27 replies to this topic

[keeptrukin]

I can't stand having to park all the way out in the end of the parking lot because the handicap spots are all filled up. I've almost been hit by two different vehicles who could not see me behind them. If it wasn't for my quick thinking and my fist on there trunk I would be road kill.
I want to start a petition here in Maryland to insist on having wheelchair spots. They have van accesible spots but what a joke. I hardly ever see a van or wheelchair accessible vehicle in those spots. I've waited and seen some people come walking out and just plop in there cars and go.
I think they should have a few up front spots just for us that are in wheelchairs. They would have to be wide enough so we can get out chairs out.

Who is with me on this. I know there has to be alot of people who have gone through this.
It just frustrates the crap out of me.
KT

[rkzenrage]

If you can walk the store, don't need extra space for a lift, etc... you don't need special parking.

[juls]

Hi KT,

I'm with you on this one...we've had to take up 2 normal car spaces with our jeep, just so I have enough room to get my wheelchair out and into it.
I was just saying to my boyfriend the other day that I don't think people realise that one of the reasons we have disabled parking is because they have more room....not just because they're the closest to the shops!

[Survivor35]

KT, I'm all for it. Find me someone to complain to that will actually listen, and lets do it. Gotta be someone higher up we can groan at. I wouldn't mind parking further back, if I can get in and out of my car without damaging the persons car next to mine, but I have come really close to getting struck a couple of times. People just dont look out for wheelers.

I wish there was more that I could do other than give people mis using these spots a dirty look. My dad has laid a couple of them out, but I really dont think they could care less. A lot of the larger retails, like Wal*Mart, they have what are called van accessible spots, which are fantastic for wheelers, but it seems like they are the first ones taken by people who dont really need them. They may have the placards in their rearview, or even on their tags, but if they are handicapped in some way that I cant see, they certainly could use the other spots, not the larger ones. This has been one of my biggest gripes since day one. There has to be someone we could complain to, just not sure who. If I could kick the jerks, I would, but thats not gonna work....

[girlracer]

juls, on Jan 7 2007, 07:50 AM, said:

I don't think people realise that one of the reasons we have disabled parking is because they have more room....not just because they're the closest to the shops!

I think this is exactly the problem... but if you're not in 'the situation' you don't realise it I guess!

[bubbleandsqueak]

What I find the problem for me is people that park next to me in the striped zone that no one is allowed to park. I’ve had to call the cops to tow where car 4 times in the last 3 mouths.

[RYAN68]

hey I'm all for it, even though im in Iowa...

What they need to do is re-issue the stickers for vehicles, make them different colors, ones for wheelchair bound people, and color code them for different spots, spots big enough for people to get their chairs out. I get to talk to one of out local representatives here somtime, I'll bring it up, and demand somthing...

[girlracer]

bubbleandsqueak, on Jan 11 2007, 04:12 AM, said:

What I find the problem for me is people that park next to me in the striped zone that no one is allowed to park. I’ve had to call the cops to tow where car 4 times in the last 3 mouths.

you mean like this?





I haven't gotten anyone towed yet, but I waited half an hour for this guy... lucky for him, he didn't come to his scooter while I was there...

about the spaces for different handicap needs, I've heard they have them in Switzerland!

[gsp23]

I'm with you on this and I find myself driving around and around parking lots sometimes waiting for a handicap space to open up, it is so frustrating. Expecially when I go to a store that has some handicap with stripes and some that are normal size without the stripes that are just close to the door but wont work for someone in a wheelchair because there is no extra room. I get to those stores and which ones are taken up and which ones are empty!? You got it... I saw someone pull in in front of me once and take the last handicap spot with the stripes next to it with 3 disabled spots behind it, none of which would work for me. They hopped out of their car and at a brisk pace started walking into the store. I yelled at the person that I would appreciate it if they could move their care to one of the other spots or better yet not abuse the disable parking permit they had because I couldnt get my wheelchair out in the other handicap spaces. She gave me a look like she didnt care, luckily someone else ran out to their car at the time that was parked in a space I needed so she went into the store and I had somewhere to park... lucky I didnt see that lady in the store I probably would have punched her in the kneecaps

