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| Image designed by author. Please click here to view on Flickr. |
Can you believe it? People without disabilities routinely use accessible parking spots. Please read more. and read the "Disclaimer" statement below.
Prologue
Imagine being in a wheelchair and you are searching for a place to park. Whenever you go out in public, you probably notice that accessible parking spaces are occupied by vehicles without the appropriate placard or license plate in sight. The blog post will outline the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's disabled parking laws, and how people without disabilities might benefit from parking farther from the entrance. Here's the main takeaway of this post: please be respectful of people with disabilities when trying to find a parking spot.
It should also be noted that this post does not intend to shame people whatsoever.
Disabled Parking 101
As mentioned in the "Prologue" section (see above), people without disabilities routinely occupy accessible parking spaces at public places. Such individuals are either using somebody else's placard or parking without one. If a person with a disability owns a vehicle that includes wheelchair ramp or lift, you occasionally have to load and/or unload in tight spaces. The types of ramps and lifts are mentioned in a previous post to this blog. Such vehicles generally have a sticker similar to the one depicted in Figure 1 (see below).
BraunAbility mentions that many people have no idea of the fact that "protecting these handicap spaces ... for individuals with physical disabilities" is essential. You should also understand that not every disability is visible.
Figure 1
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| MobilityWorks sticker, which appears in a previous post. Photo taken by author. |
The Rules of Accessible Parking
The accessible parking regulations vary by jurisdiction. Please take the time to look them up. For example, Section 3354, subsection (d) of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code lays down the rules of accessible parking. Anyone who violates paragraph 1 of the law mentioned above faces a "summary offense" charge and a $15 maximum fine. Similarly, the unlawful use of an accessible parking spot is a "summary offense" and will result in a fine ranging from $50 to $200. Not only that, the Pennsylvania Driver's Manual stipulates that the offender's vehicle might be "tow[ed]" and returned to him/her after "the towing costs" are paid. (This information also appears in Chapter 5 of the Pennsylvania Driver's Manual.) In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the applicant must satisfy at least one of eleven criteria to be issued the placard or plate. The aforementioned Driver's Manual also enumerates the "conditions" that must be fulfilled before the driver is authorized to occupy accessible parking spots. Now that you are aware of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's regulations for accessible parking, I hope that people without disabilities are discouraged from using the designated areas.
While doing research for this blog post, I found several public service announcements (PSA) on YouTube. As an example, a 2017 PSA from the State of California includes a statement with two detriments of unlawfully occupying an accessible parking spot. It mentions that "you not only take away a spot, but also access from the people who really need it." The commercial also features a person who uses a wheelchair and two police officers issuing a citation to the offending person. Obviously, the unauthorized occupancy of accessible parking requires the wheelchair user to park farther from the entrance. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The PSA begins when a woman (the aforementioned "offending person") uses a placard belonging to her mother in an attempt to circumvent the parking law. Overall, I believe that public service announcements would be highly effective.
The subsection "Excuses for Unauthorized Use of Accessible Parking" (see below) talks about excuses for illegal occupying such spaces.
Excuses for Unauthorized Use of Accessible Parking
Just as children look for excuses to avoid doing their homework, motor vehicle operators try to make excuses for illegally occupying an accessible parking spot. Both scenarios have one thing in common: there is virtually NONE whatsoever. The next paragraph talks about a song with lyrical statements that might be applicable to accessible parking.
In the lyrics to Meghan Trainor's song "No Excuses," she says, "Have you lost your mind? Open up your eyes." If you see a sign for an accessible parking spot (see Figures 2A and 2B for examples), please do not occupy it unless you have a placard or license plate. The same can be said about parking spaces that have the International Symbol of Access painted on the ground, as well as the area with diagonal lines next to them (see Figure 3). Please take advice from Trainor, whose lyrical statement "there ain't no excuses" applies to the unlawful use of accessible parking. Finally, to rephrase one of the song's key statements, "the driver's education manual taught you better than that."
