(Not sure if this is the right place, feel free to move it.)
At my local supermarket, I often see shopping carts left in spots reserved for those with disabilities. (On my way in, I take them with me to free the spot.)
Here’s what I’m wondering: The whole point of having these spots reserved close to the store is so people with disabilities don’t have to walk as far. So I can certainly understand why it might be difficult for them to move the cart back to the store. On the other hand, leaving the cart where it is means someone else with a disability must walk farther.
Should the store have a worker check more frequently to bring back the carts? Is there another solution?
The solution would be for shoppers not to be lazy bastards. If they can wheel a cart full of groceries out of a store, why can’t they push an empty cart out of the way. And if it is left in the parking spot to inhibit parking, how did they park there anyway?
Yes, shoppers should stop being lazy and return the carts to the appropriate corrals. Alternatively, have the carts require a small deposit and they must be returned to displays to get your deposit back. We just had a thread on that, it’s used in a lot of places.
I think the OP was suggesting that it was the users of the handicapped parking spot who were leaving their carts there, so that bringing the carts back might be difficult to do with their hindered mobility. I’m not sure how accurate this conjecture is, but it does imply that the shoppers leaving their carts there have an excuse slightly more valid than pure laziness.
If the shoppers have to wheel the carts all the way back to the store rather than having a place provided for carts right in the lot then that’s the store’s first mistake. And I highly doubt it is the handicapable folks who are responsible. As the handicapped spots are (usually) empty, this seems like an excellent place for non-handicapped people to dump their carts.
Solutions:
Supply a cart corral so people have a convenient place to return the carts. Place the corral right next to the handicapped spots. This can act as a buffer as well so proper spacing is maintained.
..or..
Slope the asphalt around the handicapped spaces such that the carts will always roll out of the way. Of course this has the unfortunate side effect of sending the poor guy in the wheelchair rolling out into traffic.
Some people manage to rouse themselves sufficiently to head back to the store with the cart (to their great credit, for rising above the masses), but if they see a wide empty space there–the handicapped spot–they lose their momentum and shove the cart forward, abandoning it (not mine!), rationalizing that a store employee is standing just inside the door, ready to leap forward and clear the marked spaces. Of course, if there is an employee, they’re actually just looking the other way so they can rush out and take a smoke before they have to do something like corral the fucking carts again.
I’ve seen the people in the handicap spots leave the carts in the way for the next driver and the vehicle is not being driven by a handicapped person. You would think the others in the vehicle would have consideration for the next person needing a handicapped spot. People need to stop being super lazy and put carts in the cart corrals if they want to bring them out to the lot. The solution is not to have someone constantly looking for a cart to be left there, and then run out to get it.
This is what I was going to suggest—having a cart corral close by. Since I use the buggy as a walker, having to walk back without my “crutch” would be hard. But we try to always put the cart back up even tho hub and I both have the handicap thingys.
I have a damaged spine and am in chronic pain, but I can walk and try to lead as normal a life as I can manage. Grocery shopping is a difficult painful experience. Every little thing that conserves my energy means I can do a little more that day. The handicapped spots are a blessing, doubly so if someone leaves a cart close to the space so that I have some support walking to the store.
If there’s a cart actually blocking the parking spot, it would be lovely of you to move it. If there’s a cart near the handicapped spots but not blocking, please leave it for us to use.
P.S. It may seem to the able-bodied that the handicapped spots are always empty. To the handicapped, it seems that they are always full.
Disabled parking spots and attached zebra access areas are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). Actual enforcement is left up to the states under the respective state laws. Check your state disabled parking law. You might be living in a state that requires the owner of a private parking area with disabled parking areas to keep all disability access clear. Otherwise, the property own could be fined the same amount as someone who illegally parks in a disabled parking spot and/or blocks the adjacent zebra access area.
Inform the store owner they need to keep the area clear, or risk being fined.
While I don’t use the full-sized push carts, I do use the smaller carts when I do my shopping. The same principle applies when it comes to what to do with these when finished using them. Many shopping centers have cart-corrals in the middle of the parking lots, much closer than going all the way back to the store itself. When there are other, full sized carts present in these corrals, I usually just set my smaller cart inside one of these bigger ones. When this isn’t an option, I always take my cart back to the main corral in front of the store.*
*But then again, I don’t utilize the handicap spaces for their proximity to the entrances but rather for the extra space given on the sides in order to load and unload my chair.
I’m confused - if the disabled person is parked in the disabled spot, how could they possibly leave their cart in said spot?
I always use the crip spots - long time chronic pain plus currently recovering from hip replacement - and I usually leave my cart in the space in front of the car, where the next disabled person can still park in the spot and have a cart waiting for them.
