Handicapped parking is more than being close to the door of a store. The wider handicapped space is very helpful. It is difficult to load purchases in the car because a regular parking space leaves very little room to open the car door. Able-bodied people solve this problem by leaving their shopping cart at the back of their vehicle and walking the bags to the open car door. I have poor balance so walking with a bag in my sound hand instead of a cane is a fall hazard for me. The wider space lets me pull the cart up to my open car door to unload my bags.A regular size parking space is difficult for another reason. It is hard to get in and out of a car when I can open my car door only two feet. This small opening makes it hard for me to maneuver a heavy leg brace that will not let me point my toes. A wide handicapped parking space is especially important for someone in a wheelchair. They need the car door to open widely so they can slide from their wheelchair onto the car seat. homeafterstroke.blogspot.com
Good post Rebecca! People don't realize how many times we drive around in circles in a parking lot to find a space wide enough to open our doors wide enough. The problem is while stores are required by law to have so many spaces in their lot not all have the extra margin which allows a door to open wide or a vehicle ramp space for wheelchair access.
ReplyDeleteThose folks that are too lazy to put their carts in the outside or inside cart storage places, wellll... that's just wrong. The penalty is put them in a wheelchair for one day and let them manage!
Good point. I forgot about the people who think the diagonal lines next to a handicapped parking space is a place to store shopping carts.
DeleteExcellent post. I'm sure that most people won't have thought about handicapped parking this way.
ReplyDeleteDitto the other commenters.
ReplyDeleteYou should write an OpEd piece about this issue.
I just found your blog after you mentioned it at the 'Enable' presentation last weekend. Wow, Rebecca, this is great stuff! And I suspect it's great stuff not only for stroke survivors, but also for a great variety of mobility challenges. Thanks for sharing this info!
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