But the sign doesn't SAY!!!

[AccountingDrone]

And the answer to his question unless things have changed since i got my license, is that its in the manual. Yep, seriously, there were explanations of common signs, and that was one of them. I will admit though, at least out here it does say permit required on the signs, so i'm surprised it doesn't there.

And that guy is *how* old?

You know, there weren't handicapped signs when I got my drivers license back in 1976. I have not retested since I got it back then. I think that guy is substantially older than I am.

[LillFilly]

For Accountingdrone; the guy was maybe late 50's I'd say, so certainly old enough to know better. I do ticket a lot of people who end-up saying "I just parked there cause I was picking stuff up for my grandma/father/mother/infirm beagle and THEY have a permit!" Most of the time, these family members don't even exist, the driver's just being lazy, because the story will end-up changing 5-times!

For Slavetotheman; I have had people apply for permits AFTER getting a ticket, but since they need to bring that paperwork to court to have a case, the judge (we get the same one all the time since every case is tried in the town where the ticket is written) can see that the ticket was written on X date, but the paperwork was filled out 2-weeks later. So they lose AND have to pay the ticket cost, citation cost, and court costs

For Festival; I'm not sure if all tickets are the same, but in our township there's a list like 1-16 of ticketable offenses on the portion that the driver gets and we circle which offense it was; either handicap violation or fire lane mostly. Then our stub that goes to the police has the same information, so they know what fine the person has come into pay. So the guy would have read that he was getting a ticket for X amount for a handicap parking violation for so-and-so police department, tickets payable at their office on Y street.

I get a lot of calls to come ticket a car because 'the person getting out didn't LOOK handicap!' Of course I check the car for a permit, but if they have one then it's not my place to make judgements. I have heard of people keeping a brace or cane or something in their cars so it looks authentic when they park in a handicap spot, or when they want sympathy, which is why I couldn't take the guy I ticketed's brace at face value. Because actually, I'd seen him in the mall earlier, and he was walking pretty normal even with the brace.

[Jay 2K Winger]

"Son, how many times did you piss on the toilet seat before someone told you to lift the lid?!"

Cookies for the reference

I get cookies!

Warden Moores to Percy Wetmore. (Spoilered, just in case: After Percy let Delacroix burn to death in the chair, and tried to explain it with "The sponge was never wet when we rehearsed it.")

[Caractacus_Potts]

KARMA.

My grandmother had a handicap placard. My mother and I were going to a store with Grammy’s car and my mother parked in the handicap spot right in front of the doors.

Me: Mom, what are you doing? We aren't handicapped!
Mom: (points to placard) We have that so it's legal!
Me: Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right and I don't think using someone else’s placard actually is legal.
Mom: (gets out of car) Well, we won't get a ticket!

When we came out of the store there was a pickup truck blocking us in with a guy and a couple of employees struggling to load a washer/dryer and fridge onto the bed of the truck. We sat there for about ten minutes waiting to be able to leave with my mother quietly fuming and me trying out variations on, "I TOLD YOU SO!"

I will generally always call the listed towing company for a lot when I find somebody parked in a handicapped spot without the proper identification somewhere on the car.

Where do you get that info though? The last time I saw someone illegally park in a handicap spot was when I was leaving the gym. A woman cruised by the open spots farther away and parked in front in one of the handicapped spots, hoped out in her gym clothes and went in for her workout. After confirming she had no tags or placard I went in and talked to the people at the gym. They had no interest in the fact that one of there members was illegally parked and there was no number to call on the sign.

I wound up calling the police and reporting her. They said they would send someone by, since I was leaving I don't know if she ever got a ticket or towed.

[Seshat]

A woman cruised by the open spots farther away and parked in front in one of the handicapped spots, hoped out in her gym clothes and went in for her workout. After confirming she had no tags or placard I went in and talked to the people at the gym. They had no interest in the fact that one of there members was illegally parked and there was no number to call on the sign.

Thanks for checking for tags and placards. On discharge from the rehab hospital, my physiotherapists recommended a routine that can be done at normal gym.

Going into the gym, I'm sure I don't "look disabled"!

[drunkenwildmage]

KARMA.


Me: Mom, what are you doing? We aren't handicapped!
Mom: (points to placard) We have that so it's legal!
Me: Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right and I don't think using someone else’s placard actually is legal.
Mom: (gets out of car) Well, we won't get a ticket!

It's not legal..

This is repost of something I posted a couple years ago.

