited 34 people for illegal use of disabled parking tags. The excuse most often heard for the violations was that the driver had “just dropped [the owner of the tag] off at a doctor’s appointment” or would be later in the day. One of the officers wrote three citations in 70 minutes.
Many other cities, including Honolulu, Seattle, Sacramento and Victoria, Canada, have started their own disabled parking enforcement with the help of volunteers.
New Laws the Beginning of a Solution
Although there is no easy solution to this problem, two Democratic senators introduced a bill last week to help deal with this problem. The bulk of this bill will focus on improving communications between physician’s offices and the Department of Motor Vehicles so that the DMV can be certain that the forms needed to obtain a permit were, indeed, filled out by a doctor.
January 1 of this year saw many new laws to prevent the abuse of disabled parking permits take effect.
- In South Carolina, it is now required that a photo of the person with a disability be on the parking placard.
- In North Carolina, new handicap parking placards will have expiration dates printed so large that they can be read from 20 feet away
- In California, cities now have the authority to increase fines for handicap parking violations up to $1,000 and to allow parking-control officers to issue tickets.
- In Connecticut, the governor has called for a widespread crackdown on offenders that would include a media campaign to heighten awareness, technological improvements to make it easier to verify valid permits and window stickers instead of hanging placards.
If you see such violations and want to report the offenders, visit HandicappedFraud.org. This website, started by a San Francisco-area woman in 2007 who was angry over the difficulty she faced when trying to find a parking space with her severely disabled grandfather, has over 10,000 users who send in tips that she sorts and send to the proper DMV.
Megan Abrams - I have lived with the effects of a childhood stroke for more than half my life and offer a uniquely personal perspective on disability.
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