# Discussion thread for the "Polls only" thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2024, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636 "2024-02-16T02:56:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 259
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5162 "2025-01-05T22:47:34Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Not all disabilities are patently visible to others, a very important distinction that is important for you to understand. A reasonable point; but I interpreted @Wheelz to be talking about people he knows personally, well enough to know that they are, in fact, able-bodied. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5163 "2025-01-05T23:39:45Z")
Thank you for pointing that out-I’missed that these were people he knew well. Hopefully it can be understood why I’m testy about it. It’s a battle I have to fight daily. “Why are you parking there? You don’t look disabled”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5164 "2025-01-06T00:01:46Z")
For all the parking questions, what I find annoying is that when I try to take my elderly mother to a restaurant, the CLOSEST spots are for people who are picking up to-go food. The disabled spots are sometimes actually too far away for her, so I have to park in the pickup space, take her in, and then move the car to a spot farther away. I see very few veterans’ spaces (Canada isn’t quite so obsequious about military service members as the US; I presume because of a different history in the Vietnam era), and very few expectant mother spaces. What I **do** see, and what piss me off, are “family” spaces such as [https://images.myparkingsign.com/img/dp/md/family-parking-sign.jpg](https://images.myparkingsign.com/img/dp/md/family-parking-sign.jpg). I really hate the usage of “family” to mean “nuclear family of parents and minor children.” The implication, of course, is that my childless household does not constitute a family; nor do those relatives who don’t live with me, children or not. Why not just say “parking for small children”? We know the kids aren’t the drivers; we also know that navigating little kids across a parking lot isn’t a very safe activity. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5165 "2025-01-06T15:19:05Z")
I’ve never seen a “Reserved for Veterans” parking sign, but I would honor it by not parking there if I did see one. (I’ve never served, something I regret a bit.) On the other hand, I see a lot of “Reserved for fuel efficient vehicle” signs. I use those spots even though my ICE car isn’t particularly fuel efficient. Since the sign doesn’t define fuel efficient, and my car isn’t a gas guzzling Ford 150, I figure that’s good enough. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5166 "2025-01-06T16:59:24Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > On the other hand, I see a lot of “Reserved for fuel efficient vehicle” signs. That’s a new one for me. Other than handicap spaces, I don’t get his trend. But, as I said earlier, I live in an area where it’s never even a little difficult to find a parking space in a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5167 "2025-01-06T17:22:06Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > On the other hand, I see a lot of “Reserved for fuel efficient vehicle” signs. I use those spots even though my ICE car isn’t particularly fuel efficient. Since the sign doesn’t define fuel efficient, and my car isn’t a gas guzzling Ford 150, I figure that’s good enough. I’ve never seen one of those signs, but if I come across one I would be tempted to park there. My truck gets fairly decent mileage for a gas-guzzling F150 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5168 "2025-01-06T17:35:17Z")
I absolutely agree, and I apologize for any misunderstanding. I would never second-guess any stranger’s choice of a parking spot, and I’m fully aware that people may legitimately qualify for handicapped tags even if they don’t appear (to me) to have a disability. I was recently on a work trip, and the - very much not disabled - colleague who had the rental car practically made a sport of always having to get the closest possible available spot, to the point that the rest of us eventually started making fun of him over it. That’s the sort of thing I was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5169 "2025-01-06T17:58:27Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > That’s the sort of thing I was talking about. Got it~those people are annoying as heck. I wouldn’t be surprised if steam comes out of my ears when I see them. Thanks for getting back to me, we’re on the same page, we just didn’t know it at first! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5170 "2025-01-06T20:21:47Z")
I’d forgotten “parking for fuel efficient vehicles”. Our library has that and is incredibly short of available parking & so I use it all the time (even when I yes, had an F150). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5171 "2025-01-06T20:24:12Z")
It’s not your fault if they don’t adequately define “efficient.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5172 "2025-01-06T20:25:49Z")
The “Other” is see a lot is “Reserved for compact vehicles.” IOW park your F-150 somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5173 "2025-01-06T20:37:39Z")
My father worked at the Kennedy Space Center in the 60s. Wernher Von Braun had a reserved parking space… which my mother parked in one time. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5174 "2025-01-06T20:38:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The “Other” is see a lot is “Reserved for compact vehicles.” Oh, good call, I know I’ve seen those somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5175 "2025-01-06T20:54:32Z")
I have a friend named Dean. He was once driving at a college for some reason and saw a parking spot with a sign that said “Reserved for Dean”. He took a picture of it and said he was sorely tempted to steal the sign. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5176 "2025-01-06T20:56:55Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The “Other” is see a lot is “Reserved for compact vehicles.” I’ve seen that. I’ve also seen, as I said above, ‘reserved for emergency personnel’ (I forget the exact wording; fire and ambulance crews), on one side of a lot adjacent to a firehouse; and I’ve seen spaces reserved for specific employees/workers/officeholders (by name or by office), or for employees of a particular establishment in general, or for students and employees with specific types of parking permits, or for customers of the specific store they’re in front of, or for residents of a particular apartment. And then there’s the “this side of the street only on these days” setup meant to allow for street cleaning and/or snow removal. The ‘electric vehicle only’ signs I’ve seen have been by charging stations. I don’t remember whether they were worded that way, or worded that you’re only supposed to use them if using the charger. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5177 "2025-01-06T21:04:50Z")
> [@Maus\_Magill](#): > > Wernher Von Braun had a reserved parking space… which my mother parked in one time. She didn’t know not to park there? I mean, it’s not rocket science. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5178 "2025-01-06T21:08:14Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > it’s not rocket science 🤣 ! ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5179 "2025-01-06T21:09:56Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > it’s not rocket science > > 🤣 ! Classy snark! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5180 "2025-01-06T23:36:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The “Other” is see a lot is “Reserved for compact vehicles.” > > IOW park your F-150 somewhere else. I never really thought of the compact spaces as “reserved” (which is why I didn’t include it in the poll), rather more like a notice that this space is too small for anything bigger than a compact car. Your F150 won’t fit in this space. But that’s not the same thing as being reserved for compact cars. But I might be splitting hairs. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636/5181 "2025-01-06T23:42:27Z")
The issue with compact car spaces is that far too many people don’t bother their cars fitting. They just use 2-4 of the spaces (no exaggeration, I’ve seen X-Cab full sized bed F250s taking up 4) because, well, reasons. Rather than parking elsewhere, they’ll just make things even worse for everyone else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=258) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-polls-only-thread-part-2/997636.md?page=260)