82 replies to this topic

[r47s]

I am here to rant just a little.It just drives me crazy when people cant park between the lines.either they take two spaces or they park over the line and you cant get out or in your car or van.Or you see someone jump out of there car and start running to where ever there going

[StellaLAtella]

I agree completely!! Seriously, it is so annoying to see people who obviously have NO mobility issues practically skip their way into the store or whatever!! And many of the people that use the designated "handicapped" spaces don't even have the decal to park there. I do wish that it was enforced more stringently. Oh well, there's my rant (for the hour )

I think Karen covered this topic a few months ago. Old or Fat = Disabled??

~Stella

[edlee]

So much to rant,,, so little time.....

There are actually many different caregories of types that use these spots,,, some legal, some not so much.

I've had more trouble with people bearing real placards, and obviously in need of the space. The problem is that when all the spots are in use, they will park in the lined area next to you. Too close for me to get my ramp out.

When told about it,,,, as I did twice,,, they acted as tho they were in the right. If fellow crips can't be trusted in these situations,,, why think any one else could be?

ed

[ButterflyInAmbr]

What pisses me off is people with vans taking not just one parking space, but a parking space, the free area with the lines on it, and a little bit of the next space over. Okay, I get it, your van is too long for just one space...but do you really need to take all three spaces? Could you not have done a little bit neater a job so that your van just took up one space and the free area, and I could actually get my car in without taking out one of your head lights? That's my rant.

[LuckyinKentucky]

Ed those who park illegally are bound to learn from the scrapes and dings applied naturally to their vehicles that is is costly to do so... therefore it is your duty to disregard the illegally parked vehicle and if it happens to get scratched and dented by your chair, oh well, they shoulda known better.

[wheeliebear75]

Yeah funny you should mention scratches. A few weeks ago we were at Walmart. When we went in there was no car next to us......we were in there for a while, well when we came out there was another car in the disabled space next to us. OK 1st of all NO plates or plaque in the rearview. The guy had bulled in so crooked that the door couldn't even open all the way. Well just as a skidded past his car.......he came out. And he came out yelling about how if I damaged his paint we'd be paying for a new paint job. To which my B/F informed him "we can handle this 1 of 3 ways; you can shut your pie hole, I can shut it for you, or oh yeah we can call the cops out here & you can explain to them why your ass was parked in disabled parking when you're obviously NOT DISABLED which is a nice big fine!" The guy opted for option "A". B/F is 6'1 & 400lbs of angry Italian......smart choice.

Unfortunately this sort of thing (parking space issues) happens all the time. People "jut going in for a minute". And yes it pisses the Hell out of all of us. We NEED them they don't nuff said.

(whenever there is van access we do not park in that one unless the others were all taken)

[M@CHINE]

i had this problem today in my apt had to call the office becuz ppl parked in the handicap space and the lines next to it and i couldn't leave the house. They got a handicap sign but they don't enforce it if this keeps up im callin the cops

[Hikkakaru]

I got yelled at once for not being handicapped. Was sitting at a Target in a handicapped spot that I had parked in to wait for a friend that had ran in for me real fast. Someone knocked on my window and proceeded to tell me how offensive it is that I, as a teenager, use my grandparents placard to park in handicapped spots. I said okay and rolled the window up and turned my music back up.

[twisted_ophelia]

Hikkakaru, on May 16 2009, 02:37 PM, said:

I got yelled at once for not being handicapped. Was sitting at a Target in a handicapped spot that I had parked in to wait for a friend that had ran in for me real fast. Someone knocked on my window and proceeded to tell me how offensive it is that I, as a teenager, use my grandparents placard to park in handicapped spots. I said okay and rolled the window up and turned my music back up.

Yeah, I've had people see me sitting in my car and come up to the window and inform me that I am in a disabled parking space. I usually laugh and then proceed to get my chair out, or point my chair out on the seat if I'm not getting out yet. That usually shuts them up pretty quick. I don't mind parking far away in an open part of the lot if the disabled parking spots are all taken by people who really need them but it sucks ass when all the parking spots are narrow in a rammed parking lot and there isn't room for my chair in between the cars. Luckily I have a pretty tiny chair so it's not often that it doesn't fit somewhere.

