Why do ‘Some People’ think it’s ok to park in Handicapped Spots?

[latunabernie]

In California if you have Handicap Place cards or plates you do not need pay at parking meters.
I could never figure that out.
Just because you become handicaped you suddenly become poor.
A lot of Valet services have stolen handicap place cards and have abused the system.
I hate these people.

Bernie

[pmax]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

Wrong. The lower placard is the handicap placard.

This photo shows the sign. There was another sign there too.

[unclebilly]

I’m puzzled about that Calgary transit thing too. It’s definitely a handicap spot but looks like they let Calgary transit park there too???

[Mike80911]

Some people are just selfish pri***. Here in NY, it is out of control. They not only park in handicap spots but also in the zone between the spots that is lined off for handicap people to be able to get in and out of their cars. I have a handicap permit due to medical issues that left me unable to walk for several months. I have recovered enough to walk and looking at me you would not realize I had any issues, so people sometimes make rude comments about me using a handicap spot.
The other day I was at a shopping center and there was only one handicap spot left so I parked in a regular spot. When I returned to my car there was a car parked in that last spot and a woman got out who was severely handicapped. I said to my wife thank God I didn't take the last spot as she definitely needed it more than I did.

[NY65912]

I have a permit and only use it is I am having trouble that day, times when I am using a cane. Chronic muscle spasms form failed back surgery.
Otherwise, I leave the spot for someone who is in worse shape than I.

To answer the OP's question...........uncaring, disrespectful azzholes.

[GH85Carrera]

Over 30 years ago I stopped at a grocery store. I always park in the back of the lot to avoid door dings. As I was leaving a idiot that parked in the yellow stripped area next to the handicap spot was having a fit because a wheel chair handicap person opened the side panel and the ramp came down and scraped up the idiot's car that parked in the wrong spot. The cops were there writing a ticket to the idiot, and I heard the cop tell the idiot you 100% responsible for the damage, as you illegally parked in the handicap area. I just grinned and pushed my cart of groceries to my car, and put the cart in the corral.

It was instant karma for that idiot.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Over 30 years ago I stopped at a grocery store. I always park in the back of the lot to avoid door dings. As I was leaving a idiot that parked in the yellow stripped area next to the handicap spot was having a fit because a wheel chair handicap person opened the side panel and the ramp came down and scraped up the idiot's car that parked in the wrong spot. The cops were there writing a ticket to the idiot, and I heard the cop tell the idiot you 100% responsible for the damage, as you illegally parked in the handicap area. I just grinned and pushed my cart of groceries to my car, and put the cart in the corral.

It was instant karma for that idiot.

Great story. Handicapped equipped vans need to have their door/ramp upgraded with hardware from a backhoe/excavator for just that reason!

[red 928]

Why do ‘Some People’ think it’s ok to park in Handicapped Spots?

You mean those spots way up in front
that are always empty?
I didn't realize there was a problem with people
using them who weren't supposed to,
I mean with the spots being empty all
the time and everything.

It's probably the same people who drive around and stop
and wait for the absolutely closest spot they can find so they
can skip walking that extra 20 feet.
Most of them look like the exercise would do them good.

I usually park in the boonies to avoid people,
as much as that is possible.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

Folks, I agree with most of the sentiments expressed in this thread, with the exception of keying someone's vehicle or puncturing their tire.

But, looking at the photo provided because the ground is snow covered you can't see any painted handicap symbols on the ground. Nor, from the camera position can you see if there are any signs are posted on poles in front of the parking spots.

It is possible that there was no visible indication if that was handicap parking that the driver saw.

Pretty much every single handicapped spot in the country is a wide space with room to unload a wheelchair.

Rationalization failure

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

Note the drivers school sign… I tried to call both numbers.

Looks like he is legit handicapped. He’s driving impaired.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Looks like he is legit handicapped. He’s driving impaired.

Exactly!

dumbarsed = handicapped

[masraum]

I've got a buddy that got a speeding ticket and had to go before Judge Betty Brock Bell (Justice of the Peace).

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/former-justice-of-the-peace-loses-bid-for-new-1885908.php

wo months after her conviction for fraudulently obtaining handicapped parking placards, former Harris County Justice of the Peace Betty Brock Bell lost her bid for a new trial Thursday.

Her attorneys said they will appeal the decision.

A Harris County jury in November convicted Bell of tampering with a governmental record, a state jail felony, for using her dead mother's name to obtain the parking permits. She was placed on probation and ordered to give up her judge's position.

One of Bell's attorneys, Peter Riga, argued that prosecutors had prejudiced the jury by continuously referring to Bell as a judge, although she was not charged with official misconduct and was tried only for her actions as a private individual.

Riga alleged that it was "misleading and inflammatory" for prosecutors to tell jurors a "judge should know better." He noted that Bell does not have a law degree and did not preside over felony trials.

Riga also argued that prosecutors went through Bell's past cases and dealings to make her look bad. Noting that Bell had ruled against the state with some frequency, Riga suggested that she was impugned for her judicial decisions.

"They entered the mind and the heart of the judge, which is forbidden," he told visiting state District Judge Mary Bacon during a brief hearing.

Prosecutor Donna Goode countered that judges are not immune from the law. She also said Bell used her position to receive special treatment at the county tax office, where she went to renew the parking placards.

Goode, chief of the district attorney's Public Integrity Division, argued that Bell's attorneys also made much of her status as a justice of the peace during the trial.

"They're the ones who marched in all the witnesses to make it seem she was important for who she was, not what she did," Goode said.

