Handicapped Parking Tags

[turnkey4099]

Was at WalMart today. Cold, wild wind and spitting snow. Had to park about 2 dozen slots away from the door. Out of curiosity I check 8 cars in the disabled slots (all were full). Not a one had a disabled tag or a hang up from the mirror.

 

[Bird]

Was at WalMart today. Cold, wild wind and spitting snow. Had to park about 2 dozen slots away from the door. Out of curiosity I check 8 cars in the disabled slots (all were full). Not a one had a disabled tag or a hang up from the mirror.

I don't know whether people are different, or whether it's enforcement that's different, but I just never see that around here. Our closest Walmart always has plenty of vacant disabled slots, just as it has plenty of other parking, but the other Walmart that we frequent is entirely different, much busier, all the parking lot, including the handicapped slots are quite busy, but I've never seen a car without the tag you hang from the mirror OR the handicapped license plates in one of the handicapped parking slots.

 

[mapper]

Just because someone doesn't look handicapped doesn't mean they aren't. Looking at my mother-in-law, you'd never know she had a liver transplant that just about killed her, she gets weak walking more than 100 feet, gets dizzy easily when she walks, etc... And her husband, who's 90, doesn't show that he has several replaced joints, can't hear, bad arthritis, and probably couldn't find his way back to the car if it wasn't parked right in front of the door (he's not driving).

So, if we drive their car, I'll park in the handicapped spot for them so they don't have to walk so far. I won't drop them off and move the car, because that means when its time to leave, they'll have to find a wall to lean against until I get the car and drive it around. Each situation is unique. Yes, there are some folks that abuse the tags. But you have no way of knowing just because they look fine to us.

I agree, my wife has mysythia gravis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the neurotransmitters to her muscles. She does not look as seriously handicapped as she is, but this disease can cause death by asphyxiation if she does too much. You just can't judge a book by its cover.

 

[mapper]

Not when I tried to get one for my Dad. I took him into DVM, had him walk in there at a snails pace with his walker, wheezing all the way so they could see. They denied it. Maybe I needed a Dr. note, I don稚 know. He passesd a year or so after so no big deal to me.

You do need a letter from your doctor attesting to your handicap in Washington State

 

[lostcreekranch]

I especially like those with lift packages on their pickups with a handicap sticker!

What does one have to do with the other???

 

[MacLawn]

What does one have to do with the other???

Absolutely. I have handicap license plates and blue mirror tag. You'd never think I needed it if you saw me. Don't judge by outward appearance.

 

[SandburRanch]

The local drug store sells novelty signs...one says "Stupidity is not a physical handicap...park somewhere else"

Let's go one step further and it would read " Stupidity and Arrogance is A Inherited Birth Defect "- park somewhere else.

 

[mapper]

A couple of comments related to this thread; in Washington it is illegal to drive around with a hanger on your mirror, yet about 99% seem to do it, I personally find that they block a significant portion of my windshield!
I have a friend who is a paraplegic, he will either use a handicap space or park in the outer limits of the parking lot, strattling two stalls, it's a matter of having enough room to assemble and get into his wheelchair. In his mind he is only minimally handicapped! He used to ride the escalators at work to avoid having to use the freight elevator located at the end of one wing in the building.

 

[aczlan]

Was at WalMart today. Cold, wild wind and spitting snow. Had to park about 2 dozen slots away from the door. Out of curiosity I check 8 cars in the disabled slots (all were full). Not a one had a disabled tag or a hang up from the mirror.

In similar cases, I have called the county sheriff's non emergency number and gave them the plate numbers. If they have a parking permit but forgot to use it, it won't cause a problem. If they don't have one, the sheriffs or the state troopers are happy to give them their own personalized ticket...

Aaron Z

 

[check]

Absolutely. I have handicap license plates and blue mirror tag. You'd never think I needed it if you saw me. Don't judge by outward appearance.

If someone comments, just say "Mine is a MENTAL handicap". It helps if you also park crooked, and twitch one eye a bit.