I had a very weird thing happen today and thought I would share. First a little back story. We got a disabled parking placard for our daughter, Casey, MANY years ago (I think she was only 4-6 months old when we got our first one). Between the amount of equipment we have to carry for her, and now her being in a wheelchair, accessible parking makes sense. When we first got it we had a placard that hung from the rear-view mirror. This is pretty common. There were details with the application as well as with the placard explaining that it is only legal to use accessible parking with the person named on the placard in the vehicle. We had to include medical letters and all kinds of stuff.
When we purchased a modified van with the ramp we changed from the placard to a disabled plate, but the same laws apply. When I have Casey in the car or my grandpa (as he has his own placard too) I will use the spots. Without either of them in the car, I park in non-accessible spots. First, it's the law, but even if it were not the law I would still do this.
There have been many times I have gone somewhere with Casey and not been able to find a spot. When this happens we either forgo the outing all together, circle until one opens up (possibly making us late for whatever we are doing), or I have to drop her and her nurse off at the door while I then go park and rush back to join them. When spots are not available it makes that outing very stressful and at times you could even say there is some added risk to her health (I won't get into all of those reasons, but with a compromised immune system and intolerance to heat and allergens you can probably figure out some of the risk). That being said, I know there are many other people in the same situation. So, if I do not need the accessible spot I don't use it so others that do need it may.
Back to today... I went to run some errands, leaving Casey at home with her nurse. One of the stops I made was the post office (or postal station). There were 2 spots up front, then another 8 or so across the way. The 2 up front were 1 accessible spot and 1 general parking. It was just me, so I parked in the general parking spot and went inside. While I was filling out my papers a man came in. He was very angry and yelling at the attendants about something. I just minded my own business while this was happening (I wish I had been paying attention). He then stormed out and the attendants were talking to each other. I heard one say something to the effect of "What was he expecting, you don't have to park in the accessible spot just because you can..." This is when I realized he was angry and yelling about me. WTH!! I asked the attendants exactly what he was complaining about to find out that he was angry that he had to walk across the way (like 30 feet) because there was a disabled vehicle parked in the non-disable spot. I was so caught off guard by this, and really mad. I explained the law to attendants and said "as you can see, I do not have my disabled passenger with me." I asked if the man was still around as I would LOVE to educate him on the laws as well as a few others things. I guess it is a good thing he had already left. I would have tore into him if he was still there. I'm still really angry about the entire situation though and thought I would share this story with all of you. Hopefully someone will eventually tell him how it actually works. This is the opposite of the common issues you hear and see with accessible spots. Usually it is people parking there to "just run in" when they are not legally parked at all. I hear a lot of stories about people parking (legally) in these spots to only get yelled at by other drivers. They may not have a visible disability and so others assume that they have illegally gotten a placard or plates somehow. If you are reading this, please remember that not all disabilities are visible. There are many people that need to have quick access to their vehicles for so many reasons. Also, there are many people with mitochondrial disorders (or many other disorders) that may be able to walk when they are leaving the car, but their muscles give out before they can make it back. You may see what appears to be a healthy person entering a store, but they may return in a wheelchair. Don't assume you know better. If they have a placard or plates, they had to provide medical proof that they need the spot. Occasionally you will have people abuse it and park in the spot without their disabled passenger. Sadly there is nothing we can do about these people. Hopefully they will need a spot at some point and not find one to then realize that they should not abuse their permit.
Rant over, I just really wanted to get that off my chest. Lets all follow the traffic laws and try to be kind to one another.
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