Bacon called Riga's argument "very interesting," but denied his motion for a new trial without further comment. Bell declined to comment as she left the courtroom.

Bell, 56, a Democrat, served as Precinct 7, Place 1 justice of the peace for 20 years. She was the first black woman elected to such a post in Harris County.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by freddy67

Seen both sides of this. My FIL has DV plates and still gets stink-eye when he looks "fine" walking in, folks don’t see the days he can’t make it across the lot. On the flip, I watched a guy get cited after he parked over the striped access aisle next to a chair van, the ramp scraped his door and the cop told him he was 100% at fault. Instant lesson.

For the California meter chat: with a valid placard/plate you don’t feed street meters and you can use signed residential permit zones, but the garage/lot rules depend on the operator, some honor it, some don’t. The hashed area is always a no-park.

Years ago, I read a "Dear Abby" or Maybe "Ann Landers" from a guy that was in his early 20s with muscular dystrophy. He worked out at the gym to try to enhance his strength to counteract the MD. He had a HC parking permit so when folks would see a young, fit looking guy getting out of a HC park, he apparently caught a lot of crap, because he didn't fit people's image of a HC person.

[A930Rocket]

I’ve never parked in a handicap parking spot. That’s just wrong.

I was at Harris Teeter a couple weeks ago and I saw these two young girls get out of the car and I noticed they were in a veteran parking spot. I should’ve thanked them for their service and see what they said.

For my little experience, I have with parking lot and signage, the handicap sign had to be so many inches/feet high and so many inches/feet behind the parking spot. Maybe in Canada, it’s different, and that’s why the sign was so low?

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by masraum

Years ago, I read a "Dear Abby" or Maybe "Ann Landers" from a guy that was in his early 20s with muscular dystrophy. He worked out at the gym to try to enhance his strength to counteract the MD. He had a HC parking permit so when folks would see a young, fit looking guy getting out of a HC park, he apparently caught a lot of crap, because he didn't fit people's image of a HC person.

I was like that, too. Had a bad stroke 25 years ago and had to learn to walk, talk and think again. Had PT for 2+ years to get me back to being normal. Then one night I was at Dave and Busters with friends celebrating my recovery. Had a grand old time and when I was leaving, a cop pulled up to me in the parking lot and asked about the the blue card for the placard. I asked hm if he meant this? It is supposed to be kept in the user's wallet. I told him to be free to call it in and verify. He told me I don't look handicapped, and I replied that was a compliment since it took me 2 years to get back to walking and talking... He mumbled something and left.

Also, in Hawaii, there is a $500 fine for misuse of a handicap placard, and $300 or $500 for blocking the access area. However, you can call 911, but I doubt a cop will show up. There is also a citizens group that patrols the stalls, but I feel for them as they are mostly elderly and some people give them a lot of ****. However, a ticket from them is still a legal ticket. I had to chew out one young person that was using someone's pass waiting for his gf, when he was *****ing out the parking guy.

[sc_rufctr]

Locally you have to display a handicapped swing tag from your mirror otherwise you'll cop a fine (often not enforced).

[masraum]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Locally you have to display a handicapped swing tag from your mirror otherwise you'll cop a fine (often not enforced).

I think that's the deal here. I believe the rule is that you're supposed to hang the tag on the rear view mirror when you park and take it down while you're driving. Most folks with the tag just leave it on the rearview mirror permanently.

[GH85Carrera]

13 years ago after my hip replacement, my doc gave me a temporary handicap parking permit. It is nice to park up front in a nice wide spot and not have to worry about door dings. I was still walking with a cane, at that time. I hung that handicap pass up in my garage as a memento, long before it expired as I was walking better than before the operation in short order.

There was an app to report handicap violations, I don''t know if it is still available. Just photograph the car, the tag number, and the handicap marker, and send it in. They said they would mail a letter to the offender on official looking letterhead. It had no real legal power, but maybe gave the offender something to think about.

My MIL is 92. She had a handicap placard when she still owned a car. We would take her to lunch in her car, and park up front. It was in the mirror as I hopped out, and some dude was yelling about using a handicap sport when I was not handicapped. I opened the door to my 92 year ol MIL and held her hand to steady her as she walked slowly into the restaurant. All the dude said was said was oh.

[fastfredracing]

If I were doing predatory parking lot towing, these are the mfers I would search out and drag off to the yard at every possible opportunity that presented itself .
I knew a guy who had a fake placard, just because he was a lazy schlub , and thought he was cute cheating the system . Typical slovenly american guy who didnt want to walk the extray 75 feet into the grocery store, or Home Depot .
I wanted to toyna harding his knee cap while he was telling me about it .
Coming home from vacation one year, in the middle of the night , I pulled into a rest area after driving for more than 10 hours . I was the only car in the parking lot. I did not even notice, but I pulled dead center into the parking area, right smack in the only handicap parking spot in the entire parking lot .
When we came out of the restrooms, we were all surprised to see a Virginia State Trooper parked right at my car .
I nervously asked him if there was something wrong officer ? It was me my wife teenage son, and 2 year old son at that time .
He asked me if there was a reason that I parked in the only handicapped parking spot in the entire lot , when the lot was empty, while pointing at the sign.
Boy , did I feel like a tool .. I apologized profusely and tried to explain to the officer that I am the last guy on the planet to be a selfish jerk , and that we were just road weary . I think he believed me, not ticket and wished us safe travels . I deserved some good ole Virginia street justice for that move

[zakthor]

Well this thread is sure a disappointment. Not one of you villains will step up and defend the practice?

I was looking forward to some advanced mental acrobatics. Come on there’s got to be someone.