Disregard for humanity..?

[vanman]

Hello people,
I saw something yesterday which was quite disturbing to me and was wondering what your opinions was about this aspect.As you all know we have parkings at supermarkets,cafe’s,banks,hospitals etc..! which are specificly marked for disabled people.I visited our local hypermarket and saw a car parking on one of these parkings even when there was a lot of other parkings available.As far as I could see these people were in perfect health.The only reason why they used it as far as I could see was because it was closer to the main entrance, and because it was raining.Disabled people have such an disadvantage compared to us and I think the least we can do is to respect the little priviliges they have in life such as a marked parking so that they know they can visit a market or whatever the case maybe without the hassle of worrying about a parking space.

I don’t think they ask a lot so I took it upon myself to at least ask these people to make use of another parking which was not even five spaces away.You do not want to know what kind of a response this triggered.Swearing is putting it mildly.So I hope we can persuade the local authorities to do something about this.Maybe introducing a fine or something like that.They should put themselves in disabled peoples shoes and experience this kind of behaviour before they start bad mouthing people.Let’s put a good foot forward and do something about this.

Regards
vanman

[avdven]

I have a close friend who has a prosthesis (he owns a biomechanics and orthopedics firm, designing prosthetic arms and legs for people). He has a handicap placard for his car because of his prosthetic leg. He, however, only uses the handicap parking spots when there are no other spots and/or his leg is bothering him badly. I think many people feel that, for the trouble they have due to whatever their handicap, they deserve to get better parking. While I agree that something should be done about this, there is nothing that we can do as inviduals. The reason is that, like my friend, there is no way that you can know what one's handicap is. I say, just leave it to the authorities, and hope that they can catch the violators. (Just my opinion, even though I'm not a great fan of local law-enforcement agencies).

AJ

[lostit44]

Here in Canada if you are caught parking in a handicap zone without your permit they can have you towed also there is a fine so it can get expensive if you get caught but people still park in these spots. All you can do is talk to your locally traffic enforcement and find out what your regs are for your area. If they dont have any fines or such then start talking to your town councial to get the laws changed. It starts with one person to get the ball rolling for change.

[silentstalker]

I think that it is very wrong for someone who is not disabled to take advantage of a parking space made for a disabled person. Although these people want to be regarded as people who just have a little difficulty, when it comes to physical activity they may have to put a lot more effort, whether it be being in a wheelchair or having a serious disease, such as Ceribal Pulsy. People who use these parking lots, yes, are in complete and absolute disregard for humanity. I think that it is very relaxing in me knowing that there are still people out there like you vanman, who actually do care about these people. After all, someone who is in a wheelchair can experience hell walking for ten minutes to get to the pharmecy because their electric wheelchair has run out of batteries or something like that.

If this was me in this situation, I would have defenately contacted the authorities if non-challenged people refused to move from a disabled parking space. Great thread, vanman.


Regards,
Silentstalker

[Conf1rm3d_K1ll]

No offence, but with a title like "Disregard for humanity..?" I expected a topic a little more serious than parking in handicap spaces....

[zion1459]

I live in Denmark.. and here u get a fine for parking in a handicap zone if you don't the proper badge in the front window of the car... the strange thing is that ppl have actually gone through the trouble to make fake handicap sign for their cars just so they can park in those zones which aren't theirs to park in... how much lower can a person get? "stealing" parking spaces from handicapped... it's sounds so stupid I've actually met ppl who didn't believe any1 would do that.. but the thing is, I know a couple ppl who does it and think it is SOOOO ph00ny... well.. I told them my opinion.. and at least now there's 2 less of that kind hehe

Conf1rm3d_K1ll : true... I have to agree with u that the topic is a bit of the subject... still a nice post though

[vanman]

Sorry guys, but I was so furious and just thought I should share my feelings at that moment so yeah.. maybe the topic should have been something like this.."Allocated parkings abused".

[bucket]

Due to my bad knees, I have a permanent handicapped placade. The main reason that I park in handicapped spaces has nothing to do with the distance factor. The width of those spaces tends to be greater than ordinary one. I need to be able to open the door fully in order to get my battered legs in and out of my car. Parking in a normal space between two SUV's, for example, is out of the question for me.

[Negative]

The problem with parking space at supermarkets, banks,... is that they are most of the time PRIVATE property, not public, meaning police can't do anything about it. It's a service offered by your supermarket, bank,... not a right. We have stickers saying 'If you take my parking space, please take my handicap as well' especially designed for cases like this...