I think its more an absolute disregard for other people and laziness though instead of not realizing who needs those spaces. My boyfriend works with two different people who have children in wheelchairs. So they have a permit and one of them admits to using the parking permit weather her child is with or not (and lauged about it) the other one didnt comment so you can guess what that means... I saw a lady and about a half dozen kids hop out of a van yesterday, clearly none disabled, and saw she had permanent plates. I said something to my boyfriend about how they didnt need that and he said he saw a wheelchair in the back of the van that wasnt being used... so looks like more people that actually have a justified reason for having the permit and not caring.

[brackman22]

I've never seen a ticket on a car without a placard or handicap plate parked in a disabled parking spot. I have lived in Florida and Indiana since my injury. I did call the cops once in florida...$25 ticket. It's simply not enforced and the penalty is nothing. Plus, doctors will give almost anyone a placard these days.

What I would like to see is a card or something all disabled people could use(pin # or something) issued with plates and placards. You are already supposed to carry your registration for your placard or plate to prove it is yours. You would have to use the card or whatever in some way in a parking meter type system (raise or lower a flag, turn off alarm) to use a spot. It would need to be an inexpensive system to be plausable.

I think what would help the most is giving store managers and the like power to write parking tickets. Make them payable before the individual can purchase any merchandise and make them legal and binding. I know the managers would not want to do it but avoiding a story on the news about their lack of compassion would be a hell of a motivator.

Funny story: I had an appointment with a doc at a hospital about a two years post injury (1991). All van spots taken. Parked in the boonies taking up 2 spots. I get out of my van and start wheeling toward hospital. Moved over to avoid oncoming car and was backed over by car pulling out of a spot. Luckily, someone saw it and yelled at the driver to stop. Juat knocked me over but put quite a not on my head. They took me to ER and things were fine. The people that did it were dirt poor with new baby. They felt like shit. They were driving an old station wagon and really couldn't see me. I should have been more aware.

BRETT

[Adams]

I've been out a few times with a buddy of mine, also in a chair, and we were in his van. We get back from the mall and there is a car parked next to the van in the hashed out part. Not quite so much that we can't get on the lift because I was able to get on the lift in round about way and than pull the van out so he can got on the lift too. I have more strength than him so I kinda 4wheel drive up the side of the lift.
Anyways, we like to leave the drivers a little present on their door handle as we're leaving. spit, scrock, loogie, whatever you want to call it. Mature? No. Satisfying? Absolutely

[rkzenrage]

When the disabled spots are taken we just take-up the nearest two spots. We park across them.

[Santa Cruz Soul Surfer (LRO)]

What really gripes my arse, is how obesity is so rampant in the states now, that "FAT" is actually considered handicap....I mean, why do they issue disabled placards to these people, when excersice is exactly what they need most!.....I don't understand it???

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[gsp23]

Well unfortunatly because a persons body is not made to support the amount of weight that people are forcing them to carry then the knees start to go out and many also experience hip and back problems. Once they have done that to themsevles they start having problems getting around and then apply for the disabled parking spots. Instead of getting the person to lose weight and therefore starting the address the issue then they are unwilling to do anything about it becasue sitting on their a$$ eating ho-hos is so hard to avoid for some reason... I know a person that is this way so I get frustrated hearing their logic and not knowing how it resembles our earth logic.

Also, now in the US anyways... vehicle manufacturers are making large bucket seats because of the general population getting so fat that they cant comfortably sit in the ones in vehicles. The same fat person I know was so happy about this because they say that seats such as in my truck are not comfortable and I told them thats because they need to lose weight they just got all upset and walked away.

People making themselves disabled is just as insane as people faking a disability IMHO.

[Adams]

The fat community gets the handicap parking spot and, they figure since they're large, they use the only handicap stall in a public bathroom.

