{"id":1837,"date":"2018-07-15T11:56:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-15T15:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2019-08-27T19:48:51","modified_gmt":"2019-08-27T23:48:51","slug":"tickets-accessible-parking-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2018\/07\/15\/tickets-accessible-parking-violations\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Police Aren’t Ticketing Violators in Handicap Accessible Parking Spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Few things are more frustrating for wheelchair users and others with physical disabilities than not being able to find an accessible parking space. It’s even more upsetting when we discover that a non-disabled person has parked illegally in one of these spaces that we so desperately need. So, you can imagine my anger when I recently discovered that some of these designated spaces are not legally enforceable in some US communities, and local law enforcement is not ticketing offenders. As such, non-disabled people are frequently parking in these accessible spaces without consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To provide you with some context, on July 13, 2018, I took my kids to the last day of their week-long summer day camp at a local church. The parking area isn’t huge, and there aren’t individual paved spaces; just two rows of grass where cars can park. However, there are four paved accessible parking spaces directly in front of the church, two on either side of the curbed entrance to the church. There is an access aisle between each pair of spaces, and all four have the blue painted wheelchair symbol and a standard DOT metal sign indicating violators will be fined $250 for parking there. Normally the parking lot is empty except for a dozen or so parents (like me) dropping their kids off. I was surprised that on that morning, three of the four accessible spaces were occupied and there were several other cars parked along the edge of the driveways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"handicap<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After parking in the only available accessible space, I noticed that the other three cars belonged to church volunteers who were doing some landscaping work in front of the spaces. It was clear they had parked there for the convenience of unloading landscaping equipment and supplies. I approached one of the individuals who had parked illegally (or so I thought) and politely asked him (twice) to please not park there. He said, Okay. I returned to my car a few minutes later after dropping my kids off, and no one was moving their cars; they had just gone back to work. I left my space and parked elsewhere so I could call the church and ask them to make sure the cars were moved. No one answered after two phone calls, and I couldn’t leave a voicemail. So I reverted to a last-resort action and called the local sheriff’s office. They assured me they would send a deputy to the church to investigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hadn’t planned to follow up, and felt satisfied that I had done everything I could. That was until I got a Facebook message from the individual I spoke to and asked to move the cars. I won’t go into the long list of excuses and justifications he gave me for parking in those spaces, but he did tell me something very disturbing. He said the sheriff’s deputy did come to the church. However, the deputy told him those marked accessible spaces were “not legally enforceable,” and the only thing the deputy could do was charge the car owners with trespassing if that’s what the church wanted. So in essence, nothing happened, and the car owners were left alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I couldn’t understand how local law enforcement couldn’t actually enforce what appeared to be a clear parking violation (and for the record, I am fully aware that churches are exempt from accessibility laws). So I set off on a mission to find some answers. My first stop was the text of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to see what it had to say about accessible parking spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ADA has requirements for the availability of accessible parking spaces based on the size of the lot<\/a>. The bigger the parking lot, the more marked spaces it needs to have. Furthermore, one of every six accessible parking spaces, or fraction of six, must be \u201cvan-accessible.\u201d<\/em> For example: A parking lot with 400 total spaces needs eight accessible spaces, and two of those eight spaces must be van-accessible. By these standards, the church in question met the ADA requirements for four accessible spaces (assuming it had space for a total of 76-100 cars in its lot. The ADA also says access aisles must be marked (e.g., painted with hatch marks) to discourage parking in them, and accessible parking spaces must be identified by signs that include the International Symbol of Accessibility. These requirements were all met, and to any observer would indicate that these were legally enforceable accessible parking spaces. Many state and local governments have their own requirements, which may be more specific or more stringent – but not less so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ADA requirements didn’t help explain why these spaces wouldn’t be legally enforceable, so I consulted my ADA attorney. I explained the situation, and he replied that he didn’t have an explanation, other than the city or county might have a local ordinance under which local law enforcement operates, and somehow those spaces didn’t conform to the requirements of the ordinance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My next – and final – stop was the Sheriff’s office. I sent them a message asking why those four accessible parking