Venting!!!
Something needs to be done about regulating the laws concerning handicap parking!! Years ago I was in line to get gas at a small 4 pump gas station (this was before I was diagnosed). There was a car on each side of one of the pumps and jacked-up pickup truck with the tailgate open on the left side of the pump. I was wanting to go on to the right side but it was really close to the front door and somebody was parked in the handicap space so I couldn't get by them safely so I pulled up as far as I could and waited for the pickup truck to go forward so I could get in line.
Well it turns out the person at the pump that I was where I was heading to finished before the person at the pump that the pickup truck guy was waiting for. He decides he's going to throw it into reverse backup and get that pump paying no attention to whether or not there's any cars around them! Not only does his truck, remember that his tailgate was down, slam into the side of my car breaking the driver side window but he kept going forcing my car to tip over on to the passenger side! If it wasn't for the people who realize what he was doing and started yelling at him to stop, he could have tipped my car all the way over!
Long story short on this, not only was he drunk, but his license was suspended and he had no insurance!! Because it was on private property, all they did was write him a citation for driving with a suspended license and called his mom and dad to come and pick him up and drive his truck home!
There was another time though that my mom and dad received a ticket for parking in a handicap spot and not having their placard hanging from the mirror! The reason that they didn't have it hanging from the mirror was because the top hook part of it had broken and they were waiting for their new one to be sent to them! They had put it on the dashboard, the officer even agreed that he had seen it and had seen that it was broken! They end up with a $50 citation.
I feel that when it comes to handicap parking, regardless if you are on private property or public parking, there should just be one set of laws specifically for handicap parking! If it's wrong on a public parking area, then it should be wrong on a private parking area!
It happens to us all the time where we live! People have visitors who come and the park in a handicap spot with a puckered but no apartment parking permit and the rules clearly state that you have to have a permit to go through the gates! The other issue is people who move in or move out or just came back from Costco will back into the hash mark area. When we tell them that the space says no parking and that I'm in a wheelchair so I can't get in or out of our car, they say that they were told by the office staff that they were allowed to park there while they were moving their stuff in! Every time we call the office about it they say that being do not tell them that! The other thing that frustrates us is in one of the other buildings the handicap space has to be shared with an electric car charging station, which again, is it against the law but since it's 'private property' they're allowed to do it.
Sorry this was so long but I'm so tired of this!
Something needs to be done about regulating the laws concerning handicap parking!! Years ago I was in line to get gas at a small 4 pump gas station (this was before I was diagnosed). There was a car on each side of one of the pumps and jacked-up pickup truck with the tailgate open on the left side of the pump. I was wanting to go on to the right side but it was really close to the front door and somebody was parked in the handicap space so I couldn't get by them safely so I pulled up as far as I could and waited for the pickup truck to go forward so I could get in line.
Well it turns out the person at the pump that I was where I was heading to finished before the person at the pump that the pickup truck guy was waiting for. He decides he's going to throw it into reverse backup and get that pump paying no attention to whether or not there's any cars around them! Not only does his truck, remember that his tailgate was down, slam into the side of my car breaking the driver side window but he kept going forcing my car to tip over on to the passenger side! If it wasn't for the people who realize what he was doing and started yelling at him to stop, he could have tipped my car all the way over!
Long story short on this, not only was he drunk, but his license was suspended and he had no insurance!! Because it was on private property, all they did was write him a citation for driving with a suspended license and called his mom and dad to come and pick him up and drive his truck home!
There was another time though that my mom and dad received a ticket for parking in a handicap spot and not having their placard hanging from the mirror! The reason that they didn't have it hanging from the mirror was because the top hook part of it had broken and they were waiting for their new one to be sent to them! They had put it on the dashboard, the officer even agreed that he had seen it and had seen that it was broken! They end up with a $50 citation.
I feel that when it comes to handicap parking, regardless if you are on private property or public parking, there should just be one set of laws specifically for handicap parking! If it's wrong on a public parking area, then it should be wrong on a private parking area!
It happens to us all the time where we live! People have visitors who come and the park in a handicap spot with a puckered but no apartment parking permit and the rules clearly state that you have to have a permit to go through the gates! The other issue is people who move in or move out or just came back from Costco will back into the hash mark area. When we tell them that the space says no parking and that I'm in a wheelchair so I can't get in or out of our car, they say that they were told by the office staff that they were allowed to park there while they were moving their stuff in! Every time we call the office about it they say that being do not tell them that! The other thing that frustrates us is in one of the other buildings the handicap space has to be shared with an electric car charging station, which again, is it against the law but since it's 'private property' they're allowed to do it.
Sorry this was so long but I'm so tired of this!