New app targets drivers who skirt rules on disabled parking

Oh, a note to Jeff. Before you attempt to pull the prejudice card on me... you still haven't answered the rationale between "disabled" people WITHOUT wheelchairs spending an hour walking the mall... taking frequent breaks or not... and the HUGE uproar they make about having to walk an extra 15-20 feet.

Richard...are you seriously so arrogant as to ask why someone with a bad back or legs can't walk 20 or 30 feet? Until you've been in the position where you've been bedridden for 6 months because you can't walk BECAUSE you have a bad back (requiring surgery) then you have no right to comment on the subject....and I never said I was going for a stroll around the mall - there are other parking areas who have reserved handicapped parking....idiot.

Tess... you may also have a problem reading. I said 15-20 feet... not 20-30. And you were bedridden because you could NOT walk. Now that you are no longer bedridden, I can assume you are "mobile" (good days or bad) enough to walk. Should you decide to indeed "stroll" around the grocery store, the mall, or even your workplace or home... please elaborate how suddenly... that extra 15-20 feet in the parking lot becomes an unbearable nuisance to you. Ever think of having your husband drop you off at the entrance, parking and picking you back up at the entrance after you're done ? Or do you have a "problem" with that too !! And btw, I've had 3 knee surgeries and lower back problems for over 10 years now...still don't require a handicapped sticker.

I agree with author on subject matter, but upset me me by genderising the issue.

I was going into the post office one day and observed a elderly woman parking in the disabled parking when I knew it was her husband that was disabled - not her. I asked her why she was parking there and got the reponse "What are you the wheelchair police? She was very rude and as far as she was concerned it was her god given right and told me to stuff my comments you know where. So much for nice old ladies!

Note to Richard....I too have had a bad back where it took me 20 minutes to even tie my shoes and I never applied for or used a handicapped parking space either. But your inference that only people in wheel chairs should used them (and yes that is what you implied) shows either a lack of knowledge about what is required to get the placard/sticker or just a certain amount of ignorance.

Oh, and I did mention that many malls offer mobility devices for people to use once they get into the mall, at least around here they do. So a person can park in a handicapped zone and then take advantage of these in the mall. Also the fact that at least some of them take an hour or so in the mall is due to the fact that they have to frequently sit down and rest before being able to continue. Just because a person is not in a wheelchair does not mean they do not have a significant handicap.

I became handicapped 4 years ago and can manage to walk into Walmart and use one of their electric scooters. I have a disabled permit and when I can not get in a disabled parking space my husband has to get out my electric scooter out of my trunk and put it together and then I have to drive it behind 20 - 25 cars and those drivers can not see me and one day a driver was backing out and nearly hit me but just saw me in time. So many times I have seen kids using their parents and it makes me feel very angry. Store employees should be able to ask for ID and make sure the permit is really for you and if not take the licence # etc and give it to the police then they should get a stiff fine and watch a movie and also do community work with the disabled. This also goes for able bodied people using the handicapped washrooms when the regular ones are empty and I have to wait several minutes. Ann

I must agree how infuriating it is to see seemingly able-bodied people with handicap permits parking in handicap parking spaces, however, I also find it maddening to see people with handicap permits parking right in front of stores, in cross-hatched no parking areas, in designated fire routes, etc. when there is often a vacant handicap parking space just a few feet away. If it is illegal for able-bodies individuals to park in handicap spaces it should be equally illegal for individuals with handicap permits to park in areas that are designated "No Parking" for anyone. I cannot tell you how often I see this occuring.

Thats right Leeza, zip it. You dont know what people are doing and why, quit your belly aching and stop assuming.

After watching this idiot get out of their vehicle,w/o a permit, and run when it's raining, into the store, I watched somebody who looked for the permit, let the air out of this idiot's front tires! I couldn't believe it!! It was hilarious! Unfortunately I couldn't hang around to see the idiot's facial expression when he exited the store.

I think that in the end the people who take the disabled spots and don't need them will get what they deserve. Although, I just want to note that a friend of mine in a wheelchair can get around a lot better and faster than me, and I'm able bodied and fit, and he thinks that only people who NEED the parking space should use it. My father has a parking pass and he looks normal (no cane, no wheelchair although he owns both) but he is in so much pain when he walks that without the parking close to the door he would not go out.