I read that in 2003, at the Chicagoland speedway NASCAR race , the local police ran every Handicap tag that entered into the handicap area, before they were allowed to park. If the name on that tag didn't match anyone that was in the car, then they would confiscate the tag on the spot, and they would need to go through a lengthly process to get the tag back, that also included a couple hundred dollar fine. One of the cops was interviewed for the story, and said that often he heard "Thanks, you just lost the tag for my grandmother!". his replay.. "No.. YOU lost the tag for your grandmother. I'm just enforcing the laws" . in all, they took around 60 or 70 tags that was illegally used.

[AccountingDrone]

And you shouldn't be overly sensitive.

Based on what you've written, by inference it follows that you have a handicapped parking permit, right? You would never have to go in front of a judge to plead your case about having had a bad day when you needed to use a handicapped parking space, because you were reponsible and took the necessary steps in order to be permitted by law to use such a space. Kudos to you, by the way, for not taking advantage of the system, but what bainsidhe said -- clearly regarding a theoretical defense against a parking ticket and not a rationale for obtaining the necessary permit -- really doesn't apply to your situation.

Now I'm no lawyer, but if the guy from the OP had decided to contest the ticket, and in the meantime applied for his temporary handicapped parking permit, and went to court armed with that and a doctor's note indicating he was legitimately injured on the day of the ticket, and somehow managed to plead his case that he was unaware a special placard was required -- even though you'd have to be living under a rock not to have figured out in the past 20 years how the system works, incomplete signage notwithstanding -- it seems to me he might have been able to catch the judge in a good mood (ignorance of the law being no excuse and whatnot) and have the charges dismissed. Kind of odd he didn't take that tack actually; those tickets ain't cheap.

I actually had one for a number of years, I just did not use it unless it was a bad body day.

And back off, I am not over sensitive, firstly, the handicapped spots are relatively new [about 20 years] and not every spot has a sign with words, most have the wheelie guy. Secondly, if the old guy hasn't retested for a license in this 20 year span, then he would not have the study materials stating that those spots are restricted. he may in fact be totally oblivious of the rules about the gimp spots. Thirdly, never assume what someone knows or doesn't know. He may not know that you can get temp tags, just permanent ones. Since what he seemed to say was that this was a temp condition, and this particular day he was having a bad body day.

[MadMike]

OK people, this thread is getting way too heated. If people don't stop with the personal attacks, it will be shut down and infractions will be issued.

We already removed one post, but unfortunately someone had apparently already quoted it before we did so.

[Heksubah]

I would have told the guy that it was on his test when he applied for a driver's license. You have to be able to identify signs like do not enter, yield, handicap, etc.

[Primer]

Question: Both my husband and I have "wheelie" plates, but occasionally we have reason to drive each other's vehicle. Is this a problem if I park in a handicapped spot while in his truck, or if he parks similarly while in mine?

[LillFilly]

Sadly, in my area, most people are well aware of the proper use of a handicap spot, but they assume that they can get away with it for several reasons; because it's private property, because they'll only be in the store for 'a few minutes,' they think we won't catch them or they're using a fake/out of date card that they've modified. They also seem to feel that the more outraged they are and the more they yell at me, that they'll intimidate me into taking the ticket back. Nope. Some just seem lazy; they figure that they'll use a photocopy of their friend's valid card; I write tickets for those too, and make a note that it's fake on the ticket...I hope the police fine them for fraud or something; I'll have to ask them what happens, never thought of it before but yeah, sounds like a crime to me.

It's sad that people get away with this so much, but unfortunately police can't ticket on private property (at least where I live) unless called and asked, and by the time they arrive the person is usually gone. So they don't patrol our lots, which is why we're given the authority to write the tickets; it helps them out a lot, and I feel warm and fuzzy whenever someone comes up and shakes my hand and thanks me for doing my job and making sure that the handicap spaces are available for those who really need them. It's awesome to be appreciated and hear a kind word every now and then. We also don't have a towing company working for us, probably because we're on duty 24/7 and watch the property ourselves; also there's been a lot of towing scams lately and a few less-than-reputable towing companies operating int he area and we certainly don't need another thing for the SCs to gripe about!...Actually, on that note one of my old coworkers was on-duty one night when he got a call on his personal phone from so-and-so towing informing him that mall security had reported his vehicle as abandoned in the lot and that he had to pay X amount or have it towed. He asked when security called them about his car. They said it was someone from that night about 5-min previous. He said that was funny, because he WAS security, had been working the whole night alone, and that he certainly DID NOT tell them to tow his own car! They hung up real quick!

I do see a lot of people with permits who purposely park far away so they can get more exercise for the day. Some just have a lot of pride, even though they have very valid reasons to use a permit. I admire their determination.