Figure 2A
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| Example of an accessible parking sign. The black circles appear solely to conceal two people's faces. Photo taken by author. Please click here to view on Flickr. |
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| Another example of an accessible parking sign, but this one includes the statement "van accessible." Photo taken by author. Please click here to view on Flickr. |
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| Example of diagonal blue lines near an accessible parking spot. Photo taken by author. Please click here to view on Flickr. |
The Unexpected Benefits of Parking Farther Away
People without disabilities should park farther away from the entrance. Believe it or not, there are health-related benefits of doing so. Piedmont Healthcare writes that a person might be able to "walk" in the amount of time spent "circling the parking lot for the perfect space" if they "park farther away." MyFitnessPal adds that, if you "[m]ake it a point," parking toward the rear of the lot has two other benefits. It means that you not only use less fuel but also quickly increase your daily number of steps.
Epilogue
Throughout this post, the reader learned about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's disabled parking law. (Again, please research the policies that are applicable to your jurisdiction.) Hopefully, the reader learned to respect people with disabilities when it comes to the parking lot. Remember, please park farther from the entrance to any public facility. Many individuals think they can park wherever they want, even if the spot is reserved for people with disabilities. As a reminder, you should take advice from the lyrics to the Meghan Trainor song mentioned earlier in this post.
Please refer to the "Disclaimer" section at both the beginning and the end of this post.
See Also
- BraunAbility
- "Disabled Motoring" site from the FIA and the International Transport Forum (ITF)
- MobilityWorks
- YouTube video: "Driving with a Disability" from Attitude (🇳🇿 New Zealand)
Bibliography
"Disabled Parking Placard PSA." YouTube, uploaded by California DMV, 29 Sept. 2017,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSxxk_WsUD8.
"Handicap Parking Violations: Not a Victimless Crime." BraunAbility, no date,
www.braunability.com/us/en/blog/disability-rights/handicap-parking-violations-not-a-victimless-crime.html.
Accessed 31 July 2022.
"International Symbol of Access." Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 07 July 2022,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Symbol_of_Access. Accessed 07 Aug. 2022.
Lindsay, Marc. "15 Ways to Add 1,000 More Steps to Your Day." MyFitnessPal, 02 Sept. 2020,
blog.myfitnesspal.com/ways-to-add-1000-more-steps-to-your-day/.
Accessed 01 Aug. 2022.
"Meghan Trainor - No Excuses (Lyric Video)." YouTube video, uploaded by
Meghan Trainor, 01 Feb. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=msFzIHe9sA8.
Morton, Gregory. "Adaptive Driving and Vehicles 101." Common Misconceptions of Disability,
Blogger, 25 July 2022,
disabledsalt.blogspot.com/2022/07/adaptive-driving-and-vehicles-101.html.
Accessed 31 July 2022.
---. "Is Every Disability Visible? No." Common Misconceptions of Disability,
Blogger, 02 Apr. 2022,
disabledsalt.blogspot.com/2022/04/is-every-disability-visible-no.html.
Accessed 31 July 2022.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Pennsylvania Driver's Manual, PennDOT, 2021,
www.dot.state.pa.us/public/dvspubsforms/bdl/bdl%20manuals/manuals/pa%20drivers%20manual%20by%20chapter/english/pub%2095.pdf.
"Persons with Disabilities Parking Placard and Registration Plate Eligibility Requirements."
PennDOT Driver & Vehicle Services, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2022,
www.dmv.pa.gov/VEHICLE-SERVICES/Persons%20with%20Disabilities%20Information/Pages/Placard-and-Registration-Plate-Eligibility-Requirements.aspx.
Accessed 22 July 2022.
"Physical activity is more important than exercise." Piedmont Healthcare, 2022,
www.piedmont.org/living-better/get-fit-without-hitting-the-gym.
Accessed 31 July 2022.
Title 75 - Section 3354. Pennsylvania General Assembly, 2018,
www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=75&div=0&chpt=33&sctn=54&subsctn=0.
Accessed 02 Aug. 2022.
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