Huge Van Consumes Disabled Parking Loading Zone
Last week I shared images of a vehicle parked in the loading zone next to a disabled parking space (see post). A couple of days ago I spotted another such offender, this time at Lindell & Sarah outside the strip center that contains an OfficeMax, a health center and other businesses.
As I walked out of the OfficeMax to my car parked in a disabled space across the drive I noticed this van poorly parked not in a disabled space but between two spaces.
In this case there was plenty of parking available about 10 or so cars further to the right. It was a nice day. This person felt like they could park as they liked.
Unlike last week I never saw or spoke to this driver. I did spot a police car in front of the OfficeMax I had just left. I circled around a couple of times hoping the officer would come out of the store but no such luck. I had somewhere to be so I couldn’t hang out here waiting for the owner and/or police.
One might argue the number of disabled spaces at this location far exceeds demand. That is the trick about parking mandates, they seldom have anything to do with actual demand. Even if the allocation of disabled spaces is high and most are not used you never know when someone is going to pull up and need one of the spaces. At one point all might be full and a half hour later all empty.
For those that use vans with a side ramp this extra space is a must. The space is not left just for the fun of it. I need the ability to open my driver’s door fully to get in/out of my car. For others they need the space on the passenger side to allow for transfer to a wheelchair or even using a walker.
After I took the above pictures I realized the windows were tinted — what if they had a disabled hang tag I wondered. Then I realized if they did they would have just parked legally in a space. No this person clearly felt like it was OK to park between disabled spaces but not in one. Interestingly, had this driver just parked in one of the disabled spaces it would would have left the other and the loading zone usable by someone permitted to park in disabled parking.
It is clear, most folks are respectful of disabled parking and the adjacent loading zone — a few are not.
It’s unfortunate that you had to be somewhere because this would have been worthy of getting the officer’s attention. Are you sure it wasn’t someone dropping their kids off at school 🙂 (Man, I love that post!) There are a few things that cause instant anger to rise up in me, A) seeing folks throw their butts out the window B) Cars parked in spaces reserved for those with disabilities. Somehow we have lost showing even a modicum amount of respect for our fellow man.
I trust you did not give one of the tires a slow leak upon your departure.
BTW, I thought Taste St. Louis was nicely done this year and I would like to bring the family to Octoberfest this weekend but remain unsure if it’s a family friendly enviornment or not.
Steve, I usually agree with you, but I have my doubts on this one. You say “I realized the windows were tinted — what if they had a disabled hang tag I wondered”? That is a very basic issue. I wouldn’t be too surprised if this van had a side lift and needed the “parking space” to get in and out of the vehicle, especially if the space on the left was occupied when they arrived and they weren’t comfortable backing into the space on the right. The new ADA regulations try to address this:
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502.2 Vehicle Spaces. Car parking spaces shall be 96 inches (2440 mm) wide minimum and van parking spaces shall be 132 inches (3350 mm) wide minimum, shall be marked to define the width, and shall have an adjacent access aisle complying with 502.3.
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EXCEPTION: Van parking spaces shall be permitted to be 96 inches (2440 mm) wide minimum where the access aisle is 96 inches (2440 mm) wide minimum.
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502.3.1 Width. Access aisles serving car and van parking spaces shall be 60 inches (1525 mm) wide minimum.
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502.3.4 Location. Access aisles shall not overlap the vehicular way. Access aisles shall be permitted to be placed on either side of the parking space except for angled van parking spaces which shall have access aisles located on the passenger side of the parking spaces.
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Advisory 502.3.4 Location. Wheelchair lifts typically are installed on the passenger side of vans. Many drivers, especially those who operate vans, find it more difficult to back into parking spaces than to back out into comparatively unrestricted vehicular lanes. For this reason, where a van and car share an access aisle, consider locating the van space so that the access aisle is on the passenger side of the van space.
