Able-Bodied Who Park In Disabled Spaces

Paul Andrews

Sorry to rant, but I get really pissed when I see a perfectly able person park in a disabled spot, simply so they can be about 20 steps closer to the bottle shop than they otherwise would have been.

What makes a person so selfish and uncaring?

Douchebag is the only term for it!

redrock

I don't know about this particular photo you linked to and what the rules are in australia but here in the UK to park in an official disabled bay, one needs a 'blue badge'. Naturally, there is abuse but one must also realise that disabilities are not always obvious and that the type of car is not 'linked' to disability. Whilst the vehicle in the photo would suggest a business one of a healthy driver, one never knows. When my husband had his blue badge, he was sometimes driven to places in a sports car of a 'certain make' and, when this car was parked in a disabled bay, some people may have had the same kind of thought - no fancy/sporty car like this belongs to someone who needs to park there.....

But yes, those who abuse disabled bays are very uncaring and do not think.

Godfather.

agreed ! that stuff really sucks but sometimes you just can't tell, my good bro had heart broblems and ended up having a heart replacement (steve "steve-o" young from Santee Ca.) and one day at the local 7-11 on his motorcycle he parked in a h/c parking spot with out a plackerd on his bike because he hadent revieved one yet but did have the card in his wallet...well some good citizen went into a rant and was yelling and screaming at steve-o for parking in a h/c spot and in steve-o style he just laughed at her and walked in the store and by the time we had come out this bitch already had a cop and parked behind steve-o's bike so he showed the cop his card and all was well but the gal was just all kinds of wacky yelling still and then yelling at me for taking a whole parking spot with my bike and cop is just looking at her and at the same time I was laughing so hard wich just made her even more mad...but the moral of the story is be carful because you don't really know sometimes.

Godfather.

Paul Andrews

In Australia you need to display an Acrod sticker to park in those bays. This guy, has no disability at all.

This was the same guy who blamed a local shark attack death last year on his business not doing so well and started a petition to cull all sharks in the area.

cowboypjfan

Those people are douches and it can't be good for business at Peko Peko, that's for sure.

hostis

at the local Asda (walmart) near me, the disabled spaces right out side the store have a barrier and resistration recognition. You can only get through the barrier if your car is registered as a blue badge holder - brilliant idea.

I think they should clamp people and for a nominal fee (say £10) release the car but that money gets donated to a disabled charity....

and my mother in law is a badge holder. if she cant get into a disabled spot and sees a non disabled car parked there, she parks right behind the car (provided others arent impinged) and goes to do her shopping.... shes braver than me!

pjhawks

steve jobs used to do it.

and guy in our office complex does it every day...in a porsche...and i went to high school with the guy and he is a douche bag.

people, in general, suck

mikalina

So sad - this happens all the time. Where's the cops when you need them.

If you have any disability the person should get those "tags" to display....

chadwick

get this. my knees are shot. i swim a lot. where i swim the men's locker room is upstairs, several levels of stairs. i walk with a cane and have small tiny steps these days. i go up steps better than i come down steps.

who in their right mind puts the men's locker room upstairs? so. the gym installs handicap showers down stairs. wouldn't you know it...some asshole is always in there. they only have two handicap shower rooms down stairs. around the corner down the hall is where the female locker room is.

can you believe that healthy abled women will use the handicap shower area because they're to stupid and lazy to walk 20 some extra steps to their locker room?

healthy men are to blame as well for using the (downstairs) handicap changing room/shower room.
i stand there waiting, they don't have chairs there. my knees blown out and twisted, fulla injections, here i am trying to swim and i can't change into my swimming suit because some able stairs climber is lazy in a gym.

i don't understand this. i don't understand laziness in a gym. doesn't make any sense. don't folks say to themselves, i will do extra because i am extra badass. fuck no. candy asses.

so i walk the stairs and walk down the stairs leaning into the wall and grabbing handrailings.

know1

I get as mad as anyone when someone parks in those spots.

But....has anyone noticed how the number of people considered "handicapped" seems to grow and grow every year? Pretty soon those of us without the tags won't have anywhere left to park.

Jeanwah

When I got my handicap permit, I used to see able bodied people constantly utilizing these parking spaces. But my sister who's a nurse told me that I shouldn't assume that just because some people aren't obviously handicapped, doesn't mean they don't have a handicap and need that space. Many people have heart conditions and other non-obvious impairments have permits..... but there are lots of other able bodies that use them because they think they can. They should get fine more than the $50 ticket.

hedonist

There ya go, Jeanwah. And good on your sister!

For an 80-year-old woman, my mom looks amazing. But she's got diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and a shoulder replacement among other ailments. To look at her, one would think she's fit, but she hurts....a lot. So she has, and uses, that tag.

(I keep getting Seinfeld on the brain today courtesy of this forum! ...this thread is reminiscent of George parking in the handicapped space at Kramer's instruction.)

brianlux

Jeanwah wrote:

They should get fine more than the $50 ticket.