[Texaswheelz]

Adams, on Jan 26 2007, 10:05 AM, said:

The fat community gets the handicap parking spot and, they figure since they're large, they use the only handicap stall in a public bathroom.

That is the people I have a hard time not beating the shit out of. Not just fat people but all people in general. I park in the back of parking lots about 99% of the time anyway so I can get the exercise rolling up to the store and because I've been trapped with people parking to close way to many times when parking in the handicap spots.

But the people that uses the large stall just because they need more room to stink drive me crazy. I just set in front of the stall and wait for them to come out and give em a look like I just shit myself because of them when they come out. I've even had people walk in front of me to get to the large stall before me when they could have easily walked into a small one. Grrrr.

[glamisgirl]

I think their should defenitly be wheelchair only parking for sure, just yesterday I got scolded by the principal at my daughters school for parking in the handicap spot in the teachers parking lot, I explained to her the 2 spots that are provided for handicap parking in the main lot are always taken by the same 2 people, whom clearly are not handicaped. After she found out I was in a chair, I think she felt sorry for me and said I could park in the teachers lot anytime I want. Don't want anybody feeling sorry for me but I will gladly park in the teachers lot from now on.

[margaret]

rkzenrage, on Jan 17 2007, 03:38 PM, said:

When the disabled spots are taken we just take-up the nearest two spots. We park across them.

We have done this before and actually got a "ticket" from the mall security. We parked way out in the boonies where there wasn't any cars parked and parked on an angle across 2 spots. When we saw this, we flagged the security guy down and he gave us the "oh, well,"attitude. Needless to say, I called his supervisor and he was apologetic. It was totally ridiculous!

[gsp23]

margaret, on Mar 25 2007, 11:04 AM, said:

We have done this before and actually got a "ticket" from the mall security. We parked way out in the boonies where there wasn't any cars parked and parked on an angle across 2 spots. When we saw this, we flagged the security guy down and he gave us the "oh, well,"attitude. Needless to say, I called his supervisor and he was apologetic. It was totally ridiculous!

I actually read somewhere, I think it was part of the ADA that if there are no handicap spots available then you can cross over two spots as long as you display your placard (or have permanent plates on the vehicle). If mall security still gave you the ticket after confronting them I would definatly go to court over it.

[crash.ca]

gsp23, on Mar 26 2007, 10:40 AM, said:

margaret, on Mar 25 2007, 11:04 AM, said:

We have done this before and actually got a "ticket" from the mall security. We parked way out in the boonies where there wasn't any cars parked and parked on an angle across 2 spots. When we saw this, we flagged the security guy down and he gave us the "oh, well,"attitude. Needless to say, I called his supervisor and he was apologetic. It was totally ridiculous!

I actually read somewhere, I think it was part of the ADA that if there are no handicap spots available then you can cross over two spots as long as you display your placard (or have permanent plates on the vehicle). If mall security still gave you the ticket after confronting them I would definatly go to court over it.

Well, it seems the parking issue is universal!!! I drive a van with a lift and have a very difficult time finding a handicap parking stall wide enough for me. The 'one' time that I did, at our airport, I parked close to the left side of the stall, giving me lots of room to get out, and when I came back from the airport someone had parked a little car in that area!!! I have a sign on the side of my van saying to stay '8' feet away from the side of my van. Can you say 'visually impaired'....(no offense)..lol I had someone with me for the return, so had them back up my van for me, other wise
security would have had to.
In normal parking lots, I now park sideways in handicapped spaces or not, because of the same problem. I usually inform security or staff where I'm going what I have done. Most people don't have the kohunas to say anything...in fact no one has so far.
As far as people using disabled peoples' placards....I have many times reported the card number to the place that issues them and the people get one warning and if it happens again they lose the card. I figure if they need it so little that they can lend it out...maybe they don't need it. We are all made very aware of what we can and cannot do with the cards when we get them. I always carry a camera in my van as well...freaks people out when you take a pic of the placard they are 'using'..lol

[KimAndSophie]

Julian and I went to a park here in Atlanta last month. We had to search the parking lot for a disabled parking space, and after finally finding one we parked and he went to get my wheelchair out of the back. In the maybe 5 minutes it took to get the chair out and for me to get into it 5 or 6 people stopped or slowed down behind us and asked if we were leaving. None of them seemed to have a disabled parking sign and went and parked in regular spots!

