By William G. Stothers
Just a while ago, a little red car zipped up and stopped at the blue curb in front of our office. Leaving the motor running, the driver jumped out and ran, not walked, up to a nearby store. He didn't have a disability and he didn't have a placard or a license plate bearing the wheelchair symbol.
He saw me watching and gave me a pleading look that said he knew he was wrong. In fact, he was back quickly and sped away. Nonetheless, anger welled up in me as I watched.
Few things stir the emotions like "handicapped parking." Across the country people with disabilities þ and non-disabled people þ have problems and stories to tell about parking. It is a favorite topic on the internet.
Non-disabled people complain that there is too much parking reserved for people with disabilities and that it is located in prime areas. And, they say, most spaces mostly stay empty.
Abuse of disabled parking is widespread at places that serve the general public. After a couple of dozen people were cited by police at a football game in my town recently, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the local paper where I once toiled quoted some of the scofflaws.
The placard "belongs to me and my dad," said one guy. "It's my wife's; she's joining me later," said another. One guy complained bitterly that he borrowed his grandmother's placard because he was a long-time season ticket holder and was bent out of shape that he couldn't park in a preferred parking area. He figured it was okay to park in a place reserved for someone disabled because he felt abused.
Later, the paper's editorial board took up the topic. It blamed government. "It allows bearers of handicap placards to park all day at parking meters free of charge. Moreover, it has mandated that all public and private buildings and facilities reserve a portion of parking spaces for the disabled in the closest-possible proximity to the facility. Oftentimes, these spaces are underutilized while spaces for the able-bodied are insufficient.
"This has created `parking envy' on the part of many drivers. And the more unscrupulous among them have contrived ways of obtaining coveted handicap placards. And since San Diego parking police do not stake out malls, restaurants or office buildings, the odds of a driver getting caught with a fraudulently obtained handicap placard are fairly remote."
The editorial called for tougher enforcement. I am sure we would all agree. But I question whether the disabled parking spaces are often underused while there are not enough non-disabled spaces. My experience is that disabled parking places fill up at shopping malls amid a sea of empty spaces outlined in white.
Van-accessible spaces are even more difficult to come by. They are only a percentage of the number of disabled parking spaces mandated by law, and all too often I find them occupied by non-van vehicles. That's permissible, but irritating when you're hunting for a place to lower your lift.
More enraging is the misuse of disabled parking spaces by people with placards. Regularly, it seems, I find someone with a placard or a license plate permit parked in the blue cross-hatching between designated disabled spaces, especially the ones next to van-accessible spaces. Legitimate possession of a placard or plate does not entitle the holder to park illegally in disabled parking areas.
I confess that I grumble, too, when we're looking for an accessible parking spot and see a parked car with a placard dangling from the rear-view mirror and an obviously disabled person (usually an older person or a child) sitting inside while a non-disabled person goes shopping.
I know, I know, the driver could be a person with a hidden disability. But sometimes you just know it ain't so. There is no question, though, that many people with hidden disabilities are unjustly abused when they park in disabled spaces.
In our area, the use of low-sodium lights at night creates another problem. The yellow glow makes the blue paint almost disappear. It makes it more difficult to chew out some innocent non-disabled or even a disabled driver for parking in the cross-hatching when it is barely visible. I know from personal experience, but it still does not stop the anger from welling up.
"Parking envy?" Break my heart. Most drivers with disabilities I know experience "parking rage" over the abuse of accessible parking spaces. Wouldn't you just love to lower your lift on the abusers?
William G. Stothers is editor of MAINSTREAM.
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