I agree, Jeanwah. In California the fine is $400.00 and yet people still abuse the spaces. Not right!

FrankBauer

where i work theres a girl that had multiple open heart surgeries, had a valve transplant, and they give her the handicapped parking tag. so, shes always parked in the only disabled space at work. a few weeks ago, i saw her competing in our local warrior dash (3 mile run with many obstacles). i felt a little conflicted, surprised her body could handle that (especially since i was winded!) when she continues to park in the best spot. but then again, multiple open heart surgeries may give her that right....she is years removed from the transplant, but still....

ONCE DEVIDED

Now I know there are many who do abuse these parking spaces
But also consider that many may not have recognisabal disability that We can see
Agoraphobic, chronic lung conditions etc

Paul Andrews

I am fully aware of people who do not appear to be 'handicapped' who require these spaces. I do not question their right to these spots. I had a friend who was granted a temporary permit after a particularly nasty accident. All good.

I went to university with a woman who actually had a space purpose built for her on campus her heart condition condition was so critical. They made a paved spot right near the lecture rooms so she could almost park at the door. So we should not judge on appearances alone. However, to use one of these spaces it does require you to display a permit, which means you condition has been assessed by a medial authority.

However, these case in point which was bought to my attention was pure selfishness by a douche, not a disabled person who appears to be able bodied.

PJ_Soul

Paul Andrews wrote:

Sorry to rant, but I get really pissed when I see a perfectly able person park in a disabled spot, simply so they can be about 20 steps closer to the bottle shop than they otherwise would have been.

What makes a person so selfish and uncaring?

Douchebag is the only term for it!

How many people actually do this?? I don't know where you live, but where I come from, this just doesn't happen. Like, ever. One time I did see it at the gym, and immediately the gym staff made an announcement, and it turned out out that the person who did it was brand new to the western world and hadn't realized it was a handicapped space. And that's it. That's the only time I've heard of anyone actually doing that outside of Seinfeld. But maybe that's just a Canadian thing, I dunno.

Kat

I fixed your subject line because it was insulting to feminine hygiene products. Thanks and I agree only the disabled should use disabled parking, duh. Have a great week.

Monster Rain

I hate when people have their handicapped tag hanging from the mirror and use a handicapped space when they aren't the person the tag was issued for (such as someone with a disabled spouse using the tag without that person in the car) or when the person the tag was issued for is in the car but stays in the car while the other person runs into the store. If you're not leaving the car, then you don't need to use the tag at that time. I can only imagine how angry that person would be if they actually did need to get out of the car but the handicapped space was taken up by someone doing what they did.

hedonist

Kat wrote:

I fixed your subject line because it was insulting to feminine hygiene products.

Well THAT made me !

pjamaholic

Paul Andrews wrote:

Sorry to rant, but I get really pissed when I see a perfectly able person park in a disabled spot, simply so they can be about 20 steps closer to the bottle shop than they otherwise would have been.

What makes a person so selfish and uncaring?

Douchebag is the only term for it!

The planet is full of selfish people who only think about No. 1 - him or herself. Dont ask me why some people only think of themselves. It would be nice to see more of these people getting fined for parking where they shouldn't.

nuffingman

Our local supermarket in the UK used to have so many disabled places that the car park would be full, I'd drive round for ages looking for a space and there'd be about 15 empty disabled places. And all the other supermarkets were the same. So guess what, I'd park in one of those.

I didn't feel the least bit guilty because I knew 2 people with disabled stickers that shouldn't have had them. Needless to say I'd have felt very guilty if I came out the shop and found a genuinely disabled person unable to park. It never happened though.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

know1 wrote:

But....has anyone noticed how the number of people considered "handicapped" seems to grow and grow every year? Pretty soon those of us without the tags won't have anywhere left to park.

not where I live. My Mom had polio when she was four. Her left leg is essentially dead. she wears a brace on it just so she can walk/stand. And it's getting harder for her to get that disabled parking permit. They almost denied it to her a few years back when she had to go through the renewal process. she fought it and won, thankfully. people don't realize either, it's not just the initial disability. at a certain point in her life, her disabled leg stopped growing, so she had to get an operation on her good leg to stop it from growing, but her disabled leg is still shorter by an inch or two. this limp over 45 years has caused significant damage to her foot, her knees, her hips. multiple surgeries to fix all of that. she's got quite a bit of metal in her right now.

and really, 2 spaces out of each line of 100 at walmart. won't have anywhere left to park? dude, there aren't more people being "awarded" these placards, more people are just not being ashamed of being disabled anymore and are finally using the systems that are in place to help them. for the longest time my Mom refused to park in a handicap spot. but as she gets older it's no longer a choice.

she can't even leave the house if it's too icy out. just the 20 foot walk from the door to their car is too risky. even with my dad helping her.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

nuffingman wrote:

Our local supermarket in the UK used to have so many disabled places that the car park would be full, I'd drive round for ages looking for a space and there'd be about 15 empty disabled places. And all the other supermarkets were the same. So guess what, I'd park in one of those.

