I was out riding my bike today and near the end of the ride I stopped in at a local fast food place to get a drink. While I was standing there consuming it, I watched an older guy pull into the last handicapped spot in the parking lot - a bit sideways to get more room for the driver's side door to open - then he put his handicapped parking permit on his mirror and walked in to get his breakfast. I couldn't see any obvious handicap other than age as he walked to the front to order, then walked to the back of the seating area to sit with a friend.
Now I have nothing against anybody who qualifies for handicapped parking and I'm thankful that I don't qualify. What I wonder is: Why do they seem to feel obligated to park in a handicapped spot when there are other spaces available closer to the door? In this case there were two spots that were actually closer and they weren't real tight ones that make it difficult to get in and out of the car.
I have a friend in Folsom who is wheelchair-bound. Nearly every time I do anything with him, he drives since his minivan works better for getting a wheelchair in and out. His minivan has hand controls for the throttle and brake. A while back we went to a car show at Cal Expo in Sacramento (where the California State Fair is held). We got the start time wrong and managed to get there an hour early. So we found a shady spot in the parking lot and talked until it was closer to the time when the gates opened.
They had a whole row of handicapped spots near the entrance - probably 20 of them. What I found interesting was that every car that showed up that had a handicapped permit parked in handicapped parking, even though more than half of them seemed able to walk just fine and there were many spots still available that wouldn't have been any further from the gate. After about half of the spots had been taken, we decided that we had better grab one with enough room to get the wheelchair out before they were all gone.
When going out to dinner with this friend it has often been an issue that there are no handicapped spots left close to the restaurant. When that happens, he'll just park further away and take two spots, parking centered over the line. It's the only way he has enough room to get in and out of his car. He never gets tickets for taking two spots, and so far nobody had gotten upset with a car having handicapped plates taking up two places. Rolling the extra distance is not an issue for this guy. We could have done the same at Cal Expo if we had waited too long for a handicapped spot.
During the last few years of my mother's life, once she got into her 90's, she had a handicapped permit. She could walk okay with her walker up until maybe the last six months, but she couldn't see well enough to walk over rough ground or to climb over curbs. Whenever I took her someplace, if there was a reasonable non-handicapped spot, we would take that, since the extra distance wasn't usually an issue. It was only when there wasn't anything anywhere close to the entrance, or the walk from further away would have been difficult for her, that we parked in a handicapped spot. Apparently we were in the minority thinking that way.
Do any of you have any insights into this type of behavior of taking a handicapped spot when it really isn't needed?
[If this topic has been covered before, I sure couldn't find it in a search.]
Now I have nothing against anybody who qualifies for handicapped parking and I'm thankful that I don't qualify. What I wonder is: Why do they seem to feel obligated to park in a handicapped spot when there are other spaces available closer to the door? In this case there were two spots that were actually closer and they weren't real tight ones that make it difficult to get in and out of the car.
I have a friend in Folsom who is wheelchair-bound. Nearly every time I do anything with him, he drives since his minivan works better for getting a wheelchair in and out. His minivan has hand controls for the throttle and brake. A while back we went to a car show at Cal Expo in Sacramento (where the California State Fair is held). We got the start time wrong and managed to get there an hour early. So we found a shady spot in the parking lot and talked until it was closer to the time when the gates opened.
They had a whole row of handicapped spots near the entrance - probably 20 of them. What I found interesting was that every car that showed up that had a handicapped permit parked in handicapped parking, even though more than half of them seemed able to walk just fine and there were many spots still available that wouldn't have been any further from the gate. After about half of the spots had been taken, we decided that we had better grab one with enough room to get the wheelchair out before they were all gone.
When going out to dinner with this friend it has often been an issue that there are no handicapped spots left close to the restaurant. When that happens, he'll just park further away and take two spots, parking centered over the line. It's the only way he has enough room to get in and out of his car. He never gets tickets for taking two spots, and so far nobody had gotten upset with a car having handicapped plates taking up two places. Rolling the extra distance is not an issue for this guy. We could have done the same at Cal Expo if we had waited too long for a handicapped spot.
During the last few years of my mother's life, once she got into her 90's, she had a handicapped permit. She could walk okay with her walker up until maybe the last six months, but she couldn't see well enough to walk over rough ground or to climb over curbs. Whenever I took her someplace, if there was a reasonable non-handicapped spot, we would take that, since the extra distance wasn't usually an issue. It was only when there wasn't anything anywhere close to the entrance, or the walk from further away would have been difficult for her, that we parked in a handicapped spot. Apparently we were in the minority thinking that way.
Do any of you have any insights into this type of behavior of taking a handicapped spot when it really isn't needed?
[If this topic has been covered before, I sure couldn't find it in a search.]
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