JOHN: Oktoberfest in Soulard last year was def. not family/kid friendly in the evening. I worked a both from 4-10 or so and saw a lot of really bored kids tagging along while their parents drank too many beers. There is live music all day, so my suggestion would be to hit it up during the day, enjoy some good food and music, but later in the evening it gets pretty rowdy.
Your post is not clear about whether they had a hang tag or not, and neither is your response to Jim Zavist’s comment. Did they have a hang tag, or did you not go around the front and look?
Good advice Meg…thanks!
John, I completely agree. My late sister was wheelchair-bound her whole life, and growing up we had a rickety old van with a very rickety old lift that required lots of space to be manually unfolded and then mechanically lowered/raised. Anything less than a 4-foot (I’m completely guessing here) margin in the unloading zone made it virtually impossible. I’m not generally a confrontational person, but I do get hugely annoyed and try to comment to any of my fellow temporarily able-bodied persons who are so completely discourteous as to park in an accessible spot.
Also, as a smoker, nothing makes less sense to me or frustrates me more than otherwise considerate, intelligent, surroundings-conscious people throwing butts out the window or on the sidewalk while walking. None of these people would throw any other kind of garbage out the window or on the ground, but they think nothing of these non-degradable tubes of fiberglass that cover the pavement virtually everywhere in this country. I always use the ashtray in my car – if the ashtray’s full, I just put it out on some other surface and hold onto it until I’m near a trash can. When walking, I’ll hold onto my butt until I encounter a trash can, and if there’s not one in sight I’ll put it in my pocket. It’s not hard! I’m always sure to scold any fellow smokers without ashtrays in their cars.
I’m sorry Steve that was my van. Like everyone else we are being hard hit by the economy and I was helping to deliver our papers. I am really sorry. I don’t usually park in handicap spaces but if no one is using it then I don’t think it is a big deal. Please check out my new band playing next week at the Bluenote. I will have more on my blog about the show soon. Again, my bad. I didn’t realize people would get so upset about a little parking space. Maybe if the mayor made more parking this wouldn’t have happened.
Doesn’t matter if they had a hang tag or not. The vehicle wasn’t parked in a designated space. It’s a $100 fine if you park a motorcycle or scooter in one of those striped loading areas because it blocks the usage of the area for others; you shouldn’t be exempt just because you are handicapped yourself. If your vehicle can’t unload because your ramp is old and large, either upgrade your equipment, utilize an area of the lot that is large enough to suffice, or take your chances on the fine.
CN – one, “take your chances on the fine” seems to be SOP around here – I have yet to see any enforcement. Two, I have seen disabled folks “forced” to use the striped area, especially in lots with angled parking, to have access on the side of the vehicle that needs access. I’m much less inclined to confront them, even if they’re technically in the wrong. I do have a huge problem with able-bodied folks abusing the system, and I have and will continue to confront them. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world, and we all need to pick our battles . . .
Secondary issue – loading zones and UPS and FedEX and USPS and DHL and the other delivery guys – many, many parking lots like this exist without designated (or enforced) loading zones. Many, many times, delivery guys and gals (like CK) DO park in front of (or in) the accessible parking spaces, simply because they won’t be blocking anyone for very long (unlike if they parked and blocked the people in the “regular” spaces). It’s truly a balancing act between them being able to do their jobs efficiently (they sure don’t want to be anywhere very long) versus impeding the “free flow” of traffic by us “normal folks”, including those with disabilities. I don’t have the answer, but I have become more patient over the years. Could/should every delivery person park in a designated parking space and walk further? In a perfect world, yes. But the reality is that they provide a service and their “bad” parking rarely results in any significant delays, and in this case, there appears to still be a spot and a striped aisle in the next row over . . .
I AM DISABLED CANNOT WALK WITH OUT WALKER HAVE WEEL CHAIR PLATE.
WALMART IS IN PROCESS OF MAKING A SUPER WALMART STORE LOCATED IN PALM HARBOR FLORIDA 34684.ALDERMAN ROAD AND U.S. 19
THERE ARE NOT HANDYCAP SPACES.
PLEASE LOOK IN TO PROBLEM.
THANKS