I didn't feel the least bit guilty because I knew 2 people with disabled stickers that shouldn't have had them. Needless to say I'd have felt very guilty if I came out the shop and found a genuinely disabled person unable to park. It never happened though.

so becuase the two people you knew that had them that supposedly didn't deserve them meant that someone else who did deserve the space you took deserved to be punished for it? how logical. :evil:

hedonist

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

dude, there aren't more people being "awarded" these placards, more people are just not being ashamed of being disabled anymore and are finally using the systems that are in place to help them. for the longest time my Mom refused to park in a handicap spot. but as she gets older it's no longer a choice.

Here here (or is it hear hear?).

Either way.

My cousin had polio at a young age as well...he's done the same as most able-bodied folks, but now that he's in his late 50s, he has no option but to go that route.

Enkidu

Steve Lopez did a fabulous series of columns about this in the LA Times recently. Turns out tons of people were parking at downtown meters (parking downtown is awful) using handicapped placards. Cause you can park for free at a meter all day.

Here's one of the columns - they decided to go after the people.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/15 ... g-20120213

chadwick

there is a senior gentleman that uses the gym i use. he is able, quite capable. he is in his 60s. he uses the handicap locker room at the foot of the stairwell he is to lazy to walk up. at a gym he elects to not extend himself any further than necessary. this guy irritates the hell out of me and i'll tell you why.

when i come into the gym i have to wait if he is in changing room
he knows i am waiting because i knocked on the door to find out if someone is using it
when he knows i or anyone is waiting on him, he runs the hot air blowing hand dryer that's mounted on the wall
next to the door

i can hear him....

he will run that air dryer 6 or 8 times
this takes 8 -10 mins

this man is rude on purpose to be a bastard

mysticweed

my husband has a rear view mirror hang on
he always tells me to use it when i'm by myself like when it's raining or something but i refuse
i don't even like using it when he's with me and i can let him out and park somewhere else

PJ_Soul

Well, anyone who abuses stuff for the handicapped is a jerk (although I do use wheelchair bathroom stalls if the others are full. I don't see anything wrong with this, as I see no reason why handicapped people shouldn't have to wait a minute for the bathroom like everyone else). But remember to be fair-minded too folks! Because sometimes your outrage could be misdirected. I have a friend whose son is very severely autistic. So she uses the handicapped change stalls at the pool with him, because if they use the normal ones (which do still have enough room for them) he totally freaks out because of the small space. But she has actually been aggressively confronted by SEVERAL people who think she is misusing the stall (you would not be able to know there was anything diffent with their son on first glance). And even after she tells them that he is autistic, half of them maintain their outrage, still not understanding why that particular disability would require a bigger stall. A couple of these people continue to accuse her of misusing the facilities every time they see them... she is ready to get management to confront the people, though because she's one of those people who dislikes confrontation (something I don't understand, but hey , she has been made to feel very nervous and uncomfortable, to the point where she considered changing their swim time to avoid these jerks. So yeah... just remember not to jump to conclusions ; you may not know the whole story.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

PJ_Soul3388 wrote:

Well, anyone who abuses stuff for the handicapped is a jerk (although I do use wheelchair bathroom stalls if the others are full. I don't see anything wrong with this, as I see no reason why handicapped people shouldn't have to wait a minute for the bathroom like everyone else). But remember to be fair-minded too folks! Because sometimes your outrage could be misdirected. I have a friend whose son is very severely autistic. So she uses the handicapped change stalls at the pool with him, because if they use the normal ones (which do still have enough room for them) he totally freaks out because of the small space. But she has actually been aggressively confronted by SEVERAL people who think she is misusing the stall (you would not be able to know there was anything diffent with their son on first glance). And even after she tells them that he is autistic, half of them maintain their outrage, still not understanding why that particular disability would require a bigger stall. A couple of these people continue to accuse her of misusing the facilities every time they see them... she is ready to get management to confront the people, though because she's one of those people who dislikes confrontation (something I don't understand, but hey , she has been made to feel very nervous and uncomfortable, to the point where she considered changing their swim time to avoid these jerks. So yeah... just remember not to jump to conclusions ; you may not know the whole story.

excellent point. a lot of people, I guess including me, just kind of assume that if I can't see the malady, then it doesn't exist, when that clearly isn't the case.

thank you (and a few others) for pointing that out.

Cosmo

This is a personal pet peeve with me. I have a friend who lost his left leg half way up the femur when a drunk driver crossed over 3 lanes and hit him on his motorcycle. I also work with military reservists and active duty Air Force and Marine personel. I think of my friend and those who came back from Iraq and Afghanistan on a wheelchair or on crutches when I see some fucking asshole, pouring his/her lazy fucking ass in a Handicapped spot.
Being a self-centered lazy fuck is not a handicap.