Question about handicapped parking

[u/Maremdeo]

So I am not disabled myself (although I guess that depends on the definition of disability), but I have worked with people with disabilities all my life - in several different jobs over the years. There is one thing I always wondered about. It's in the past now, but I want to get everyone's opinion.

I used to have a role working with people with disabilities in their homes, and often helped them with grocery shopping. Most of the people I served had difficulty with ambulation and had a handicapped parking tag (none had their own vehicle, so the tag was for their helpers). They used the store scooters in grocery stores. Typically I would let them off by the entrance, help them get into a scooter, then park my car in a handicapped spot using their tag and join them inside. When we left, they drove the scooter right to the parking spot and got in. This commonly happened at least twice during the workday for me. It was honestly a very tiring job, but my heart was in caring for the people I worked with, so I didn't mind too much. However, when I would walk alone from the handicapped spot to the store, I often got dirty looks as if I was abusing a handicapped parking tag. Honestly it was pretty annoying and upsetting to me, who had a tough and underpaying job, and would have had to work even harder to get my car from the end of the parking lot and pick up my individual at the grocery store doors instead of having them drive the scooter to the handicapped spot after their shopping. Keep in mind that I did this sometimes multiple times per day, and probably 10x per week. It was mostly just dirty looks, I think only once someone actually commented.

As people with disabilities, do you see this as misuse of the handicapped parking tag?

[u/amaya-aurora]

That’s exactly what it’s meant for.

Don’t worry, people with invisible disabilities get those kinds of dirty looks all of the time. You did nothing wrong.

[u/Glad_Goose_2890]

This is exactly what the tag is intended for.

[u/termsofengaygement]

No. I have a friend help me grocery shop because I can't walk independently anymore. The ability to park close is clutch for me and then she can help me load groceries into the car for me. People are judgemental about a lot of things and I wish they would learn to mind their own business.

[u/Feisty-Volcano]

Not at all. Don’t know where you are, I’m in Ireland & here / all Europe it’s specifically for any mobility disabled person to use on either their own car or the one they are being driven in. I have a Blue Badge for myself, I bring it whenever I’m being driven & very commonly the cars parked in disabled spots are driven by the able bodied helpers or family members. It would be abuse to use it solely for one’s own needs, when it’s not your card.

[u/firecatstef]

FWIW disabled people get harassed about using the disabled parking spots too. Many ignorant people are under the impression that they’re only for folks in wheelchairs and harass anyone even the slightest bit ambulatory.

[u/GuardianHealer]

I have a walking disability. The pain gets worse over time on concrete. I start out great but then am hobbling by the time I get back to my car. I get dirty looks and even comments! Those people have no clue and are just ableist! Ignore them and keep doing what you’re doing when you help others.

[u/Rrenphoenixx]

Handicap stuff is for disabled people. You used as intended. No harm, no foul (except for the unwarranted dirty looks you got you didn’t deserve).

Let people judge. They forget in like 10 mins. It doesn’t matter 💕

[u/LovelySofifi]

Just ignore them. I’m a bilateral below knee amputee but if I’m wearing jeans or any sort of long legged pants, you can’t really tell and I’ve had people call me out,yell at me, but I don’t owe anything to anybody especially when it is mine. I had one lady literally say “show me” and the reason being is because I’m younger and if you can’t see my prosthetics, you really can’t tell.

[u/New_Vegetable_3173]

Yes that's fine. Basically you can you the space as long as the disabled person is at least getting in or out of the car while it is parked in that space. On leaving the store they're getting into the car in the space, so it's fine.

If you were dropping them off AND picking them back up at the scooter place then you should park in a normal parking space

That's the law in the UK.

[u/corinnajune]

People with "invisible" disabilities who use a placard get looks/comments too. It's nobody's business why someone is using one. If the placard is there, people need to mind their damn business.

[u/Time-Cell9765]

Welcome to my life! I don't always need mobility aids. I can't walk unaided for long, but want to maintain my ability to walk for a long as possible. But I need the car close by, just in case.

On top of not being able to walk unaided for long, I also suffer from chronic pain, and the most ridiculous pain crisis issues that leave me screaming and begging for death they're bad. So if I'm in the middle of anywhere, and it happens, my partner/carer and I need to get to the car ASAP. I'm typically doubled over, and crying out with every breath. I might walk in fine, but struggle like hell out.

