Disabled parking abuse?

More disturbing news about possible abuses of disabled parking placards:

The proliferation of the disabled placards that allow drivers to ignore meters and use parking spots meant for those with disabilities point to abuse of the system, officials said. About one in 16 motorists in California carry the signs - more than double the number who had them a decade ago. An aging population, a broader definition of the disabilities that qualify drivers for the privilege, and abuse of the system are behind the increase, said Mike Miller, a spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles. .... The DMV doesn’t know how much fraud there is in the system. But last year, after an annual check of death records, the department canceled 25,352 permits after finding out that the people to whom they were issued had died. (from AP)

What do you think about this? Hit the COMMENT button and have your say!

Comments

[Gene Pearcy]

My big peeve is the group of people that park in the handicap space while they run in to get coffee and the local 7-11.

[JM]

Check this device called Visortag at "www.visortag.com". It holds and protects the handicapped placard, and clips to the visor, allowing you to pull down the placard when you park, and flip it out of sight when you drive. Very neat.

[dick]

there are more then 30 cars with placards, I am telling you now, that 99% of them are not handicapped.
the address is 18th street and Figueroa st in LA.
these people need to be jailed for abuse....

[Ronster]

What about the guy with a disabled placard at my gym? He does a vigorous cardio workout followed by weight training. Gee. Does he have an invisible disability that justifies special, free parking?

[Melissa]

I am white, slender in weight, with blonde hair and blue eyes and I am disabled. I am sick of California's harassment of US Citizens who are disabled. I am joining the "white flight" and moving to Idaho.

[Mike Hammer]

Why don't we just put all disabied persons into extermination camps and kill them? That will definitey stop this Age of Entitlement.

[Nancy]

I am disabled. I have a serious neck injury, and recently had a stroke in April, 2007. Because of the stroke, I didn't notice that the DMV did not mail my replacement placard, or that my old placard expired. I received a ticket for $500 while at my surgeon's office. I showed the City that I had been issued a replacement placard, but it was sent to the wrong address, and my Medicare card. The City kept the $500 anyway, Now I don't have the money for my neck surgery, as I have to pay 20% of the surgery like Medicare says I have to. If I don't get that surgery, I will have to quit my job and go back on Social Security Disability. I THINK THAT THIS ISSUE IS A GREAT CLASS ACTION FOR A LAWYER TO TAKE. That $500 I had to pay for the ticket was federal money that I had previously received from SSA Disability. ARE THERE ANY LAWYERS OUT THERE WHO WANT TO SUE ON THIS ISSUE?

[Max]

People upset over entitlements. Who knew?

Look at the comments here. People questioning others disabilities based on visual inspection and income levels based on property as qualifiers for this 'entitlement'.

An easy answer to the problem: Get rid of Disabled Person parking. Get rid of entitlements. Stop the Culture of Entitlement.

We live in a society where people can eat themselves or their children into wheelchairs and feel they are entitled to get their fat bodies in a closer parking space, faster service, and shorter lines in bathrooms and amusement parks.

Liberals upset over entitlements and their own self made corruption is 'disturbing' news? Come on LA Times, you can do better. Or maybe not.

[Max]

People upset over entitlements. Who knew?

Look at the comments here. People questioning others disabilities based on visual inspection and income levels based on property as qualifiers for this 'entitlement'.

An easy answer to the problem: Get rid of Disabled Person parking. Get rid of entitlements. Stop the Culture of Entitlement.

We live in a society where people can eat themselves or their children into wheelchairs and feel they are entitled to get their fat bodies in a closer parking space, faster service, and shorter lines in bathrooms and amusement parks.

Liberals upset over entitlements and their own self made corruption is 'disturbing' news? Come on LA Times, you can do better. Or maybe not.

[Pat Babb]

I once had an extremely painful back injury and wished and wished that I could have parked next to the door of the drug store where I was going to pick up medicine for my back pain. I had to park pretty far from the door and walking was slow and painful. I wish there was another category for temporarily parking near drug stores or doctor's offices or even the grocery.

Sadly, we always have a group of people that scam good and helpful accommodations we make in our society: cash given to people after Katrina (or any disaster), Medicare billing, tax exemptions, and special parking. We might anticipate that behavior and put safeguards in in advance. Maybe we can even employ 'former' scammers.

