36 replies to this topic

[Kayak Girl]

Wow! It is around $250 in California. Or in my case you can get your car towed and miss a day of work. Really sucked too because my smokes were in the car and had no way to go get more. We had forgot to put the placard up after shopping and parked in the handicapped spot in front of our apartment building, same spot we have been parking in everyday for a year. Tow truck company was trolling for business in the middle of the night. Went to leave for work and my car was gone. After asking the managers if they had it towed and calling the police to find out what happened to it, we had the apartment manager call them and they returned my car to me free of charge because they work with the apartment managers and are not supposed to tow unless requested by a manager, which they were not. We had to have my dad take us to go pick it up after he got off work. It was a real hassle. Haven't forgotten to put the placard up since.

[dom]

Mern, on 03 January 2011 - 01:38 PM, said:

Ahh the driving space thing really gets to me...It seems that staff see them as staff parking in some places. But it frustrates me how easy it seems to be to get a blue badge. I went to the cinema the other day and parked in one of the disabled spaces, then another car comes and parks beside me. A girl puts up her badge, opens the door, then walks to the back to get out a crutch then walks on the the cinema. Clearly no need for a larger space!

At college aswell there are only a few disabled spaces and only two of them are wide spaces. They are ALWAYS taken up by the rear access vehicles which don't need them grrrrr.

Buses are generally ok...apart from the one time the bus driver refused point blank to ask a woman with a pram to move. My dad loves writing letters of complaint so he was all over that one, reminding them of the sign on the bus saying 'there is room here for one buggy unfolded as long as a person in a wheelchair does not require this space'. We've found that addin his BBC email address at the top tends to encourage an apology ;)

oh dear sorry about the rant

i personally think they should make two types of space nearer to the cinema/supermarket etc some for w/c users and some for walking aids users, fair enough a w/c user needs the extra space but what about the walking wounded? do they have to 'squeeze' out of their vehicles and park at the back far away from the amenity? it does'nt make sense or is fair to them

[jscott92064]

I thought in the USA if all the handicap spaces were taken, you could double-park, meaning take two spaces.. Is that correct? I had to do that recently to take my husband somewhere and had we parked the regular way, I would not have been able to bring his wheelchair around to the side for him to get out of the car. Came out to a nasty note on my car and coke spilled all over it.

Edited by jscott92064, 16 February 2011 - 04:10 PM.

[Soryfam]

jscott92064, on 16 February 2011 - 04:09 PM, said:

I thought in the USA if all the handicap spaces were taken, you could double-park, meaning take two spaces.. Is that correct? I had to do that recently to take my husband somewhere and had we parked the regular way, I would not have been able to bring his wheelchair around to the side for him to get out of the car. Came out to a nasty note on my car and coke spilled all over it.

I don't know if that's a law or not, but it should be! And a pox on the nasties who left the note and poured the coke.

Sandy S

[jscott92064]

Soryfam, on 16 February 2011 - 07:34 PM, said:

jscott92064, on 16 February 2011 - 04:09 PM, said:

I thought in the USA if all the handicap spaces were taken, you could double-park, meaning take two spaces.. Is that correct? I had to do that recently to take my husband somewhere and had we parked the regular way, I would not have been able to bring his wheelchair around to the side for him to get out of the car. Came out to a nasty note on my car and coke spilled all over it.

I don't know if that's a law or not, but it should be! And a pox on the nasties who left the note and poured the coke.

Sandy S

Thanks. I shouldn't let it bug me so much - I know. It just made me so sad. Last year was so horrible with his recovery and many months on bedrest. Finally taking him to a nice restaurant and it's not like there weren't other spaces around for abs. I wonder if they were watching me from the restaurant as I was wheeling him back to the car, helping him transfer in, and then breaking down his wheelchair. Is this what life is going to be like for us?

[Soryfam]

jscott92064, on 16 February 2011 - 08:48 PM, said:

Soryfam, on 16 February 2011 - 07:34 PM, said:

jscott92064, on 16 February 2011 - 04:09 PM, said:

I thought in the USA if all the handicap spaces were taken, you could double-park, meaning take two spaces.. Is that correct? I had to do that recently to take my husband somewhere and had we parked the regular way, I would not have been able to bring his wheelchair around to the side for him to get out of the car. Came out to a nasty note on my car and coke spilled all over it.

I don't know if that's a law or not, but it should be! And a pox on the nasties who left the note and poured the coke.

Sandy S

Thanks. I shouldn't let it bug me so much - I know. It just made me so sad. Last year was so horrible with his recovery and many months on bedrest. Finally taking him to a nice restaurant and it's not like there weren't other spaces around for abs. I wonder if they were watching me from the restaurant as I was wheeling him back to the car, helping him transfer in, and then breaking down his wheelchair. Is this what life is going to be like for us?

No. Really, most people will go out of their way to help, almost to the point of being intrusive. I wonder if the person saw your blue badge. I hope it didn't spoil your evening. Getting to go "out on the town" is a lot more complicated now, and you should be proud and pleased that you were able to do it. Maybe a comment in the letters to the editor page in your local paper would raise awareness (and maybe make the meany feel really bad.) On the other hand, it could start a whole debate about who really needs and doesn't need a badge. It's a topic that's always ripe for discussion.

Sandy

[Jeramie630]

Not sure if any of you have heard of it but check this site out http://www.parkingmobility.com/. I know I always see cars that shouldn't be in handicapped spots and it gets me so mad Shen I need a spot and there is non. If you have a smart phone you can report it seems kinda cool