spaces weren’t enforceable. I haven’t heard back from them yet (and will update this post when I do), but I have a feeling this is what they’re going to tell me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If local property and business owners don’t follow the requirements for markings and signage under the Department of Transportation’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)<\/a>, then law enforcement agencies can’t write tickets for violations because the spaces are technically non-compliant. In 2013, some residents of Athens, Ohio were getting very frustrated<\/a> because local law enforcement couldn’t do anything to punish non-disabled people parking in accessible parking spaces. The Athens Disabilities Commission had been on a mission to educate local property owners (including Ohio University) about how many of their handicap parking signs were not up to standards. This, the commission discovered, was because some private property owners had posted signs that did not meet standards set up through the Manual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said that all city spaces are marked correctly and are enforced. However,\u00a0“Private property spaces are a different story. though,” he said. “Few businesses have them marked correctly so we don’t do a lot of enforcement on private property.”\u00a0Pyle said he knows of no requirement for private property owners to mark spaces properly, so his department is not able to compel them to do so. At the time this article was published in 2013,\u00a0about 90 percent of the accessible parking spots at\u00a0Ohio University were\u00a0largely marked incorrectly, rendering them “unenforceable.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\u00a0the police were to cite someone who’s parked in an improperly marked spot, the ticket wouldn’t be enforceable in municipal court.\u00a0Under the MUTCD, blue-and-white signs are for informational purposes only, so even though many have a $250 fine marked on them, they are not enforceable. My only assumption in my personal situation is that the signage for those four accessible spots at the church is not in compliance with the MUTCD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s bad enough that we have to fight for accessible parking. But now we have no legal recourse for people who park in marked accessible spots because the business or property owner didn’t know or care to bring the signage and other markings into compliance. What I encourage you to do is familiarize yourself with the legal accessible parking signage<\/a> based on your state of residence, and to help educate business owners about the need to be in compliance. It’s a nightmare that this is one more obstacle we have to face in our battle for equal rights and equal access. However, recognizing and understanding the problem is the first step towards eliminating it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few things are more frustrating for wheelchair users and others with physical disabilities than not being able to find an accessible parking space. It’s even more upsetting when we discover that a non-disabled person has … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[3188,90,3190,3187,3189],"yst_prominent_words":[322,2018,3177,1559,2748,3154,3171,566,3175,3176,3186,5590,3181,3168,460,2402,3184,3185,3183,1543],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travelogue","tag-accessible-parking","tag-ada","tag-ada-parking","tag-handicap-parking","tag-parking-violations","latest_post"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/IMG_7157.jpg?fit=2100%2C1575&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8IhCJ-tD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4076,"url":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2020\/01\/01\/a-guide-to-wheelchair-access-and-assistance-at-florida-cruise-ports\/","url_meta":{"origin":1837,"position":0},"title":"A Guide to Wheelchair Access and Assistance at Florida Cruise Ports","author":"Sylvia Longmire","date":"January 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019re planning on cruising to the Caribbean, chances are good that you\u2019ll be departing from one of Florida\u2019s major cruise ports. Hopefully you\u2019ve selected a fully accessible itinerary and used an accessible travel agent to help you book an accessible cabin. If so, then all you have to do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cruises"","block_context":{"text":"Cruises","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/category\/cruises\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/40-70f609bf62c30.jpg?fit=768%2C484&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/40-70f609bf62c30.jpg?fit=768%2C484&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/40-70f609bf62c30.jpg?fit=768%2C484&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/40-70f609bf62c30.jpg?fit=768%2C484&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1145,"url":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2018\/01\/14\/accessibility-review-amway-orlando\/","url_meta":{"origin":1837,"position":1},"title":"Wheelchair Accessibility Review: The Amway Center in Orlando","author":"Sylvia Longmire","date":"January 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"It's hard to believe that it took me two and a half years of living in Orlando, Florida before finally attending an event at the Amway Center! To be honest, I'm always intimidated by any venue that involves big crowds, mass seating, and busy traffic and parking. However, the Amway\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","block_context":{"text":"Entertainment","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/category\/reviews\/entertainment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"wheelchair accessibility review amway center