Question: Regarding the person with the disability permit who parks in a handicapped space and sits in the car while his able-bodied wife goes inside the store (808ne.ws/126kline): This practice may be legal but that doesn’t make it right. I am a person with a disability placard who has to get out of the car. I am sure you will hear from a lot of us. Will you please print our feedback? We need to discourage this practice, not make people feel better about doing it because it is not technically against the law.
Answer: Yes, Kokua Line heard from many readers on this topic. Most, like you, disagreed with the couple’s practice, saying that accessible parking spaces should be reserved for people with impaired mobility who will be exiting the vehicle. Some also disagreed with an expert’s description of this as an uncommon problem. A few readers defended the couple, saying that the man with the placard, who can walk with a cane, should have the option of joining his wife if he feels up to it, and could only do so if the parking spot was close to the store.
Here’s a sampling of the feedback:
>> “Please let people know that the permit is meant for the person with the disability, and not for their drivers. I am a caregiver for my mother, who is 94. One knee is replaced and stiff like a board, and the other is basically bone on bone. I never abuse the privilege of having the placard for my mother. I learned that there may be someone with worse disabilities looking for a handicap stall that I may have selfishly taken. This is how one incident opened my eyes: I took my mother to Kahala Times, and there were no available handicap stalls, so I dropped her off in front of the entrance and went looking for parking. As I went around again, I saw that a car was about to leave the handicap stall. I thought that when my mom left Times, she could have a closer walk back to the car. Though, as I waited for the car to pull out, I noticed another car wanting the same stall. Since I was there first, I took the stall and put up the placard. As I left my car to find my mom in the market, I saw the man who wanted the same stall giving me a stare. He had an amputated leg! Even though I felt I was not in the wrong, I felt really bad and guilty. That very moment, I told myself how I would go about it again next time. … I drop my mom off by the entrance and park in a regular stall. Then I go in to find her, and when we come out I take the groceries to the car and tell her to wait for me there. She will wait a minute or two until I pick her up in front. I do it because I can. I suggest everyone who can go out of their way to do the same because they can. Be grateful because you have an able body!” — Carol
>> “I’m going to call DCAB (Disability and Communication Access Board) because what this couple is doing is not rare! People do it all the time. My neighbors take their grandma to the mall at Christmas for the express purpose of parking in a disability stall. She sits in the car. And she doesn’t like doing it.” — A reader
>> “This shouldn’t come down to a question of legality. It’s common courtesy. If the person with the mobility impairment isn’t getting out of the car, the car shouldn’t be parked in a disability stall.” — Disgusted
“If that lady and her husband knew how difficult it is for me to access the grocery store, they would never do this. How about some empathy for those with severe mobility impairments (I am in a wheelchair) who are trying to live their lives?” — A reader
>> “It sounds like the only reason it’s not illegal is because it would be too difficult to enforce. Work on enforcement and change the law!” — A mom
Q: Do you have to have a state ID?
A: No.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