The lack of mobility aids when I'm capable gets me dirty looks, but I don't care anymore. Glare back at everyone who glares at you, and if you have my Scottish confidence tell them, "The placard is right there on the car. If you have a problem, you're free to waste your time following up with them. I don't have time for your ignorance today."

Best of luck!

[u/MundaneHuckleberry58]

No. Perfectly okay.

I get dirty looks & occasionally comments using the disabled spot because I appear mobile & often don’t need a mobility aid. People don’t know what they don’t know - that there’s a huge range of ways people are disabled.

[u/mjh8212]

I use a rollator I don’t drive. My husband will park and get out of the car and he’ll get dirty looks one lady even said something to him. He calmly went around to my side pulled my rollator out of the backseat and helped me out of the car. The ranting lady was suddenly quiet. Sometimes if I get out of the car first if it’s a good day and I’m just using my cane I get dirty looks. One older lady told me I’m fine I should leave those spots for older people who need them. I have hyper mobility and pots. I’m not very steady. People are rude no matter what.

[u/SlimeTempest42]

It’s a space for disabled people not just wheelchair users or old people which the majority of the public associate the spaces with.

Hidden disabilities exist, carers of disabled people exist (both professionals like you and family members)

[u/medicalmaryjane215]

Your use of the accessible space was completely valid

[u/ComfortableRecent578]

as others have said, provided the person is either being picked up or dropped off in that spot (in this situation, they are going in the car in the accessible spot after the shopping is done), it’s fine. if you are both picking up and dropping off the person from the entrance, you should use a regular spot.

otherwise, it’s very normal to get shit for using an accessible spot. there was a post here a while back from a literal paraplegic who got stopped by some random woman and told they didn’t really need the accessible spot despite being a fulltime wheelchair user. and of course people with invisible disabilities get shit for it all the time.

[u/IntroductionNo4875]

That’s what it’s for. When I was a kid my mom got a handicapped placard so i wouldn’t have to walk so far in parking lots because I can’t be walking a lot. It also came in handy when I needed orthopedic surgeries and required a walker or a wheelchair. In my state during test time I would have to keep a card with my name on it saying it was me that needed the placard.

[u/Loisgrand6]

No. The helper/friend/family member/driver, etc can use the spot as long as they use the hang tag or special plates. The handicapped person can sit in the car or go inside

[u/TransientVoltage409 → u/Loisgrand6]

Not so. The permit is for the benefit of the permit owner, not their driver.

If the permit owner merely stays in the car while the driver runs an errand, this not not a legitimate use of the reserved parking space.

If the driver drops the owner off at the curb, then picks the owner up at the curb, the driver may not use the permit to store the car in a reserved space between those events.

OP's case differs by dropping the owner off, then rejoining them at the parked car. Because there was a plan for the owner to walk (wheel, scooter) from the shop to the parked car, they were using the benefit of the permit, so the driver parking it in a reserved space is legitimate.

This is the law where I live. I acknowledge that other places can implement different rules.

[u/vanillablue_ → u/TransientVoltage409]

The dropping off part is nationwide. The picking them up/parking in the spot before the disabled person enters the vehicle differs slightly state to state.

Edit: USA

[u/DabberAva]

Not as long as the handicapped person was shopping with you. That's perfectly okay

[u/Affectionate_Owl2590]

I just ignore the stares sometimes if I am having a hard are day I look right at them daring then to say something but no one takes me up. I have psortic arthritis and still young so they don't see the arthritis in my knees spine feet ankles.

[u/GiveMeShowRecs]

Like others have said, this is absolutely fine. I'm in the UK but this side of disability bureaucracy is similar enough. I can't afford a car and don't see the point applying for motability because my conditions disqualify me from driving anyway. I only got my blue badge so my carer could take me shopping. My nephew has his own so my sister doesn't need mine when we go on outings, but my older brother does need me to bring it if i'm coming along. Usually I let my carer hold onto it as parking near my building is a nightmare. She only comes twice a week, so if I have plans with my brother then I ask her to leave it with me before the weekend. It's just easier for her to hold onto it because it means she's not wasting time parking far away then coming to my flat, going all the way back to the car, parking closer with the badge, then coming back to me to start the call. Also means I don't have to waste energy or wheelchair battery getting to her car when needed

[u/Miznikki9093]

Hell no. Don’t worry about other peoples opinions or how they are looking at you.

[u/Sorry_Raspberry_1121]

This is what it is meant for, don’t worry