orlando","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/wheelchair-accessibility-review-amway-center-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/wheelchair-accessibility-review-amway-center-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/wheelchair-accessibility-review-amway-center-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/wheelchair-accessibility-review-amway-center-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1979,"url":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2018\/10\/27\/accessibility-review-belmond-charleston-place\/","url_meta":{"origin":1837,"position":2},"title":"REVIEW: Wheelchair Accessibility at the Belmond Charleston Place Hotel","author":"Sylvia Longmire","date":"October 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Located at the very heart of downtown Charleston, South Carolina, in the historic district and within walking distance of all the major attractions, Belmond Charleston Place is the perfect base for a city adventure. The hotel effortlessly blends gentility and old-world charm with a leading-edge spa and innovative cuisine. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hotel"","block_context":{"text":"Hotel","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/category\/reviews\/hotel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"wheelchair accessible belmond place charleston","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/B46BA91B-9575-43AC-9A5F-27DE6F870069.jpeg?fit=1200%2C822&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/B46BA91B-9575-43AC-9A5F-27DE6F870069.jpeg?fit=1200%2C822&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/B46BA91B-9575-43AC-9A5F-27DE6F870069.jpeg?fit=1200%2C822&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/B46BA91B-9575-43AC-9A5F-27DE6F870069.jpeg?fit=1200%2C822&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/B46BA91B-9575-43AC-9A5F-27DE6F870069.jpeg?fit=1200%2C822&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4082,"url":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2020\/01\/01\/wheelchair-access-mco\/","url_meta":{"origin":1837,"position":3},"title":"Navigating Orlando International Airport (MCO) as a Wheelchair User","author":"Sylvia Longmire","date":"January 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Orlando International Airport (code MCO) is one of the busiest airports in the United States. \u00a0In 2017, approximately 72 million people visited Orlando \u2014 breaking the previous record of 68 million people in 2016. \u00a0It\u2019s home to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, and a wide variety of other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Air Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Air Travel","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/category\/air-travel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/airport-at-distance.jpg?fit=800%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/airport-at-distance.jpg?fit=800%2C540&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/airport-at-distance.jpg?fit=800%2C540&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/airport-at-distance.jpg?fit=800%2C540&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3821,"url":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2019\/11\/18\/wheelchair-guide-northern-virginia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1837,"position":4},"title":"A Wheelchair User’s Guide to Exploring Accessible Northern Virginia","author":"Sylvia Longmire","date":"November 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"At the tail end of my 8-year US Air Force career, I spent two years living in Northern Virginia. It's one of my favorite places in the United States, so you can imagine my excitement when I was invited by the Virginia tourism board to explore and write about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travelogue"","block_context":{"text":"Travelogue","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/category\/travelogue\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_9488.jpg?fit=1200%2C804&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_9488.jpg?fit=1200%2C804&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_9488.jpg?fit=1200%2C804&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_9488.jpg?fit=1200%2C804&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_9488.jpg?fit=1200%2C804&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279,"url":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/2017\/01\/02\/wheelchair-user-guide-seaworld-orlando\/","url_meta":{"origin":1837,"position":5},"title":"A Wheelchair User’s Guide to SeaWorld Orlando","author":"Sylvia Longmire","date":"January 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have two children, ages 9 and 7, and I relish any opportunity to provide them with \"normal\" childhood experiences. As a disabled single mother, it's very important to me that they go to the park, the movies, the zoo, and (since we live in central Florida) theme parks just\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Entertainment"","block_context":{"text":"Entertainment","link":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/category\/reviews\/entertainment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"a wheelchair user guide to seaworld orlando","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/a-wheelchair-user-guide-to-seaworld-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/a-wheelchair-user-guide-to-seaworld-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/a-wheelchair-user-guide-to-seaworld-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/a-wheelchair-user-guide-to-seaworld-orlando.png?fit=735%2C1102&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spintheglobe.net\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}