Huh? I am speculating here in conversation as to what I believe wast the true situation. That had no influence on whether or not I would ask a motorist who had parked (and left) their vehicle illegally in a handicapped-accessible spot if they indeed had a permit to do so. As to “my reaction” being too hasty and thoughtless, I don’t know exactly what you are referring to. Could you clarify?
There is a far more important issue that is frequently abused:
“15 items or less” express lanes
Just yesterday I was in line behind someone with 16 items - unfortunately there was no Junior Deputy on duty that day.
Every situation and enforcement officer is different, but I have to say based on my experience, if the woman were sitting in her car and could produce a placard, she would probably not be ticketed. She would likely get a verbal warning to display the placard.
It would depend on many things though: How much of a hard ass is the officer? How bad was his day? How courteous was the driver? Had the officer seen this car before (was this a constant, repeat offender?) and on and on.
There is no one answer, but in general, over five years of writing those damn tickets, I can tell you that we were taught from the beginning to lean towards leniency.
No one came right out and said it - the system taught us. We found out quickly that if someone could show even the slightest right to be somewhere, the boss would either void it or the magistrate would. No one asked us our opinion. We were told: we pay you to write tickets, not to worry about what happens after.
In my case, if I warned a driver more than twice, after that they got tickets. Alas, those tickets were often exonerated - even repeat offenders.
This may be unique to our town, but I suspect it isn’t.
I never had a case exactly like what you describe, so I’ll relate this to give you an idea of what it was like:
Once there was a car in an area marked: Loading zone, no parking.
The car was there for more than 6 hours. The first few times I passed it I let it go. The third time, I wrote a ticket.
At the hearing the driver told the magistrate that he had been loading and unloading all day. The magistrate asked if I could prove this were not the case. I could not. Without sitting and watching all day, how could I?
The chalk mark showed that the car hadn’t moved. What on earth could you be loading for more than 6 hours? I don’t know. The magistrate didn’t care. He said that the testimony showed that the driver was not breaking the law. He dismissed it.
IMO, once a magistrate saw the placard, he would dismiss the case. He might add his voice to chorus of: display the placard every time. But IMO, he would let it go.
Same situation in Washington and Oregon. It may be utter nonsense…but that doesn’t stop it from also being the law.
edited to add: This has inspired me to start a thread about traffic laws that make no sense.
Over 220 posts in this thread (10% of them from you) and this is the first time you’ve mentioned that she didn’t have a bracelet around her ankle. I call bullshit on, errrr, something. I’m not sure what yet, but it seems like your case is starting to develop some cracks. Not that it was solid to begin with, but now you seem to be making things up. That bracelet has been mentioned a bunch of times and you’ve had plenty of time to come in and clarify that that there was nothing on her ankle. Funny how this changed. In the OP, she lifted her leg and pointed to her ankle and mentioned a permit around her ankle. Now she’s added a high kick and a motherfucker.
The only thing I can think of with the “I got a permit around my ankle” was that she was implying that she had a sprained ankle which would not only allow her to lift said ankle off the ground but also get her a placard from the doctor. My guess, if she was walking normally, is that it had healed to the point where she could walk, and she was just milking out the last few days of a temporary permit. But then it was still legal and really, none of your friggen business OR maybe she was still on doctor’s orders to minimize walking so as not to re-injure it.
LOL!!! This is my sentiment as well, but you put it so eloquently. The OP needs to give up his self crusade to monitor handicapped spaces on behalf of the police. And as much as he hate’s it I will always imagine him as Gomer Pyle from this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efgLHgsBmM
On the bright side, things are certainly starting to sound more nonsensical. I imagine next time we hear this story it will be an impromptu dance routine from Flashdance or something.
Jamie, what are your thoughts on the large number of people saying you should just mind your own business on occasions like this (i.e. occasions where you yourself, or anyone with you, is not being put to any inconvenience)?
Are we going to judge each person with a disability to see if they really need access to the handicap parking spot? Another poster described (see below) a student with an artificial leg who could rollerblade to class. Possibly this person could rollerblade from the non-handicap parking spots. But her or she is entitled to use the spot. (Actually I thought the original purpose of those parking spots with the six feet or so of marked-off blue space was to allow enough room for the ramp to unfold from the car, so you could exit in your wheelchair. But lots of people use these spots who do not have powered ramps on their vehicles.)
Actually, I assumed she meant she was going to kick the OP’s ass for asking when she said that about her ankle…
Or maybe she was carrying a concealed weapon on an ankle holster. Pray tell, jamie, did you have a chance to ask her about the current status of her concealed carry permit?
I’m not trying to knock where you live, but it’s Flint. Your odds of confronting the wrong person are pretty decent. Your odds of getting police assistance after confronting them are poor, as you said yourself. What I don’t know is why you want to take the risk when you weren’t even affected in this situation.
I used to ferry a handicapped person around and I would pull into the HC space to let him out or in, because in order to get into my car we had to open the door as wide as it would go–which was impossible elsewhere in the parking lot. Parking at the edge didn’t work because it was adjacent to an area landscaped with rocks, and he couldn’t handle walking on those, either. So it just answers the need for more room than normal.
It does make perfect sense.
If I ride in the car with my boyfriend to the store, there is no law that says I can’t remain in the vehicle in the regular parking lot if I feel like it while he goes into the store, or that I can’t go in by myself while he remains in the car. It’s our individual choice to get out of the car or not. Does the car not belong in the regular parking lot because one of us decided not to go into the establishment?
If the non-disabled aren’t forced to leave parked vehicles, why should the disabled be forced to? Or do you feel that the disabled should be forced to leave their vehicles and be paraded around so other people can assess their worthiness?
If someone wants to take a disabled person for a ride or on errands, have at it. Maybe they wanted to go in but didn’t feel up to it once they got there. Maybe it was more crowded than they thought. Maybe they didn’t want to be left alone at home and felt safer going with their caretaker. Maybe they just want to get out and about for a bit. Maybe they are self-conscious about their condition and don’t want people staring so they stay in the car. It’s their choice.
I think you might have missed the point. What Cat (and others) are saying is that if the non-disabled person isn’t getting out of the car, the car shouldn’t be in the disabled spot (not from a legal stand point, but from a practical stand point).
If I had a broken leg and a handicapped placard, and was riding shotgun in a friends car, why should we be able to use the handicapped spot at the Blockbuster while he runs in and gets a movie and I sit in the car?
But, if the law allows it, like others have said, yelling at the tag/placard holder really serves no purpose. The police aren’t going to be on your side if someone calls them.
I don’t know what the law is. I occasionally give a disabled friend rides for one reason or another and we usually take my van and bring her placard along. Yes I display it. 
However, if she’s going to stay in the vehicle while I run in somewhere, I’d feel weird about using a handicapped spot even if I could, legally. I only park in one if she’s getting out of the vehicle as well.
I guess I’ll just buy one of these and make sure to wear it any time I am driving and parking in a public lot…And make sure I’m seen…
“Hey, it’s grocery shopping time. Go get Granny and make sure she brings her tags.” "We can’t mess with those regular parking spots-those are for suckers". “If Granny gets cold sitting in the car, she can grab her blanket.” :eek:
Who ever said old people are useless?
Thank goodness you are around to make sure everyone with a handicapped tag is indeed worthy of having one.
Not only is your assumption that it was the old woman who was handicapped stupid, but it’s also insulting to HER. Not all elderly are weak.