I've got an issue I was hoping u all can help understand

If there were plenty of handicap parking spots, then you should have stayed (seems like there are more handicap spots these days than not), otherwise, you should have parked out back.

My opinion on handicaps:
If you are not handicapped enough to drive, then you can walk that extra 25 feet. Otherwise, you shouldn't be driving in the first place.

Yes, there are a few exceptions, but places like Walmart and the mall blow my mind. People really can't walk that extra 20 feet when they are about to walk a mile inside the store??

 

I hate to disagree but what about a person in a wheelchair? Many parapalegic people drive. What about people who walk with a cain? They can still drive. There are also seriously handicapped people who can make it into a store where they get one of those little motorized carts.

I agree that the handicapped parking system is often abused but suggesting that driving is somehow an indication of your ability to walk is off base. When my back was injured, I could barely walk 10 feet without stopping and gasping for air, but I could drive easily because sitting wasn't a problem.

 

Personally, I walk with an Abel.

Bada-boom. I'll be here all week.

 

rocketteen, I think that you were ok. If you have a pass given to you for a legitimate medical reason by a doctor, I dont see why you were wrong. I mean the doctor gave it to you for a reason.
Had the pass been expired or you not had one and parked there, I can see the other guys frustration. My father in law had polio and you cant imagine how many times we have had to wheel a mile because someone who had NO
pass took up a handicapped spot. If the pass is legit you shouldnt have been questioned because he really didnt know what your ailment was and really
its not his business IMHO.

 

I'm annoyed that you eventually moved your car. It makes it look like you conceded that the guy was right. I can understand wanting to diffuse the confrontation, but I think you sacrificed a lot to do it. Walking away also would have worked. What would the guy have done, beaten up a handicapped guy? Calling cops or the fire department is a toothless bluff.

 

I personally think you are both wrong...maybe him moreso than you, but in no way do you deserve any sympathy. If you can walk it, walk it.

 

you said those things did you not?

thats my opinion and incase you didnt understand it the first time here it is again:

YOU ARE A COMPLETE DICK for useing something that you knew good and well you didnt NEED.

 

C'mon, Monkey. Chill. Have your opinion but don't call people dicks. Cause then someone else will do it somewhere else and then another person and the board degrades into a bunch of people acting dumb and calling each other names. Pointless.

If, in this instance, "dick" = "insensative to the plight of others", say that instead. Just calling someone a dick serves to do nothing but piss them off.

 

I'd like to add some thoughts to this discussion. If the doctor assigned you a tag, you are entitled to use it. Whether you feel that you need it or not, you have that legal right to park there. Whether you use it is totally up to you. What if you were to park elsewhere, because you thought that your leg was better, and in the long trek to the door, something happened and you tore up your knee again. It's not up to anyone else to tell you what you should or shouldn't do. They are not paying yopur medical bills. My brother is handicapped, but he doesn't need a wheelchair, and for the most part, he gets aound fine. So because of that, some of you in here are saying that he probably shouldn't use the space. Then if he has a friggin seizure in the middle of a big parking lot, who is going to be there to help out or get him to the car? Bottom line, you have that right to use the tag. Nobody can tell you otherwise. I'm sure that if a choice had to be made as to who would get it, and the choiced were you or a little old lady in a wheelchair, you would probably give her the space. Aside from letting this moron tell you that you had to move, you did nothing wrong.

 

OK, I'll ask again, isn't it illegal to use a handicapped sticker if you're not handicapped?

 

Just because there's not pain doesn't mean you're completely healed. If you got a parking permit for x months, don't feel bad for using it. I had a slight fracture in my foot several years ago and felt fine after a few weeks and chose to walk normally. My doctor told me that even though it felt fine, there was an injury re-risk and I should still use the crutches. I didn't, and fortunately, I was fine but nevertheless pain should not be the only deciding factor as to whether you use the handicap spot or not.

Obviously, I don't know your particular situation, but if the doctor thinks you should still use that thing, you shouldn't feel bad for doing so, in my opinion. That guy was a jackass. There's no telling WHY you were in the handicap spot. As others mentioned above, it could have been a heart condition or something like that, and his b****ing could have aggravated it.

 

I don't know the answer to that. I would assume that it's like a prescription. If temporary, you can use it until it expires. If it wasn't issued to you, then I would assume it's illegal. A quick solution to this would be to issue out a handicapped picture ID, so if the handicap parking police check you out, you can show that it really is yours. If a jerk questions you about it, show them the "bird".

 

Well, yes and no. It's illegal to use a valid handicapped permit that isn't yours (assuming you aren't currently transporting said handicapped person) or to use an expired one. It's also illegal to get a handicapped permit under false pretenses. But to use one that was legally given to you is not illegal, though the Texas law says that while the permit is issued for a six-month period, it's actually valid for six months OR until the end of the disability. The person whose disability ends sooner than six months after the date of issuance is supposed to destroy the permit.

But the question of when the disability ends is an open question. Is it when the person "feels better" or is it necessary for the physician to determine when the disability really ends? Or what?

But I guess the technical answer is that it is illegal to use a handicapped permit if one is not handicapped. Whether Rocketteen was still disabled is an open question, though.

 

this is somewhat arbitrary and i'll give you an example: as mentioned previously, my cousin has spina bifoda; she's paralyzed from the waist down. her family has a van, and it has handicap plates. plates, mind you, not a tags.

in theory, and this would be perfectly legal, btw, they could, forever and ever, as long as those plates were valid, park in a handicap space, whether my cousin was with them or not. but they never have and vow that they never will because they know first-hand how unfair that would be to people who legitimately need the spot.

the key to rocketteen's story, and the reason i don't think he has a leg to stand on (rim shot) can be found in the second paragraph of his initial post: "Well Friday night, Cheddars is always packed so when I got there, I used my handicap tag to park in a handicap spot that was open."

he admits to abusing the tag's privileges; not because his leg was sore, or because he feared walking long distances, but because he had nowhere else to park. sounds to me like rocketten (based on, obviously, this lone example) is using the tag whenever it's convenient.

unfortunately, for some people, it's never a convenience; it's a neccessity, and rocketten potentially made life for them very difficult.

 

I think this comes down to a questions of ethics, versus legally having a handicaped parking permit. Ethically, you probably should not use the permit if you can walk with no real difficulty. Other people have expressed this issue better than me on this thread. What I want to bring up is this:

There is this girl I'm dating in CARPOOL and she was going to be meeting a group of CARPOOLigans at Cheddars which is one of our better, yet cheaper restaurants in C.S.

The Carpooligans?! Cheddars?! LOL This sounds like something from "King of the Hill" (which is perhaps the best show on tv right now). There are issues here that I wish you would help *me* understand!

 

Who cares? Why are you concerned about some hill billy in college station who supposedly has some firestation friends. Obviously he wanted to intimidate some college kid, because he had a bad day. From the sound of it, you seem worried and intimidated.

 

You have the tag, legally. Screw that guy and everyone else who gives you crap about parking in the space that was legally granted to you. You made an effort to look for another spot, which you didn't have to do, and after not finding one you parked in a spot you had every right to park in. You should have told that guy to kiss your ass. No offense guy, but you sound like a wuss. Stand up for yourself, cause if you don't no one else will!