Posts Tagged ‘parking’

Handicap Van Conversion Parking Violations

Anyone who has driven a conversion handicap van knows the frustration of driving around and around a parking lot looking for a handicapped accessible parking space. Time and again, we see people without appropriate documentation parking in these vehicle spaces which are designated for disabled people.

Today, many states are starting to crack down on this fraud in handicap vehicle parking spaces. Some states are even increasing the fines offenders receive, and others are making it harder to make false parking placards for handicap conversion van parking.

South Carolina went as far as a new law which requires a user photo on the handicap parking placard. California and North Carolina also have similar laws trying to stop this bad behavior and keep these spaces reserved for individuals who need them, like drivers of handicap van conversions.

To help fight back, a website has been started by a California woman. She had so many difficult experiences trying to park with her disabled grandfather, that she thought something needed to be done. HandicappedFraud.org allows people to send in information on violations, and she sends it in to that state’s department of motor vehicles.

Maureen Birdsall, the person who started HandicappedFraud.org, tells people to avoid confrontation with people who abuse the handicap van conversion parking system. Often, individuals are disabled, but their condition is not visible to bystanders. Confrontation could make these disabled people feel like their disability is not valid.

Wheelchair Accessible Parking Courtesy

Many times, the public isn’t concious of the disabled parking lines painted in parking lots across America.  Often, especially with recent snow falls, wheelchair accessible parking spaces are hard to see, and parking lots are already extremely full.  All too often, this leads to crowding wheelchair vans and their drivers or passengers, creating impossible situations for them.  Many people with disabilities drive customized vans for wheelchairs that include ramps or mobility lifts that need room to extend.  And once extended, these wheelchair ramps and lifts could be too close to an adjacent vehicle to allow for easy access by a mobility device.

This dilema causes the person with disabilities to have to wait for the offender to move their car.  Cold weather can complicate some disabilities, and wheelchairs and other mobility equipment do not do well in frigid temperatures.  So the person driving a wheelchair van or accessible vehicle has to wait in the cold, or wait in the store and try to see when the car blocking their access moves (hard to do when sitting in a wheelchair with shoppers walking in and out of a store)  Often the police become involved.

In short, be considerate when parking.  If there is a spot open right next to the front door of the store, think twice.  It might be a wheelchair accessible parking space, or the additional reserved space needed for wheelchair accessible vans.