To fight against people using these spaces there should be some additional spots close to the door that are for other indicated purposes, like the pregnant women and small children spots or 5 minute maximum spaces. Then they don't take the handicapped ones.

There were 8 empty disabled parking spots at the front of the mall. I was waiting in one of them so my gf at the time could go grab something. Obviously if 7 disabled cars pulled up I would move the car, but the security cop has to ticket me. People are obsessed with signs versus using their brains.

Another time I had a broken knee cap, but because I don't have a handicap sign on my car I can't park in the handicap parking stalls that seem as though they are never used. So if I park there when I actually need to I get a ticket.

I have a business that has 18 stalls in a stand alone building and we have to have a handicap parking stall at the front that has not been used in over a year. I had to pay to install and pave it, why? Because someone says that's it's the law.

It would be nice if people thought about things a bit more before they created laws and rules.

Some of the ideas to get point across about parking in the handycap parking is fine. But some people do not get it and keep doing it, plus most people that are disable Do not have the funds to be able to use or get cell phones that have this capability.

I am 67 years old, was diagnosed with type two diabetes at age 57, have had both hips and left knee replaced. The first hip operation left me paralyzed in the left leg (Paronial Palsy) which was caused by the surgery. I do not qualify for a permanent disabled parking placard, since I don’t meet the strictest qualifying parameters. With the paralysis of the left leg, I’m prone to tripping and have fallen on my face several times. This is a serious threat to my safety, as a fall at my age and a broken hip that has a prosthetic replacement would course enormous complications; but I still don’t qualify even after my feet have lost all feeling due to diabetes related peripheral neuropathy.
I was stunned when my wife came home and told me she was confronted by a total stranger about the temp disabled parking permit (was recovering from hip replacement) that was on the mirror of her BMW Z3. He screamed at her while she was trying to park in a regular stall. I think there were two issues with this guy, one, the BMW and two, he couldn’t mind his own business.
Life does have funnier moments though. I was parking the Z3 after dropping my wife at the restaurant, an older geezer than me came waddling along with his cane and said; “ Hmmm, trying to regain ya youth are ya? I looked surprised and then replied; “Oh you mean the toy, well I bought this car for my wife, she’s twenty three years younger than me. The geezer snorted and hobbled off at which point I yelled after him; Now she’s the toy I really like playing with! Truth is; my wife purchased the car on her fiftieth birthday with her own money ten years ago.

Why don't you watch to see if there are any disabled people with placards parking in the able bodies spots.....if they are, they should really get an earful too.

I can't believe this! I have NEVER been to a mall and found ALL diabled spaces taken. Why do so many People have a problem?

The fine for offenders should be much higher, say $500 to start for simple parking in the zone by an able bodied person and upwards of $1000 for those that deliberately and fraudulently use a sign to take up the parking spot as a convenience. Viewing videos of impact to the disabled should also come with each conviction for this crime of inconciderate behavior. The fines could be put toward the disabled needs which would include home pick up by a local service. People in my community are really inconsiderate and this is a pet peeve of mine. Use of a disabled sign is common here and people just generally think their time and convenience is more important than anyone elses, including the disabled. More patrolling and checking occupiers of these spots. Real hefty fines and education sessions for inconsiderate ignorant abusers. Fort St. James, BC

Hey Richard, just came back now. I completely agree with him. I'm much older now, than my story that I told you all before. However, now I have back problems myself, so bad in fact, that it has landed me in emergency at the hospital, and I had to take the darn ambulance to get there too. That sucked because riding in that ambulance felt like a go-cart. Actually, I would have much preferred my husband taking me in, had I known the ambulance would make my condition worse!
Now, I would never ask for a sticker. I am careful with myself and if I can feel trouble with my back I take an advil, (which the doctor in emerg told me to take)and yes, it works because I don't spend most of my life living on drugs. Take it easy everyone and if you can walk the mall, you definitely do not need a sticker. There's more to life than asking for handouts. Life is too short for that.

MY PET PEEVE ,Permit holders Who leave the permit hanging on the rear viev
Mirror while driving---- Dangerous definatly obscures Vision
It is also Ilegal these persons should be ticketed,too lazy to take it down!!!!

Do a series on this PLEASE

It a big problem in Regina. There is no inforcement and the parkers know it. One person parks in front of a Fire hydren for week at a time no ticket in 4 months. One hour parking off the downtown in regina mean free parking.