# Handicapped Parking (Poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746 "2022-11-11T14:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/41 "2022-11-11T23:57:21Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > If you are blind, how are you driving? I assume someone else was driving and the passenger was the legally blind one. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/42 "2022-11-11T23:58:24Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > If you are blind, how are you driving? - No faster than the dog is comfortable with. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/43 "2022-11-12T00:58:06Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > If I can golf, I can walk. Can you walk carrying heavy bags of groceries? Can you push a cart full of groceries all the way to the end of the parking lot? Riding in a golf cart, getting out and swinging a club, and getting back in to the cart is a pretty low energy, low stress activity. Disability is not a “yes / no” light switch. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/44 "2022-11-12T01:07:09Z")
If he is handicapped, he can use the handicapped parking spot. Even outside of this one guy’s case, disabled people can vary in the amount/kind of things they can do in a day. (An example is that some people who often use wheelchairs can indeed sometimes walk, and that doesn’t make them “less disabled,” and they’re certainly not “faking being disabled.”) Disabled people are also often tired of putting up with abled people trying to police them and decide whether or not they are “disabled enough.” Sadly, there’s still so much ableism in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/45 "2022-11-12T01:16:52Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > > > If you are blind, how are you driving? - > > No faster than the dog is comfortable with. 😀 😆 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/46 "2022-11-12T01:30:03Z")
I think the only way this question can make sense as a moral question is for it to be about yourself. How disabled would you think you should be to use the placard? Any judgement of another person doesn’t work, since we can’t know their level of disability. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/47 "2022-11-12T02:33:46Z")
My guy has a severe claudication in his leg. He doesn’t golf, but he could I suppose. What he cannot do is walk more than 100 feet without resting until some blood flow returns. Golf is not sustained walking, it is walking and “resting/playing” I voted yes ---
**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:** [November 12, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/48 "2022-11-12T02:35:29Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I know of a Deaf guy and a fellow with ADHD who have handicapped parking license plates. Obviously they qualify by state law, but being familiar with Deaf folks, it seems odd. Maybe they qualify due to some other condition. Being Deaf doesn’t mean you can’t have, say, a heart condition. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/49 "2022-11-12T02:37:20Z")
I voted yes. The state law entitles him to that permit for a condition that meets the requirements of the law. What a person can and cannot do is likely different for different people and, here’s the kicker, it’s none of my business what his medical condition is. All I’m entitled to know is that the state issued him the permit. IMHO, the outrage against supposed misuse of the parking permits is ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/50 "2022-11-12T02:39:27Z")
Outrage? What outrage? ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/51 "2022-11-12T03:09:39Z")
A friend of mine could walk forever but had a fused knee so needed to be able to open the door fully to swing her straight leg out. The spaces are wider to allow that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/52 "2022-11-12T03:29:39Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > There are so many problems w/ the VA disability program. So much press goes to the supposedly disabled vets who face denials or limited benefits, whereas I cannot recall the last time I read/heard about the vets who are classified as 100% disabled - yet capable of considerable activity - including work. > > Many people do not realize that a VA classification of someone as 100% disabled has nothing to do with whether or not that person can work. > > The guy in the OP is working the system for all he can. IMO, he’s a greedy jerk. But in terms of American culture (and vet worship), he’s just taking advantage of what is available to him. 100% disability is not something they easily hand out. I have two seriously screwed up knees that are service connected. I have a 20% disability. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/53 "2022-11-12T04:24:36Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > However, I voted “no” in the poll as I took it to be a hypothetical of sorts, where we do have “all the medical facts,” and those facts indicate that the person is well now, but still has the disability plates/sticker/sign. In a hypothetical situation where we have perfect knowledge that the guy in the OP doesn’t need the placard at all under any circumstances, I agree. It’s a real shit move to abuse it because it’s potentially preventing somebody else from accessing businesses or services. In real life, we never have that knowledge about strangers and so “mind my own business” is the only correct reaction to seeing anybody using the handicap space. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/54 "2022-11-12T05:08:18Z")
Exactly. A similar thing. But, not really — I’m sorry that you’re fighting your battle and I’m sending good vibes and good healing energies your way ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/55 "2022-11-12T05:17:02Z")
I’m not a doctor. And even if I was a doctor, I haven’t examined this person. They were seen by a doctor who decided they were entitled to handicapped access. I have no basis to feel my judgement is better than theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/56 "2022-11-12T05:17:41Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I really, really don’t care. I agree with **QtM** that it’s not for me to decide, or judge, it’s up to the person’s doctors and the agency that approves the placards. I agree but with a minor addition, bolded here. _I really, really don’t care. I agree with **QtM** that it’s not for me to decide, or judge, it’s up to the person’s doctors and the agency that approves the placards, **and the integrity of the individual applying for and using the placard**._ ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/57 "2022-11-12T12:16:03Z")
It could even be the case that he can walk but for a limited amount of time. So any added walking _to_ the golf course would cut into the time he was able to spend _on_ the golf course. I think it’s more than fair that people get to spend their “walking time” on thing that are productive or fun, not getting around. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/58 "2022-11-12T12:38:48Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > He got better, but he still goes for steroid injections periodically. If he really did get better, then he’s a jerk and shouldn’t be using it. The spots are for people who are currently handicapped, not everyone who was ever handicapped at some point in the past. Here in Canada, we can issue temporary passes in such cases, is this not a thing in the US? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/59 "2022-11-12T13:01:10Z")
Every place is different and it depends on what you mean by temporary. Neither NY State nor NY City permits are permanent in that they have expiration dates and a medical examination is required in some circumstances. The state permit can be issued on a temporary basis but it’s issued for six months regardless of how long the disability is expected to last. Now as far as the OP goes , I don’t know what medical issues a stranger or even an acquaintance might have - but if I have perfect knowledge and the person no longer needs the permit or doesn’t need it today , I’m going to open my mouth. Just like I tell my mother to put hers away when I drive her- I’m dropping her off right in front closer than any parking space , picking her up from right in front and the only person walking to and from the parking space is me. But there is a very limited group of people I will have that sort of knowledge about. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746/60 "2022-11-12T13:18:12Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > > > He got better, but he still goes for steroid injections periodically. > > If he really did get better, then he’s a jerk and shouldn’t be using it. The spots are for people who are currently handicapped, not everyone who was ever handicapped at some point in the past. > > Here in Canada, we can issue temporary passes in such cases, is this not a thing in the US? It is. It’s quite common with things like broken legs. My friend had one while undergoing chemo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/handicapped-parking-poll/974746.md?page=4)