Sometimes I park in handicap spaces while handicapped people make handicapped faces
Actually I don’t, but I’m thinking about starting
Me and the Mrs. headed to Wal-Mart a bit ago. The Mrs. (who is 8 months pregnant) and I were driving through the parking lot. Wal-Mart has those parking spaces that are right near the handicap parking spaces labeled Expectant/New Mothers. These are for folks like my wife who shouldn’t have to walk far distances. We pulled up to one and there was a car in it. The car had a handicap sticker. Right next to the empty handicap spaces. Ponder it for a bit. This person could have parked in the handicap space and even been closer than they were. But they parked in the spot for hormonal women, who may kill you for looking at them funny or implying that maybe their ankles are kind of puffy.
I think that was the first time in the history of the universe that someone was pissed because a handicapped person was in their spot.
April 22nd, 2006 at 1:10 am
You know, there’s only two places I’ve ever been where even half the handicapped spaces were filled-those two places being the PX and Commissary at every stateside post I’ve been stationed at. And those have about twice the usual number, but you won’t get any argument that they’re well deserved.
Oh, and the post hospital here at Ft Lewis has a bunch of spaces, nearest the door closest to the OB/GYN clinic (not the main entrance) for expectant/new mothers-the tag they’re issued is good for two months past the due date.
Honestly, I think the law as far as how many spaces are required is a bit excessive.
Now, I remember seeing somewhere that at least one state was thinking of giving pregnant women in their third trimester temporary handicapped tags.
April 22nd, 2006 at 8:32 am
I think mandatory “handicapped” and “expectant mothers” spaces sucks. I would support a store that voluntarily had such spaces but I don’t support any laws mandating them.
April 22nd, 2006 at 9:04 am
The parker’s pregnant and drove to the Walmart in her handicapped husband’s car?
April 22nd, 2006 at 9:04 am
There is always the chance that those handicap spaces were earlier filled when the offending car arrived.
Personally, I think setting aside a few handicap spaces is a small concession and a nicety for those who do have trouble walking. What bugs me is when a car with handicap plates pulls into those spaces and a perfectly healthy person jumps out.
April 22nd, 2006 at 11:17 am
Once when my son was a baby and I was driving a little honda civic hatchback, a guy boxed me in and left me zero room to get into my car. I was boxed in on the other side too. I was so pissed off at these people’s lack of simple consideration that I keyed the crap out of the car of the worst offender. This person was driving a huge boat, parked on an angle, and had tons of room on the other side. Dang I was angry. This was in Canada too, stupid Canadians.
April 22nd, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Jeff,
Please remember that some handicaps, such as heart disease, are not obvious
to the casual observer.
April 22nd, 2006 at 11:32 pm
I love the Dennis Leary reference.
(I was going to post the same point that Jeff Soyer made, but he beat me to it.)
April 23rd, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Well, when I lived in the Peoples Republic of Maryland, Montgomery county actually, I was sitting at a red light, when in the lane next to me I noticed a handicap tag on a motorcycle. It wasn’t even a large, relatively stable motorcycle. Perhaps I’m unfeeling, but if you can ride a sporty motorcycle, you don’t need special parking.
April 23rd, 2006 at 11:07 pm
It is entirely possible that the driver of the handicapped-stickered car was pregnant, and the sticker was not in her name (as htom said). That being said, I also think there are entirely too many handicapped spaces in most parking lots. I believe (but am not sure) that the number or percent must be set by the State (in its local or state incarnation), and it is set too high at most places, rarely too low. Of course, it should be set by the building owner.
I also think that no tickets should be given for parking in Handicapped spaces if an adjacent empty space is also signed for handicapped. BUT, if they all fill, the non-handicapped could then immediately get tickets. It could be called the “Do You Feel Lucky?” parking clause.
April 24th, 2006 at 12:23 am
The idea of handicapped spaces is that there should be empty spaces. If the handicapped spaces are full that means that the next handicapped person will have to park far away.
April 24th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Apropos of not much, in at least some states, it’s illegal to park in a Handicap spot even with a handicap tag or sticker. The idea is, the handicap spots are for if the handicapped person is the one driving the car; if someone else is driving, they can drop off the handicapped person at the door, and then park in a regular spot.
Apropos of even less, I know some people who have a handicap tag and frequently abuse it (e.g., the tag is for the guy, and his wife uses it even if he’s not with her).
April 24th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
Manish: But how many empty spaces? What I usually see is 6 or 8 spaces and not a single legally parked car in them, or dozens of spaces and only a few cars. Where I work, most of the spaces on one side of the building are marked handicapped; with over twenty handicapped spaces, we’ve got one guy in a wheelchair and a couple of old ladies that have a little trouble walking but may or may not legally qualify for a sticker. We’re in a business where two good arms are necessary, but mobility isn’t very important to most jobs – and even if it was, there’s a reason we call the wheelchair guy “Speedy”. Meanwhile, the rest of the lot is overfilled. Maybe we’ve got fewer handicapped people than usual because this is a rural area where people often have to travel 200 miles to get medical care, but the state mandated ratios are utterly ridiculous for around here.
So I like Paul’s “Do You Feel Lucky” clause. If you know from your observations and experience that, short of the Disabled American Veterans national meeting driving up and parking, the handicapped spaces won’t fill up while you run into the store for a few minutes, go ahead and park there. If you’re right, no tickets. When the last space fills up, they start towing the unstickered cars, preferably taking the cars that have been there longest first. That gives me essentially zero risk in parking in 1 of 8 empty spots at the grocery store while I buy milk and bread, but it should discourage a**holes from taking the next to the last empty slot when they plan to be there for hours.