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Not to mention the abuse of handicap licenses in the states. I speak to this as witnessing an acquaintance borrowing a handicap permit from a family member and

Not to mention the abuse of handicap licenses in the states. I speak to this as witnessing an acquaintance borrowing a handicap permit from a family member and using it for themselves. This kind of behavior would have to be enforced more strictly.

smsm42 8y ago
Borrowing handicap permit is already illegal, and AFAIR carries pretty hefty fine. Of course, enforcing it is hard - would you demand a spot physical endurance exam from everybody parking in a handicapped place? How would you even know? I used the temporary handicapped placard once for a while, when I broke my leg. When recovering, on some days, I could walk for a bit. On others, I could only walk with crutches and for a short distance. But maybe I was just faking, who knows? And of course I didn't carry my medical records with me everywhere I went. So how would you know if I'm legitimately hurt or just borrowed the placard? If you are reluctant to harass legitimately disabled people, some amount of abuse would slip in. I think unless the abuse is so rampant that legitimate users get denied access (e.g. so many fakers are parking in handicap spots that the real ones have no spot) ignoring most of it as the inevitable price of not making lives of legitimately affected people yet harder is the right way to go.
- mLuby 8y ago
  It would be reasonable to spot-check driver's license (which they necessarily have for driving said vehicle). Should be easy enough to verify against the handicap permit.
  - anoncoward111 8y ago
    If I was handicapped and people started gestapo'ing me to make sure I am who I am.... man sometimes you just have to let externalities happen in the name of not screwing over the 99% of people who do it by the book
    - throwaway234231 8y ago
      Where I live, the light rail isn't access controlled, so they send officers around randomly to verify that everyone on the train have a valid pass (and ticket those who don't). Nobody really complains about it or thinks it's invasive. I don't see how this would be any different.
      - smsm42 8y ago
        I am sure there are still people who manage to ride the rail for free. Not many, but there are. And that's ok, some low-level abuse is perfectly tolerable as long as it's low-level.
      - jabl 8y ago
        Same here, and for the metro as well. That being said, IMHO it's better to tolerate a moderate amount of abuse than going over the wall with enforcement.
  - yardie 8y ago
    Completely unreasonable as far as I am concerned. ID checks are done as part of safety checks: drunk driving, speed traps, etc. But they cannot be done without another violation occurring. And that’s more than enough government in my life.
postscapes1 8y ago
My office is directly in view of all the handicap spots in a large commercial office buildings so watch this everyday. It is crazy how many people abuse the handicap parking permits. And then you see the people who really need it and would make a difference if they didn't get those very front spots taken up by these folks.
- TylerE 8y ago
  Please don’t be that guy. Manybhandixaps are not visually obvious.
  - danjayh 8y ago
    Agreed. I have used scooters in stores on days when my knees are unbearably bad. You'd be amazed how many people will give an otherwise healthly looking, reasonably fit/thin 37 year old guy dirty looks for what they assume is a joy ride.
  - postscapes1 8y ago
    I try to reserve judgement for only the most blatant of cases. I just have some anti-American culture hate going on right now (I am an American). You can just feel the entitlement coming off some of these people.
    - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
      That's just the thing - you can't tell how blatant they are without knowing the situation. You can merely look and think, "They can walk just fine.." But you can't see that the person gets fatigued and suddenly can't walk very far. (And we are talking about fatigue that makes folks nearly pass out, not just mere tiredness) Or they have a history of numbness and trouble walking and keep a cane at their desk for this reason. Like others have said, you cannot tell from the outside. This isn't freaking "entitlement". If you want to hate American culture, there are plenty of other areas to do this that doesn't make one crap on sick folks. I'd suggest focusing on letting folks go without health care or letting folks starve, but there are plenty of other choices.

smsm42 8y ago

Borrowing handicap permit is already illegal, and AFAIR carries pretty hefty fine. Of course, enforcing it is hard - would you demand a spot physical endurance exam from everybody parking in a handicapped place? How would you even know? I used the temporary handicapped placard once for a while, when I broke my leg. When recovering, on some days, I could walk for a bit. On others, I could only walk with crutches and for a short distance. But maybe I was just faking, who knows? And of course I didn't carry my medical records with me everywhere I went. So how would you know if I'm legitimately hurt or just borrowed the placard? If you are reluctant to harass legitimately disabled people, some amount of abuse would slip in. I think unless the abuse is so rampant that legitimate users get denied access (e.g. so many fakers are parking in handicap spots that the real ones have no spot) ignoring most of it as the inevitable price of not making lives of legitimately affected people yet harder is the right way to go.

mLuby 8y ago
It would be reasonable to spot-check driver's license (which they necessarily have for driving said vehicle). Should be easy enough to verify against the handicap permit.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  If I was handicapped and people started gestapo'ing me to make sure I am who I am.... man sometimes you just have to let externalities happen in the name of not screwing over the 99% of people who do it by the book
  - throwaway234231 8y ago
    Where I live, the light rail isn't access controlled, so they send officers around randomly to verify that everyone on the train have a valid pass (and ticket those who don't). Nobody really complains about it or thinks it's invasive. I don't see how this would be any different.
    - smsm42 8y ago
      I am sure there are still people who manage to ride the rail for free. Not many, but there are. And that's ok, some low-level abuse is perfectly tolerable as long as it's low-level.
    - jabl 8y ago
      Same here, and for the metro as well. That being said, IMHO it's better to tolerate a moderate amount of abuse than going over the wall with enforcement.
- yardie 8y ago
  Completely unreasonable as far as I am concerned. ID checks are done as part of safety checks: drunk driving, speed traps, etc. But they cannot be done without another violation occurring. And that’s more than enough government in my life.

postscapes1 8y ago

My office is directly in view of all the handicap spots in a large commercial office buildings so watch this everyday. It is crazy how many people abuse the handicap parking permits. And then you see the people who really need it and would make a difference if they didn't get those very front spots taken up by these folks.

TylerE 8y ago
Please don’t be that guy. Manybhandixaps are not visually obvious.
- danjayh 8y ago
  Agreed. I have used scooters in stores on days when my knees are unbearably bad. You'd be amazed how many people will give an otherwise healthly looking, reasonably fit/thin 37 year old guy dirty looks for what they assume is a joy ride.
- postscapes1 8y ago
  I try to reserve judgement for only the most blatant of cases. I just have some anti-American culture hate going on right now (I am an American). You can just feel the entitlement coming off some of these people.
  - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
    That's just the thing - you can't tell how blatant they are without knowing the situation. You can merely look and think, "They can walk just fine.." But you can't see that the person gets fatigued and suddenly can't walk very far. (And we are talking about fatigue that makes folks nearly pass out, not just mere tiredness) Or they have a history of numbness and trouble walking and keep a cane at their desk for this reason. Like others have said, you cannot tell from the outside. This isn't freaking "entitlement". If you want to hate American culture, there are plenty of other areas to do this that doesn't make one crap on sick folks. I'd suggest focusing on letting folks go without health care or letting folks starve, but there are plenty of other choices.