New app targets drivers who skirt rules on disabled parking
A jump in the number of able-bodied drivers parking in disabled-only spots has some people wondering if it's time to make the punishment more than a simple fine.
Perfectly healthy people often use permits belonging to disabled family members, hang on to them after the holder has died or no longer needs it or simply park in the disabled spots with no permit at all.
In addition to shelling out $250, perhaps rule-breakers should be forced to sit down and watch videos that explain the impact they have on someone who doesn't have a choice of what kind of parking stall to use, the Canadian Paraplegic Association’s Barry Lindemann told the Calgary Herald.
"You wish that guys would get the message that it's not a perk. If someone could walk, he'd walk football fields to get where he's going."
Many jurisdictions, including Toronto and Edmonton, give disabled permit-holders free parking at any meter – making them a valuable perk. This, according to the Washington Post, is why a black market in stolen placards has developed in many cities.
The Post article points out that police and parking control officers are often reluctant to challenge drivers on whether or not they’re really disabled. But that doesn’t stop a few crusaders from cursing suspected abusers on the street.
Just because you don't see any visible disabilities, it doesn't mean the person is breaking the law, of course. It could be a disability like asthma, or a heart condition. So don't confront them. But do report them.
Parking Mobility, for instance, is an iPhone app that allows users to report cars that are illegally parked in accessible spaces in Vancouver. It also helps users find accessible parking and suggest locations for disabled parking.
The user uploads a series of photos — the licence plate, the front windshield showing there isn’t a placard, a shot showing the parking spot. Add to that a GPS and time stamp to show where the infraction took place and you have a report ready for the city’s parking authority.
Is illegal parking in disabled-only spots a big issue in your city? What do you do when you see someone you think is gaming the system? Or is it none of your business?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Leeza | Jan 11, 2022 4:49:54 PM
It's one of my pet peeves; however, It's none of our business except for the proper authorities. It's ironic this question popped-up today. Here is a real story. I was having a real stressfull day. As I was getting out of my car at the grocery store, I noticed this able bodied fella, propably mid 30's park in the disabled space. He had a permit on the dash. We were walking toward the store and I felt like I needed to say something. I expressed my disbelief he would actually park there. He wasn't rude and asked me to simply stay there for 2-3 minutes when he would return. I waited patiently and sure enough, he was escorting an elderly man walking with a cane. Before, I could even say anything, all he said was Apology accepted. Why was this older man alone in the grocery store getting a few groceries and then have someone pick them up? It doesn't matter. Nobody owes me an explanation. Even if this scenario could be the exception to the rule, who am I to ever question someone again?
Posted by: BN | Jan 12, 2022 2:51:29 AM
Let me see, since my husband was permanently disabled due to an accident, he has been in a wheel chair and now utilizes crutches. We had a temporary placard, which didn't make difference for us to park, due to the illegal parking by others without placards. When the original placard expired, my husband said not to bother renewing it as it was a waste of money to obtain the form from the doctor and the fee for the placard, so now we are still using spaces further away, and the pain and shortness of breath my husband has to go through is still unacceptable but he chooses to park in regular stalls and I am proud of him for choosing to leave the closer spots to people who are less able bodied than him.
Posted by: T | Jan 12, 2022 3:15:43 AM
I have a vlaid disabled placard due to various health problem I have - & I'm saddened by nearly everyoutting I'mon at least one individual ( usually many more than one )
Feel its very lovely & convienant to park in disabled spots with out a placard - Its one of my biggest peves withthis world - when I've inquired withthe people why they are parked there ( even after theyve explained to me what the man in the wheelchair sign means & your need a placard to park there ) with out a placard - they claim they aren't because their car is running - or they are waiting for some friend sister etc .... I'd love for a campain to start titled
' Stupidity is not a disability' as persons making the disabled suffer & park else where- usually very far away from enterances - Know & understand why the disabled spots are there - they just dont care about others - or the laws - something definattly nees to be done - why not allow citizens to report cars & have a2 stikes & your out policy = - Huge fines - by the time an individual reports a violterr the inforcement officer usually arrives after the individuals long gone - what good is that ? - civilians reportin would cost cities less money & would render higher amount of offenders & hopefully teach the offenders a lesson ?
Posted by: Ted C | Jan 12, 2022 4:01:31 AM
I think it depends on what locale this is such an issue. I live in the GTA but outside downtown and find that there are too many disabled spots as they are never even close to full by my observation, and the observation of friends from Europe and the US who jokingly call us the "city of the disabled" due to such a plethora of parking allotted to them. Im sure its an issue downtown, as ANY parking is an issue downtown, but I'd love to see some camera or "app" show just how much these spots are used. I believe that the occupancy rate would be miserably low in my area (north GTA). And I do also feel we prob have more spots allotted than downtown, which could explain the low usage. As I said, I dont squat and think that those who do should be dealt with, especially if they "scam" the plates. I dont question people who park in them and dont usually care as there are lots of more spaces for them everywhere I go in my area. Downtown issue from my perspective.....
