So, you think you're ready to graduate? Before you go moving that tassel to the other side, I have a little test for you. You have worked hard and are, hopefully, well educated. Well, put your thinking caps on one more time and see if you can pass the sign language test. Can you read these words?
"Handicapped Parking Only."
If so, do you grasp the English language enough to fully understand what they mean?
Unfortunately, failure of this test isn't limited to a few graduates. Other students, possibly a few faculty members, and an alarming number of Tampa's drivers apparently are unable to pass this little, three-word test.
If you are a driver with a temporary handicap or permanent disability, you've undoubtedly endured the frustration of searching for a handicapped parking spot. Insult is all too often added to your injuries when you find the last one has been snapped up by an unauthorized user.
Having been a quadriplegic for the last 28 years, I am all too familiar with encountering folks who are either unable to read or are just too arrogant to believe that the sign is directed at them. I must seize this opportunity to address their indifference.
According to Sonia Hernandez, with the Department of Motor Vehicles, these treasured parking spaces are "meant to include only those who are certified, by a physician, to be able to walk less than 200 feet without resting or are legally blind."
Permanent permits are free of charge and must be renewed every four years. Drivers have the option of purchasing a specialty license plate with the international handicapped symbol for $20.
"The difference between the two is that the permit is assigned to the person, but the plate is assigned to the vehicle, that is why there's a charge," said Hernandez, "Temporary placards are sold for $15 and are good for six months, there is no charge to renew them if you need to."
According to Florida statute 318.14, people unlawfully parked in a handicapped space could be fined $250.
If you think that the risk of a steep fine and the possibility of having to pay an impound fee for a towed car would deter an able bodied person from using a handicapped space, you're wrong.
Excuses are plenty, but in case you are still in question as to whether or not handicapped spaces are intended for you, let me put your mind to rest.
If there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, but you have a permit for when you must occasionally drive a friend or family member, find another space. If that person isn't with you, you're breaking the law and officers can confiscate the permit if you are caught.
Who cares if you're "only going to be a minute?" That is a minute that you are illegally parked, possibly at the expense of a disabled driver. What makes you think that your time is more valuable than ours?
If your doctor was kind enough to sign for you to have a permit while you were healing from an injury or surgery, then please be kind to others by not using it after you are healed and well. As long as I'm on a roll, no pun intended, handicapped spaces aren't designed to protect the paint job on that brand new sports car. That is unless the driver qualifies as disabled.
The spaces are not meant to keep you from getting wet on a rainy day. May I be the first to say, "Suck it up, it's only water?" Be grateful that being wet is the only malady that you must endure. A course in handicapped sign language education would not be complete if I didn't mention the ramps that are, usually, located nearby. What good does it do for me to park in a space designed to fit my needs if some morally unconscious bozo blocks my access to the curb? Speaking of space designed to meet a need, those wide spaces on either side of a handicapped spot were not put there for your #$!@ shopping cart. Put your carts and other debris where they belong, the exercise will do you good.
These spaces denote a marked-off area that is specifically designed to give a handicapped-equipped van room to operate its ramp or lift. They also allow a disabled person room to use their walker or wheelchair when getting in or out of their car.
Parents of disabled children need the room these striped off spots allow when getting their children into their wheelchairs. Be grateful that you're not one of them and find another spot for your cart.
If you have never misused a handicapped parking space, I congratulate you. You've just passed the sign language test. Please, further my cause by saying something to the next person you see who is taking advantage of the already disadvantaged by parking where they shouldn't.
If you've ever failed my little test, I ask you, quite humbly, to take the high road. Think twice before using a handicapped parking space again, if you don't have a legal right and need to do so. After all if you were disabled, and you could very well be so some day, you would want your needs respected. Besides, good parking spaces are one of the few perks the disabled get. Quit taking them away from us.
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