Dedicated Handicapped Parking is About Availability, Not Cost

                                                                  

Being disabled by MS does not have many advantages. One — free city street parking in California — is likely to end soon. In the rush to garner parking revenue, though, the lack of concurrent discussion about providing dedicated handicapped parking (DHP) is troubling. The widespread abuse damages accessibility for disabled people, including those of us with MS.

Ignorant people too often do not comprehend that not all disabled people are in wheelchairs. When discussing how to stop abusers, they characterize the “worthy” handicapped as “wheelchair-bound” or “severely disabled.”

We don’t need any stinking disability police!

The abusers might look just like someone with MS. I hop out of my car and carry my books into the library and don’t LOOK disabled. In reality, without the DHP, sometimes I would not be able to go in the library at all. My problem is not solved with free parking. My problem will be solved only with DHP.

My new role as a disability rights activist was triggered by getting a parking ticket. I discussed my ongoing parking battles in another column as well.

That parking ticket made me think about disability and parking and city streets. Post-ticket, it seemed obvious to me that if parking lots were required to provide dedicated handicapped parking, so should city streets.

And a judge determined cities must provide dedicated handicapped street parking! Furthermore, the ruling held that this requirement must be met near medical care facilities, such as the one where I received my first ticket.

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