Posted by: sandie | Jan 12, 2022 7:32:37 AM
I agree wholeheartedly with making a stiffer fine..like watching a disabled person trying to walk community service etc...My mantra has always been stupidity is not a disability and if your not disabled when you park here you may be when you leave...lol
It is a pet peeve also and I feel they should crack down on this. I have seen a mobility bus have to park a long way away when an able bodied 16 year old girl parked in the one space our small store has....
Posted by: Trixie | Jan 12, 2022 8:11:57 AM
This issue is a non-issue to me. Years ago I had a boyfriend who had a father who was disabled. The father was great to his whole family and myself. Ironically, it was the father who suggested that the family use his sticker, and yes, the whole family did, without any guilt. He claimed he really didn't need it anymore than the next person did. We agreed. (Maybe he should have told his doctor he felt he didn't need it. I don't know that he did or didn't.)
Anyway, I wonder how many people use the Canadian health care system. (That was something this disabled male raised to me, years ago.) I think the question would apply more so today.
Posted by: Ronnie | Jan 12, 2022 9:15:35 AM
I think that people who park in disabled spots and who are not disabled should be punished. Since I was invovled in a car accident, injuring my back and knees, I depend on the disabled parking spaces so that the ten minutes of walking I can do isn't taken up from the car to the store. I have seen dozens of people park in the disabled spots, jump out of their vehicle laughing with a friend and then return to their car without flinching, and I find their acts offensive and disrespectful. I watched a young woman pull up her four by four into a spot and actually cut off a man driving an elderly woman who was signalling to take that spot - and she did that without even dropping the cel phone she was talking on. I think disabled persons should be able to carry large stickers that we can put on the offender's windshield - and that don't easily come off - that say, "This spot is reserved for disabled persons not egotists". Getting the sticker off would be a better punishment than a fine that they can likely afford anyway.
Posted by: Heather | Jan 12, 2022 9:18:40 AM
My husband was disaabled in a car accident a year and a half ago. He was not able to drive himself but he did get a disabled parking permit for my car as I was his main means of transportation. Even though I had this permit on the dash of my car for 6 months, not once would I ever have considered using it when he was not in the car. It's rude and inconsiderate and ILLEGAL.
You folks that abuse this privledge now will live to regret it when your in need of one of these spots and some twirp feels he is above the law and is parking in YOUR spot. Karma's a bitch.
Posted by: Randy K | Jan 12, 2022 9:54:23 AM
I have a knee that acts up once awhile so hear and there I use disabled parking .One day I parked in a disabled spot and your local do gooder came running up to ask me where my permit was. I turned around and YELLED I am mentally disabled .Boy did he run back to his car I have been laughing about it for months!
Posted by: BobE | Jan 12, 2022 10:28:16 AM
Anyone who actually thinks embarrassing the offenders or trying to believe these people really care about anyone but themselves - you are the (mentally) handicapped one for sure. Ticketing them a significant amount is expensive and usually can easily be fought. These people just borrow someone's Permit and make up some kind of story. The have no conscience. Small stores, and even Walmart will not invest money into enforcement so until they do, nothing will change. I think this is an issue that the majority of people do support so that support can be shown to the local law makers and perhaps a taxpayer subsidized program of enforcement can be used. Not recommended, but many take it into their own hands. I have parked behind the offender and left my car there for a significant time with hood up and flashers on. It shows them that rudeness can be treated with rudeness.
Posted by: Albertan | Jan 12, 2022 10:33:04 AM
Actually my story kind of goes the other way.
A couple of years ago I wrecked my knee in sports and got knee surgery. 2 days after the surgery while I still very slow and on crutches I needed to go pick up a prescription ordered earlier (a 5 minute stop). It was winter and there was snow/ice everywhere. I circled the block twice and there was no other spot I saw within 2 blocks of the pharmacy (downtown spot). So I used 1 of the 2 open disabled parking spots right in front of it. As I was getting out (with my crutches in hand) a traffic cop walked up and told me I couldn't park there and had to move or I would get a ticket/tow. I explained that I needed my preordered prescription and it wasn't really possible for me to travel several blocks on crutches on ice/snowbut to no avail. He looiked amazed when I then said that I didn't really want a ticket but it was the only option he left me. Long story short I got my prescription and a illegal parking ticket.
I don't know how you all will feel about that but sometimes have a little sympathy for the guy parking illegally because he might have a really good reason.