[E-DOG]

Don't know about elsewhere, but here they're called the North American California Red n' Yellow Breasted Able Bodied Idiot.
Selfish and self centered by nature, most all of them are tragically born with a much smaller brain than the proud and magnificent Rolling Eagle.
Called crybabi's for short, these pathetic, retarded chicken like creatures, heads bobbing up and down erratically in search of a free lunch or perhaps
a penny or two to be scooped up by their crabby little claw like appendices, will drive around for hours searching for a parking place within close proximity to their destination. Being nothing more than suds swilling, tube jockeys at home, they tend to gain prolific amounts of weight rapidly causing extreme laziness and an inability to give a shit about others. At full maturity the crybabi will come to believe that other human beings don't even exist and that all the other people he sees around him are nothing but androids manufactured by the government to do his bidding.

Bless their pointed little heads, they try so hard to do the right thing but lacking the natural ability to use logic for day to day problem solving they simply act and behave in a compulsive manner, squawking and chirping endlessly, clapping their grubby little hands together hoping to be tossed some food or a few pennies to purchase cheap cigarettes and a sweet sticky wine they drink by the gallon back home in the cold dank cave like dwellings in which they tend to reside

Whenever possible we must have patience and tolerance when dealing with these pitiful examples of what may once have been a proud and wondrous
society. Throw them a few crumbs, and let them feed from tube of your leg bag if possible, they squeal with delight at the taste of stale urine, rolling on the ground in peroxisms of ecstatic pleasure. So much fun to watch. They may even let you rub their little tummies if you choose to get close enough
but they do stink to high heaven so hold your nose and be sure to wash your clothes afterward, the stench gets all over everything.

Hope this helps, just doing what I can to better understand a species that should have gone extinct in the evolutionary chain of events long ago.

E-dog

[Jax]

I actually was looking for the signs to put on the doors of my truck, and I came across a blog from somebody who is really selfish. Check this out.

I have told that I've been accused of faking, but a new one happened a little while back that I thought was kind of interesting (not to forget really weird). A lady parked her Lexus SUV in the lined area between my truck and the van in the next spot over. I had seen the van's driver roll out in a powerchair, and I didn't have room to get out when the lexus lady pulled in, so I rolled down my window and asked her "Ma'am, could you please move your vehicle so I can get out of my truck?" She responded with "Well, I left you plenty of room." I let her know that she was parked illegally, I couldn't get out my chair, and that when the van's driver came back, she wouldn't be able to get back in her van. This lady actually got mad at me and said I had no right to be rude to her!!

I picked up my phone and told her she could move, or the cops could have a tow truck move her car for her and she could pay the impound fees. She told me how horrible of a young man I was and how my parents should have raised me better, and several other things I didn't completely understand. I couldn't believe it. I sat there when she got in her SUV and drove off. I just sat there for like 5 minutes. COMPLETELY BAFFLED. SPEECHLESS. (and for ME to be speechless is quite the statement) I still haven't figured it out. I just attribute it to more of that mass ignorance and indifference that are spreading all over the world like wildfires, burning down the ideas of common decency, courtesy, and logic.

I do know this--Having a towing service's number on speed-dial helps. Here in TX, if you call a towing company because you can't get into or out of your vehicle because somebody has illegally parked next to you, and you're disabled, they will usually come tow it and they will call the cops for you on the way. It's been done in Austin a couple times in the last year or so. Also, whatever business isn't enforcing the parking can have complaints lodged with the better business bureau and the city/county.

I have found that the worst places to find parking are doctor's offices and hospitals (apparently everybody that goes to the doctor with a cold considers it a handicap). Next in line are pharmacies, wal-mart, and (believe it or not) govt buildings (courthouses, city hall, etc.). I went to the Austin Municipal courthouse a while back, and there was a POLICE CAR parked in a handicap spot!! A F@*KING POLICE CAR!! I gave the judge's clerk the unit number of the car when I went inside. They don't like that too much. I say TOO BAD. Cops don't have handicap tags. Come to find out, the cop that drove that car had left it and was out with his Sargent for lunch. Nice stuff huh?

And people wonder why I'm such an ass...

[longhaul]

I drive a van with a lift. When I park I have to have enough room for the lift to work. When the doors are closed it looks like I.m hogging the space but if I don't someone will park next to my van blocking the side doors. I have waited for people on motorcycles and cars to get finished shopping so I can get in my van more times than I care to remember. If the handicap spaces are full as usual I have to use two regular spaces and boy does that piss people off I have had my van keyed more than once but that's OK I have a concealed weapons permit.............................

