I’m more peeved at unused blocks of good seats…they should open those up to whomever after the 3rd inning or so, when it’s obvious that nobody from ACME Predatory Lending, Inc. is going to bother to show up.
Forgive my curiosity, but how do handicapped parking spaces aid you in handling an autistic child? If you had to park in non-disabled parking with her, what specifically would be difficult about the situation?
I don’t know in the US, but I have been told in the UK that it’s because the standard parking meter is basically too tall to be used from a wheelchair, and is frequently put somewhere inaccessible for anyone using one. So, to avoid a discrimination lawsuit, the choice was replace all the parking meters and redesign the layout in every council parking area to be accessible, or just let anyone with a disabled car tag park free. Free parking turned out to be the cheaper option.
Not all places here allow free disabled parking, but I believe all council run ones do.
I believe it has something to do with time limit/enforcement issues. A meter in a one hour space can only accept one hour worth of payment, but someone
with a handicapped placard is exempt from the time limit. If they had to pay only for the first hour , there’s really no way to enforce it ( how would a traffic agent know how long the car was there when he or she first saw it ) and requiring them to return to the space each hour is a bit too much to expect of a disabled person.
Wal-Mart is probably an outlier, and there are a lot more disabled Wal-mart shoppers than the general population:
-Especially the Super Centers offer one stop shopping. If it is a hassle to get in/out of a vehicle, arrange a ride, get from parking lot to store, this can be a boon to the disabled.
-Many of the disabled have limited incomes, so a discounter like Wal-Mart helps them make the most of what they have. Yes many items can be had cheaper elsewhere, but the point above comes into play. You can probably fill a shopping cart cheaper at Wally world than all the same items at any other SINGLE retailer.
I hadn’t thought about it from that stand point. I am disgusted with Wal*Mart and their new wider aisles and lower shelves, and stocking many fewer things. They are at the far end of town from me. It is no longer worth it to go there since I have to hit a couple of other places now too. Walgreens, Dollar General, and the one farm store are closer and have about as low of prices.
When recovering from Orthopedic Surgery I had a hang tag for 6 months. I found that handicapped spaces were almost always available, except at Wal-Mart. My suspicion is that Wal-Mart attracts the handicapped because of the fun electronic scooters they provide.
In addition to the other reasons offered, parking meter spaces tend to be closer and generally more convenient than parking several blocks away in a parking lot and then hiking to the destination.
The other reasons, I’m following, but I don’t understand what this particular one has to do with paying.
A parking lot might be free, or low cost, or might be for an unlimited time, however, a person who needs a closer parking spot might only be able to park in a metered spot, which is more expensive.
For what it’s worth, around here, where there are metered spaces, those with handicapped tags can park at either the ones designated for handicapped parking or at the regular spaces, but they have to pay at both.
No worries. She is 6.5, will bolt off at the drop of a hat, generally does not follow commands, has no sense of danger, couldn’t tell people her full name, address or phone number if she is seperated, has limited speech, crowded places can give her sensory overload after a few minutes, can have temper trantrums where I can barely restrain her, my wife can’t get her safely in the van if she’s acting up, etc.
There’s more but you get the picture that at a bad moment it is very dangerous to try schlep her across a parking lot. Being able to pull into a handicapped parking space in front of the grocery store, get a cart, put my daughter in the cart, go in and get milk and back out within just a few minutes makes it possible. The alternative is to go home, wait for my wife to get home, then make a seperate trip to the store for necessities.
BTW, my daughter is getting better about holding hands and walking with me. She’s even better if she holds hands with two people, but that’s not always practical. However, there are still times when she tries to take off like a shot of lightning or she’s 50 pounds of out of control child that I can’t manhandle across a big crowded parking lot. Think about having a typical impulsive 2 year old trapped in a frustrated and strong 6 1/2 year old body, and you’ll have an idea of what it’s like.
Again, I’d be more than happy to trade the handicapped accomodations for a child that didn’t have austism.
She’s 6-and-a-half feet tall?
My town does this in municipal parking lots, especially the one by the post office, which also serves a block of buildings that house various county offices. The posts for the meters are shorter so people in wheelchairs can use them, but they still have to pay for parking.