Posted by: don | Jan 12, 2022 11:16:58 AM
That really annoys me too. I have a parking pass and many times vehicles are parked that don't have one.
BTW, I do not look disabled. I have complications from diabetes that make it painfull to walk any distance, so you may think I am using someone elses pass. Don;t judge when you do not know the facts.
Posted by: justin j | Jan 12, 2022 11:20:19 AM
A very close friend of mine is 24yrs old but has had two lower back surgeries. he hurt himself during a military training exercise. he looks very able bodied and one could never guess he needs a placard.
usually he gets a stare when he uses accessible parking spaces but occasionally there is a schmuck who confronts him. I was with him once and very rude fella ruined the day for both of us.
people need to take it easy
Posted by: Harvey | Jan 12, 2022 11:46:34 AM
I saw an able bodied 18 year old jump out of his car and start running towards the mall. I had planned to take that parking spot as my Dad was with me and he was in a wheelchair. We did have a valid handicap parking permit. I got our of the car and asked this guy if he knew that he had just parked in a handicap parking spot. He said it didnt matter- he was only going to be 5 minutes. I told him if he didnt move his car now, that i would see to it that he would be able to legally get a handicap parking permit. The smart thing to do? no, but it was very effective
Posted by: Tess | Jan 12, 2022 12:05:44 PM
I myself have a disability which requires a handicapped parking permit...however, my disability is not as visually obvious as someone who may have a wheelchair - I have had several back surgeries - and I have good days and bad days. On my good days, I will park in a regular spot to allow someone who may need that spot more than I do to have it - but when I have a bad day, I will park in a handicapped spot and display my placquered. That being said, I can't count the number of times that I've been stopped by someone who says "you know that's a handicapped spot right?".....just because I may be younger doesn't mean I'm any less entitled to use such a spot and I fee like a criminal when people question me - and my husband just wants to beat everyone up who questions me. If people have issues when someone parks in a designated handicapped spot with proper identification....then report them and let them provide the required proof - but don't question their disability - you're not a physician and in no way qualified to determine if a person is disabled or not.
Posted by: Richard | Jan 12, 2022 12:27:37 PM
Ever notice that the disabled sign has a "person" in a wheelchair !!! Not to diminish the fact that it's being abused... I''d still appreciate hearing the rational line of thought as to why it's such a BIG deal for someone with a bad back or bad legs to walk maybe 15-20 more feet, when they're already planning to spend 30-45 minutes walking (bad back/legs and all) at the grocery store or shopping mall ? If someone is "able" enough to WALK the shopping mall for an hour maybe they're not so disabled after all. And don't get me started on the newest trend... special parking spots (right next to the handicapped ones) for pregnant women. Let's hear the rational behind THAT one ??
Posted by: Richard | Jan 12, 2022 12:52:48 PM
On the flip side... why are certain people in electrical wheelchairs allowed to drive these things on the street without being stopped and ticketed. And I'm talking about streets where sidewalks and inclines at intersections actually exist. I've also seen some of these wheelchair daredevils driving along on snow and slush covered streets. Duh !!! Does the wheelchair have a license plate ? Are wheelchairs defined as a motor vehicle under the Highway Traffic Act ? Next thing ya know, we'll have people riding electrical tricycles, golf carts and off-road vehicles on city streets. Or some short-sighted morons will be clammoring for wheelchair lanes right next to the bicycle lanes.
Posted by: Jeff | Jan 12, 2022 12:58:21 PM
I am glad it is a "non-issue" to Trixie and she, and her former boyfriends family, felt no remorse for breaking the law...it is the people like her and those "mentally handicapped" people like Randy K that annoy me. If you are handicapped and have the placard then use the handicapped parking, if you are not then do not use it. I ahd a handicapped girlfriend and still used the regular parking spots simply because I could assist her into her chair.
As to confronting some of these idiots, the only time I felt like confronting someone was when I observed a convertible with two young men park in one. I know that people of any age can be handicapped but when they both jumped out of the car without opening the doors and ran in the mall the only handicap they displayed was stupidity.
Posted by: Jeff | Jan 12, 2022 1:01:03 PM
Oh, a note to Richard, unless you have had that type of problem don't show your own prejudice...just because a person is not in a wheelchair does not mean they can travel easily. As to walking around a mall for an hour you can find these people taking frequent breaks or taking advantage of the free/reduced cost mobility services offered in many malls these days.
Posted by: Carol | Jan 12, 2022 1:09:51 PM
I have a parking permit. I asked my Doctor for paperwork when my knee injury prevented me from doing even basic grocery shopping. (I still can only pick up a few things, any longer on my leg is excrutiating). The permit has helped me hugely and I appreciate it. POOH to those who abuse it. May you never know how it feels to sit at a store in the only available spot and realize you CANNOT make it to the store.