When we got back, someone had parked their suv on the lined area between the two disabled spots! They parked on an angle to close to the side of the car that we couldn't even get the door halfway open (it's not a big door) and we could barely get the back door open to let my guide dog into the back seat. We didn't know how long they were going to take (it could have been hours), so Julian had to back out accross the parking lot to let me get in. As he was doing this some people on a motorcycle stopped and were watching us. We assumed they were waiting for us to move, but then the guy said he was waiting to park in the space! They have a whole area for motorcycles to park in and it wasn't near being full, and he decided to take up a whole disabled parking spot!

Julian asked him if he realized it was a disabled spot and he made this huge fuss about how he didn't know and left. He hadn't noticed the sign, the blue paint or the fact that we were complaining about the person who parked next to us, or even my chair! When we left there was a line of cars behind us, and sure enough we hadn't pulled away from the spot when someone without a sign parked there!

It happens all the time, and so far Atlanta is the absolute worst place I've been to where this happens. These people have absolutely NO respect or common sense whatsoever!

[RacingAxe]

Today I ended up parking in the driving lane right next to someone who parked in a van accessible spot only to watch them sit there and light up a cigarette. As I was putting my wheelchair together, someone else pulled into the van accessible spot directly in front of the smoking lady and was watching for their shopper to exit the store. When I came back out, there was another vehicle in that same spot waiting for someone to come out of the store too. This last one didn't even have a handicap placard or plate. With all the handicap spots taken, and there are a lot of them at this particular store, I thought I'd at least see one other person in a wheelchair. I didn't see anyone in a chair but I did see an obese person in the store supplied electric cart. Just another typical weekend day at the supermarket!

[LuckyinKentucky]

The bad thing about folks parkin too close to me is the dents they recieve, My truck is by no means a show stopper but it has certainly left many an impression.

I havent had a motorcycle park next to me yet but having ridden and wrecked many I do know they tip quite easily.

[gsp23]

Well yesterday my boyfriend did it... (and he has heard me complain about others using the spots when they shouldnt and he agrees with me). We had gone out yesterday and made stops at several places, on the way home it was about 11:00pm and we stopped at the gas station to pick up some milk. He was just going to run in quick while I waited in the truck. And what does he do... he pulls into the parking lot, goes straight for the handicap spot and parks in it, before I could say anything he jumps out of the truck and runs into the store. When he came back out again I asked why he parked in the one and only handicap spot in the parking lot and he said it was because he just had to run in quick and because he could! I told him that really he couldnt and he is doing the same thing that we both complain about. I asked what was wrong with the non-handicap spot right next to that one and he didnt even notice it! We had a talk after that about not starting to do what the "fakers" do all the time.

[Survivor35]

I was actually impressed by the state of Virginias take on this, at least in the williamsburg area while I was there a couple of weekends ago... almost every where we went, there were not only the normal handicap signs, but posted under them outlined exactly the fine that they would be faced with if caught misusing it, and the fact that there vehicle would be towed. And, their security seemed to pay a bit more attention. My b/f drives a Jeep Wranger, so when first parking in these spots, we got some weird looks, like, yeah right, she really needs that... until they saw him unload my chair, and then unload me into it... (gotta love having a strong guy, makes life so much easier... haha) But, I think that posting exactly what they will be faced with financially helps make people think twice before using these spots. Granted, there are probably a lot of people out there that still wont give two shits, but maybe with some... its better than the state I live in, anyway, who could care less.

[Big Valley]

Texaswheelz, on Feb 5 2007, 02:01 PM, said:

I park in the back of parking lots about 99% of the time anyway so I can get the exercise rolling up to the store and because I've been trapped with people parking to close way to many times when parking in the handicap spots.