[ClaraTaylor]

I don't park in disabled spaces - partly because I need to force myself to wobble / walk / strut my funky canes as much as I can and if I abandon my car at the other side of the car park I have no choice but to keep going (I've lost count of the number of times I'd had to abandon my toes and drag myself the hundred yards).

But mostly because I can't stand the idea of my car (a classic vauxhall chevette from 1979) getting key'd and dented. When I was first modified I used my mothers car and the number of times I'd climb out of the car only to get some dippy woman with her child in tow come and crash their trolley into the car and yell at me about how I was taking up a disabled space.

If I'm too young to be crippled someone better tell me how I get a returns form for these legs and get a working pair!

[Angela250153]

My motto is: Anybody who can push a trolley around a supermarket has no business having a badge.

Old age and being grossly obese does not warrant a badge either.

[greybeard]

Angela250153, on May 17 2009, 03:09 PM, said:

My motto is: Anybody who can push a trolley around a supermarket has no business having a badge.

Old age and being grossly obese does not warrant a badge either.

I happen to agree.

But being both old, and grossly obese, I read that you seem to be implying that I (and others) are this way by choice. Sadly that isn't the case.

I am much too thick skinned to take offence at your remark, but I guess more sensitive souls might be a tad upset by it. Perhaps a little more compassion might be in order unless, of course, you intended to be deliberately offensive.

[twisted_ophelia]

Angela250153, on May 17 2009, 10:09 AM, said:

My motto is: Anybody who can push a trolley around a supermarket has no business having a badge.

Old age and being grossly obese does not warrant a badge either.

I can push a shopping cart around the supermarket. It's a pain in the ass and rather awkward but being in a chair doesn't mean we can't push carts (trolleys) around.

[Angela250153]

greybeard, on May 17 2009, 05:28 PM, said:

Angela250153, on May 17 2009, 03:09 PM, said:

My motto is: Anybody who can push a trolley around a supermarket has no business having a badge.

Old age and being grossly obese does not warrant a badge either.

I happen to agree.

But being both old, and grossly obese, I read that you seem to be implying that I (and others) are this way by choice. Sadly that isn't the case.

I am much too thick skinned to take offence at your remark, but I guess more sensitive souls might be a tad upset by it. Perhaps a little more compassion might be in order unless, of course, you intended to be deliberately offensive.

Sorry I did not mean to sound that harsh, but it always p*****s me off when someone breezes into a space I have been waiting for and then proceeds to run into the supermarket.

I am not lightweight myself but as I have to be able to open my car door fully to get out and then get my wheelchair out of the boot I really do need the space.

I certainly did not mean to be offensive.

Edited by Angela250153, 17 May 2009 - 10:18 PM.

[Angela250153]

twisted_ophelia, on May 17 2009, 05:51 PM, said:

Angela250153, on May 17 2009, 10:09 AM, said:

My motto is: Anybody who can push a trolley around a supermarket has no business having a badge.

Old age and being grossly obese does not warrant a badge either.

I can push a shopping cart around the supermarket. It's a pain in the ass and rather awkward but being in a chair doesn't mean we can't push carts (trolleys) around.

Off course some people use the trollies for wheelchairs, but they either wheel into the supermarket or have someone bring a wheelchair to them.

For myself I have a good sized wicker shopping basket on my lap. That prevents me from buying more than I can carry in a rucksack. Otherwise I have my groceries delivered.

[twisted_ophelia]

Angela250153, on May 17 2009, 06:25 PM, said:

Off course some people use the trollies for wheelchairs, but they either wheel into the supermarket or have someone bring a wheelchair to them.

For myself I have a good sized wicker shopping basket on my lap. That prevents me from buying more than I can carry in a rucksack. Otherwise I have my groceries delivered.

Is a trolley a shopping cart? Because unless a trolley is something else, I am totally confused by your first sentence. I grocery shop alone, independently and without help and push around a shopping cart from my chair. Like I said, it's awkward but it can definitely be done. I'm living proof.

