I was talking to my friend yesterday about parking tickets in our area, as a segue he explained his experience dealing with disability parking, when he had an injury and was unable to walk without crutches. Let me share his experience and the key point to take away from his experience.
Injured Leg, Not able to walk without Crutches….got Parking ticket ?
My friend got an injury to his leg and ended up with crutches for walking….As he was not able to drive, his wife was driving the car. They planned to stop at dry cleaning shop to pick up clothes…as my friend was injured and was with crutches, they assumed that they were safe to park in the disabled parking…they thought, even if someone were to come, the parking officer can see his injury and crutches (as he would be waiting in car) as they inspect the car and people in it before giving any parking citation. Â In general, as human being with injury and valid reason with crutches alongside one would think it would be ok…right ? Guess what ? Â The parking officer came to the car and gave a parking citation of $250 for violation of the rule. As per law, you should have the blue placard or handicap tag with the vehicle when you park the car in a disabled parking spot. Unfortunately, despite the explanation, the parking officer said, you are in violation of the law as you do not have the tag and said to appeal to the court. My friend went to the local county office asking if he would plead not guilty and get the parking citation waived…it did not help, they said to go to court…My friend just inquired with others and realized, i will not make a valid case and he might lose the case, even if he goes to court. So, he just paid the fine of $250.
Lesson to take away from experience :
In general, as a human being, we tend to take few things for granted based on our perception and some basic assumptions…guess what ? we cannot do that with law in America….Never assume anything and violate any rule…Parking in Disabled parking is just one of them…So, even if you have a broken leg, do NOT park in disabled parking without having handicap parking tag or placard.
Where to get more info about disabled parking  ?
If you end up in situation where you need crutches to walk  and you need disabled parking tag…you need to first check with your local DMV office…it would have info on where to go for getting one of those….For instance, as per Texas DMV disabled parking info, you need to go to County Tax office to submit application for disabled parking placard. Every state may have their own rules to get them, so check with the local DMV offices.
Any experiences dealing with Disabled Parking ?
Image Credit :http://www.flickr.com/photos/annak/4105232098/sizes/m/
I had to drive myself to the emergency room with a bacteria infection in my foot and could not walk. I parked in a handicap space and told the nurse that I had done that and she said she would take care of it. I got a $220 ticket anyway
You can fight it, if you go to court and tell the same. Carry the documentation of you getting treatment and the real reason for parking there, it will be waived.
most people overlook that police are not judges. they have set rules to follow. if your friend went to court he may have never had to pay the fine. but the police officer does not have the authority to make that call. he is a enforcer of law not a judge. now when it comes to puplic safty that is where police have the right to make judgment calls.
The guy was in the car and did not get out to get the dry cleaning so they should of gotten the ticket, he isn’t handicap, he just has a broken leg. If his broken leg warrants him getting a handicap plaque then he can get the forms and have his doctor fill them out and he can get a temp handicap plaque.
Being mental and not using their brain isn’t an excuse for parking in a handicap spot.
I am a handicap person that has a hard time walking and it is very frustrating to try to find a parking spot that an able body person is in. Just like the motorized carts in stores, you see able body people walking, running to go and get to do their shopping in cause they are to lazy to walk around the store.
Interesting article…I wonder if there is disabled parking in other countries and rules tied to it…
I understand that he was unable to walk without crutches and since his wife was driving the car, I would assume she would/could get out and get the dry cleaning and also assuming that she was able-bodied…why would they need to park in handicap parking? (I’m thinking if he was using crutches he wouldn’t be able to carry the dry cleaned articles…usually on hangers???? anyway.) Just because there is a handicapped person in a car does not mean they need to park in a handicap spot. If they are staying in the car, and the person who is going into the store is not handicapped….they don’t need to use the handicap parking spot.