[Thor]

Some folks need to remember (or learn in the first place) that not all disabilities are visible ones. Sure there are scofflaws; there are throughout the entire system, not just at the DMV. What needs to be done is establish a free hotline to call (or a DMV web form to fill in) if someone spots what they think is a violation. Then the DMV can investigate. But of course then the DMV would have to find the funding to pay investigators and other enforcers. So where are your tax dollars better spent? Catching thieves and murderers, or catching folks parking in handicapped spots when they shouldn't?

[HG]

As someone who suffers from an auto-immune disease since age 3, I can't tell you how the placcard has helped me. That being said, I am one of the few, if not the only one, who does not always use the placcard simply because I have it. Guess what? Disabled people have good & bad days. When I have bad days (real bad joint pain) I use it. When I am having a good day, I circle around the parking lot just like everyone else. My friends say, "just use the placcard! That's what it's for" Unless you have an obvious, consistently permanent disability, disabled people should try to set an example that they can tough out a bit of a walk. Hopefully this puts some shame into people. I'm not sure how effective this is since Angelenos are notoriously and disgustingly, w/out shame.

I will also say the worst abusers of placcards are West L.A residents. I can't tell you how many UCLA students I saw parking in handicapped spaces just to save $7 dollars in parking. Also, disabled people, with some exceptions, are not usually wealthy (certainly not wealthy enough to roll in an Escalade or BMW). Yet, I see lots of high-end vehicles with placcards or disabled plates. Did I not receive my check in the mail? Or are doctors being bullied by their wealthy patients into writing notes to the DMV, regardless of the severity of the disability? I think the latter is true. Isn't it enough that they have money and live in West L.A? Why do they feel the need to have free parking too? I mean...c'mon!

[Jan Bone]

I have a metal-and-plastic knee, an under-shoe to knee metal brace strapped on, and that's on the "good" leg, with the other one going. I have a handicapped parking permit and use it.

However, in response to the question of able-bodied people getting out of cars with handicapped parking permits that are parked in handicapped-marked spots, back in my own healthier days, I used to drive my definitely-legit-handicapped 89-year-old blind, walking with cane if at all, mother-in-law around. If I took her to a mall, I had to arrange to get the mall's wheelchair, retrieve her from the car, which I did park handicapped, go shopping, take her back to the car, and then return the wheelchair to the mall lending office. To anyone who saw me--at that point, healthy, but didn't see the wheelchair with Grandma Jessie in it, it would have looked as if I was wrongly using the handicapped parking place.

I'll bet some people today are caught in the same Catch-22.

[Enlightenment]

Abusers of the system should have:
- car towed.
- revoke drivers license.
- forced to retake drivers test.

[John Plunkett]

Another example of unintended consequences; a noble concept corrupted in practice. What is really annoying is seeing holders of these placards motoring along with the placards hanging on the mirror when the placards are clearly printed with the instructions to remove from the mirror while driving the vehicle.
The genie has been let out of the bottle; it will not be possible to restore order to the situation.

[TR]

Absolutely abused system. CA needs to clean up. Every day I go for a walk at the beach, I see, parked in the few handicapped spaces, a super expensive vehicle like a Cadillac Escalade, BMW, ete etc, AND super CLEAN!! Out comes NOBODY even slightly disabled! C'mon folks! Who are you kidding? This is a BIG ripoff! These people should be hanged, and made an example of to others
doing the same, so they stop ASAP!

[Frank Blair]

I personally have a disabled placard and would be limited in my ability to do some of the things I can presently do because of my placard (e.g. shop, go to school, doctor's appts, etc.) My numerous disabilities can have various different adverse effects on my everyday life (e.g. pain, uncontrollable bodily functions, etc.). Having a placard has given me the opportunity to live a more rewarding life, due to the fact I'm not at the mercy of public transit, which can be unkind to disabled consumers.

[Jason]

Woah, Robin... no comment from me on the race thing.

The bigger issue for me is that the disabled placard allows the user to ignore the parking meters in non-handicapped spots! Why?

If you have a placard, you can park in a handicapped spot... I'm OK with that. But if a placard holder chooses to park in a "normal" spot, they should have to pay the meter and be subject to the time limits. That seems fair to me.

[Robin]

I cannot guess how many times I've seen able-bodied people jump out of a car hung with a handicapped placard and diddy-bop down the street. I have talked to these people or left notes but, it seems, the problem is growing, especially among black people. I've heard all the lame excuses..."It's only for a minute", "It's none of your business", "Everyone else does it"...I know many truly handicapped people who are the real beneficiaries of this program and to see someone seemingly in perfect health leap from a car parked in one of these slots, makes me sick.