[rue2you]

Personally, I think they ought to have handicap parking signs to reserve spots that say "Wheelchair-users Only" and then if you park there and do not have a wheelchair, then they ought to sock it to you! I am young and have good upper body strength so on pretty days I don't really mind parking on the other end of the parking lot to get an isolated spot so I can get the chair in and out, but it really bugs me on the rainy days. I think everyone in my county has a handicap tag and I can never get a spot at Wal-Mart and then you go in the store, and you do not see one person in a wheelchair! Blows my mind!

[ButterflyInAmbr]

That blog. Wow. If he thinks he shouldn't "have" to walk, maybe we should take out his ability to use his legs with a baseball bat, eh?

[Texaswheelz]

WOOHOO, I love this topic! I haven't owned a placard for about 6 years now. For two different reasons. The first is that I have had about 5 or them stolen. I've had my window broken and only the placard stolen, while there was a nice stereo and CD holder full of about 200 CD's setting there. I had the top of a convertible cut once also. So I'm going to stop supplying them. The second reason is to see if I can actually get ticketed for not having one. So far I haven't gotten one yet. Granted I do not park in handicap spaces often, as i need every bit of exercise I can get. If the weather is bad or I'm in an extreme hurry I'll use it, otherwise I park in the very back even if it's empty. Everyone at work thinks I'm nuts because we have like 20 handicap spots and I park 1/4 of a mile away.

But even without using them often, I use them enough that I should have had more then 1 ticket by now. I've done it at sporting events, concerts, shopping, movies, government, post office...etc. Everything you can think of. Hell I have pulled up in the zone right out side the door at Wal-Mart and been told to move by the little rent a cop and pulled straight across into the handicap and he carried on and didn't care even though he didn't know I was in a chair.

At my current job with the 20 handicap spots, they are pretty much 3/4 full all the time with people using placards. There is only one other person that I work with that is actually handicap, the rest are young, healthy and very able people. One was getting out of his car the other day just as I was getting to those spaces to roll up the ramp and asked why I parked in the back and not up there, I told him that I didn't want to take his spot and cause him any inconvenience. Didn't bother him a bit.

My apartments have about 5 different handicap spots located throughout them, none of the other people that park in them have ever had a placard. I came home one night to find a empty taxi bus parked in the one closest to my apartment that I normally park in. I waited, thinking maybe they were picking some one up and just ran up to knock on a door. Nope, after about 5 minutes I called the number on the back and talked to the dispatcher for the company, he said the person was not on shift. He said they would call them and have them move. After 20 minutes no one had came out. I called back, he said that they weren't answering but they would write a report and if it happened again they would call the police and have them towed themselves. I asked how that helped me at that moment, I guess I'm to passive as I let em off the hook and went and parked some where else.

Greybeard I see you have a spinal injury, so having that and being overweight and a elder is different then just being overweight or just being an elder. If you are 20 and 400 lbs parking in that spot means your lazy, not handicap. Sorry but lazy is not a handicap and there is no such thing as fat parking.

Edited by Texaswheelz, 18 May 2009 - 03:58 AM.

[ClaraTaylor]

rue2you, on May 18 2009, 02:38 AM, said:

Personally, I think they ought to have handicap parking signs to reserve spots that say "Wheelchair-users Only" and then if you park there and do not have a wheelchair, then they ought to sock it to you!

The thing is - disability means everything... my grandmother had one because she was blind (the doctor had forced it on my grandparents and did all of the paperwork for them, admittedly my grandmother was in her 90s and as weak as a soggy bread stick but disabled?) and I know of people who've had badges for chronic heart conditions so they look normal but can't walk so far (because you know full well if they've not parked in the disabled bay than the ambulance who comes to collect them when they go into heart failure will).

So whose going to regulate who is disabled? Not all conditions are as easily identified as with the wheelchair.


(And don't even get me started on the rant of people blocking in ambulances - I've almost driven over a vehicle before now when the stupid gentleman refused to move it from the "emergency exit" while I was on duty with Saint John Ambulance..... )

[greybeard]

Texaswheelz, on May 18 2009, 04:55 AM, said:

Greybeard I see you have a spinal injury, so having that and being overweight and a elder is different then just being overweight or just being an elder. If you are 20 and 400 lbs parking in that spot means your lazy, not handicap. Sorry but lazy is not a handicap and there is no such thing as fat parking.

TW - You are right of course. I should have added "unless they have some other debilitating condition".
Thanks for the correction.