This is what I do. I have used a handicapped spot probably less than a doz. times over the last year. I just find it easier to park out far, not search for a close space, not have to worry about someone blocking my door. I do look for spaces next to cart corals or other objects so people can't park next to my door.



I also use it as a way to get a little more exercise we all need. Why fight for some close space just to go in a huge store or mall and walk all over thousands of sq. ft.?



When people ask me why I don't park there I say those spaces are for handicapped people, not me.

[gsp23]

I use the handicap parking spots and here is my reason why...

Back when I first got my truck, I would park in the backs of the lot (I was AB back then) just so some idiot wouldnt swing their door into the side of my truck and give me a ding, or so some cart didnt crash into my truck and muck up the paint and possibly dent it. Almost every time I came out of the store there was always someone parked right next to me. I am parked some 2 dozen spaces behind the next used parking spot and some idiot has to part right next to me. Now by right next to me, I dont even mean in the spot next to me. I mean that they are parked over the line and have their passenger door so close to my drivers door that as an AB I could hardly squeeze in. I never understood why in the world someone had to park next to me. I thought it was that group logic of someone wanting to be what I call "truck buddies" same logic you see of how there is always a group of cars driving down the freeway together and if you pass the group someone will jump in behind you from that group and cling to you regardless of your speed, once you pass through that group.

Anyways, after quite some time had passed and this almost always seeming to happen to me I mentioned it at a get together I was at. My cousin (who is about 5 yrs younger) was there. When I said my frustrations about this she laughed and said she always did that when she saw people parked farther back. I asked her why in the world she would do that and she answered that because it was clear that person in the back of the lot didnt want anyone parked next to them so she would do it just to piss them off. Keep in mind here that I was still AB at the time so my irritation just grew then into why someone would inconvenience themselves that much just to park their peice of junk next to someones nice new vehicle that was parking farther away to avoid scratches and door dings. Now, my cousin never actually parked next to me in the lot but clearly there are a LOT of people who do this since it repeatedly happened to me for a few years whe I was AB. So, I figure I am better off to take my chances with a disabled spot in hopes that I wont get a motorcyle parked next to me in the dashed area. I rarely will park in a spot that has a dashed area large enough for another car to park in since I dont need the extra van loading space so normally I dont have to worry about people parking there. Unless the large dashed area is just before the first regular parking space, then of course you have the people who are so worried about their new vehicles being scratched that they park half in the first spot and half illegal in the dashed handicap loading area.

This may not be the idiotic mentality of where some people live but it definatly is where I live. It is much more rare to see a person parked in a handicap spot without a tag (people using tags that they clearly dont need or dont belong to them, you see all the time) then it is to see people parked RIGHT next to a vehicle in the middle of BFE. Same goes for a vehicle parked at an angle. I have done this before when there are no handicap spots available only to find someone apparently wanted to piss me off by parking so close I couldnt get into my truck again! Stupid people, I wish they would just live their own lives instead of trying so hard to piss off others for no reason.

[Texaswheelz]

Big Valley, on Apr 16 2007, 03:06 AM, said:

This is what I do. I have used a handicapped spot probably less than a doz. times over the last year. I just find it easier to park out far, not search for a close space, not have to worry about someone blocking my door. I do look for spaces next to cart corals or other objects so people can't park next to my door.

Yeah i always look for the space next to a light pole or even at the very back, beside the curb so I don't have to worry about it.

I wish I would have had my camera with me this weekend though. My wife wanted to look at some new cook books at Barnes & Noble and my back was killing me so we parked in the handicap spot. Tons of room, but all the other parking spots in that row were for compacts. So after a hour or so we come out to leave and there is 3 SUV's parked in the first 3 non handicap spots, leaving the one closest to us about a foot from our door. The worse part was that it was still running and there was a person in the passenger side and back seat. Neither of them offered to move and make room and instead my wife had to back out to the middle of the parking lot.