Comments on: Handicapped Parking Permits

By: Justin C

Justin C — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 04:59:22 +0000

Hey Shannon! Any chance you could make one of your beautiful rings with hearts and cute stuff like that with your pretty gem stones? I really like your organic looking geo rings! Any how I would love to own a piece of your art but I like hearts and love and cute stuff :) Hope you have a beautiful day!

By: Jennie

Jennie — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:02:41 +0000

Did you dress up for the zombie walk?

By: Darrin

Darrin — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:12:04 +0000

They changed it in Michigan a while ago so it was only free parking if your particular disability prevented you from physically putting money into a meter. On the other hand, to get one, you still need any disability (missing both legs, paralysis, drug addiction, depression, etc), so the field is pretty broad. Using someone else’s permit is a larger fine than parking in a handicapped spot with no permit, but police aren’t allowed to ask what their disability is, as that’s protected medical information. They did start putting drivers license numbers at the bottom of the permits recently, at least.

By: Veal

Veal — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 19:22:11 +0000

I’m disabled and live in the UK. We get a free bus pass that can be used all over the UK, a blue badge which allows us to use disabled parking bays and park in restricted (double yellow lined) areas. Not all our parking is free though, some is just for easier access to shopping areas and the like.I personally don’t drive, but I can use the badge in whatever car I’m being driven in. And I’m very grateful for the bus pass as I live out of town and have several medical needs every week. If you get caught using a blue badge fraudulently it’s a £2000 fine. Several times I’ve had very rude elderly people question me about my entitlement simply because I’m younger, but I, like yourself, use a stick. It really upsets me when I get accosted, I don’t have to justify myself to anyone, you have to undergo rigorous screening to get the badge in the first place.

By: min

min — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:09:07 +0000

My cousin has end-stage cystic fibrosis and frequently gets shit on for using her handicapped parking permit. Because she doesn’t have a visible mobility impairment, people feel entitled to be assholes, even though good parking can make the difference for her being able to complete errands or not. At one point, the harassment got so bad that I suggested she start carrying a cane she doesn’t need, but she felt like that this would be “disability drag” and make a mockery of people with disabling conditions different than her own. I agree that cheats should not be allowed to abuse the system, but I can’t think of an easy way to make this happen at the street level without demeaning and humiliating other, honest people who do need the accommodation in order to function. Demanding that people perform their disabilities to satisfy someone else’s sense of outrage is just gross and weird.

By: VB

VB — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:24:13 +0000

But please read this, re handicapped parking permits. Sometimes all is not as you see it.
https://specialneedsmom.typepad.com/special_needs_mom/2011/10/to-the-author-of-the-anonymous-note-left-on-my-car-windos.html

By: dresden

dresden — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:05:24 +0000

It’s like that in the states. Old people and fatties are usually the ones in the spots.

By: thomas

thomas — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 05:01:17 +0000

I have to say that while the handicap parking issue is valid, there are definitely two sides. Some people who truly need the permit (both for closer parking and to avoid having to return and “plug” the meter) make a real effort to conceal their disability. From personal experience, when people start playing “parking cop” it leads to extremely inappropriate harassment and even verbal abuse very quickly. Another factor to consider is that the person parking the car may not be the one who will return to it.

So I guess my point is that we all know a lot of people are abusing the parking permits, but that in no way gives someone the right to accost a suspected abuser. You have no idea what that person’s actual situation is.

By: shannon

shannon — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:13:38 +0000

The ever diligent ‘they’ did a study in NY and found that most drivers using handicapped parking permits ‘inherited’ them from a grandparent who passed on, so for those people the Dr’s being pushovers is not to blame, I heard ‘they’ (possibly a different ‘they’) were considering deputizing bona fide handicapped parking permit owners to issue citations to violators themselves; I have mixed feelings about that.