[Tim13]

It's a shame that doctors don't seem to be able to read the rules for approving handicapped parking permits. The rules (in the U.S. states I've lived in) are pretty simple, there are only six reasons that a person can get a permit, having to use a wheelchair is one of the reasons. These six medical conditions are all governed by the ability to travel more than 200 feet without requiring help or stopping to rest. Basically, if you can make it from the parking lot past the courtesy chairs in a store under your own power you shouldn't have a parking permit.
Wheelchair users need special parking for different reasons than the rest of the eligible group. Whether we use vans or just regular cars and trucks, we all need a little extra room to get our chairs out than "normal" parking allows. There is also a safety issue in that we are hard to see and someone could easily back out of a spot and run right over us if we have to travel past regular parking spaces.
Sadly, until cities get so strapped for cash that HC parking enforcement is seen to be a good source of revenue, parking abuse will only continue because most people either have some false sense of entitlement or just don't give a sh!t.

I posted an article on this subject in a local newspaper awhile back where I also pointed out that old, lazy or fat in and of themselves weren't eligible disabilities and that if you can get to the back of the WalMart to graze the bulk food containers under your own power you shouldn't be depriving someone who needs it of a parking space. Should have seen all the angry letters from fiesty grannies and people with so-called hidden* disabilities threatening anyone who dared to challenge their use of HC parking.

*if you can't propel yourself more than 200 feet without stopping to rest or needing help, your disability isn't hidden-trust me.

Edited by Tim13, 18 May 2009 - 12:18 PM.

[rue2you]

Just to clarify, I agree that there are people with real disabilities that need handicap parking spaces. However, they normally get right inside the door and ride a courtesy wheelchair or the electric scooters that are available. There is truth and plain old-fashioned common sense that says if they are able-bodied enough to walk around Wal-Mart for 2 hours, then I am quite sure they could park a little farther out.
I also do not think that every handicap parking spot should say "wheelchair user only" - only some of them. The reason is because every parking space is taken and you never see anyone else in a wheelchair. Why? So, for that reason, I think they ought to reserve the wider spaces for wheelchair users and leave the narrower handicap spaces (because even those are impractical as far as getting your wheelchair in and out) for the hidden disabilities.
Just my two-cents from a "new-born" paralyzed person.

[newwife08]

I'm the wife of a quad and I can't even tell you how many times I have had to climb in and back our mini-van out of a "van accessible" handicap spot, because some bozo parked in the lined area next to us. That actually happened at a store a few weeks ago and the 10-12 year old girl that was left in the car called her parent to come move the car, since they blocked our space. It was faster for me to back it out.
My husband and his best friend went out last week and again, someone blocked in our van. His friend decided to "teach that guy a lesson", so he folded in his side mirrors, took the windshield wipers off the arms and left a nasty note about being more aware of where you park. I can't say that was very nice to do, but I have been tempted in the past to make up little notes to leave on the cars of people who block us in. Most people are just in too much of a hurry and don't pay any attention of where they park. They want the closest spot, no matter what.
I think that there should be some special "wheelchair user only spots" and I think that those spots should be even wider than they are now. My husbands ramp comes out of the side of our van and he needs that much space, plus space to get his chair down and off. That's nearly 5-6 feet away from the side of our van. Most "van accessible" spots don't come close.
In regards to doctors who sign the paperwork for people to get a handicap placard/plate.... they are very lenient, bending the rules for people. I have seen more than a handful of patients that got their paperwork signed, that don't need to have one.

[Kodie]

Hi guys! I HATE when people park in the handicap spots! I see alot of you guys have alot of trouble at wal-mart too..that store must be an A-hole magnet haha because just about every time I have to go shopping there it seems like every other car doesn't have a placard/tag..usually if there's no spaces available I'll have whoever is driving me find two regular spaces together and take up both of 'em! That REALLY ticks people off! But hey! If they wanna mess with OUR parking, WE can mess with theirs!

[StllGoing]

Ok my turn. Does anyone else feel the fine for parking in a handicap spot should be much higher if you are there illegally? Where I live the fine is around $150.00 but if you liter its much higher. I am currently working on putting together a letter to send to my congressman to see what it would take to have the fine raised to 1000.00. That would fix those boneheads for sure.

[rue2you]

Anyone care to dwell on what the emblem is on the handicap placard?