yeah, intellectually I know this. I did destroy my body working. tho I was stupid and did the work of two or three guys to prove my worth, I did work and paid what the govt told me to pay to them. but every day I hear the guys on the news talk about the welfare state and how I m destroying the country by collecting the benefits from funds that I contributed to and I don t want to destroy my country, you know? and the people who are championing giving people benefits I disagree with on so much, I just don t know. that s why I m so frustrated with our govt. they are dividing us. I agree with half of what each side says, so I can t hate or love either side.
but I m on thin ice and this thread is wandering…
so…I stop for animals when I can safely do so, if I m not sure, I m crushing the poor little critters.
if I can stop safely, I ll pick up their little carcasses and cook them for dinner!
It’s understatement to say chronic pain takes a real toll on those who experience it, and I’m sorry to hear about the lack of empathy that others have. It’s also generous when you’re able to offer what you can to others who have a tough row to hoe. The thread is starting to drift from anything related to cars and driving, and I don’t wish at all to devalue what you and others go through. However, it’s getting outside the purview of the forum. I’m glad you’re able to spend time here.
“But he parked in the HDCP spot where ever he went…including work.”
I’ve heard people complain that there are no places to park, yet someone with handicap plates is parked in a non-handicap spot. They would prefer that the plate fill the spot whether it is the person with the disability or not.
JT, that thought is appalling. Do you really mean to tell me that you think I should have to limp across a parking lot in pain just so a perfectly ambulatory person can have a convenient parking spot? Did it ever occur to you that perhaps there was no open handicap spot available when the person with the handicap plate drove in, tthat perhaps that handicap spot opened up after the person with the handicap plate had already parked? That happens to me often.
I commend people with permits because of other members of their family who only use them for the purpose intended. Years ago my son (then six year old) was in a body cast after being hit by a car. We had a special wheel chair that laid flat and a temporary handicap parking permit. We used to lay him in the wheelchair and take him with us wherever we went. I NEVER used that permit unless my son was with me.
As to the person who parked in handicap spots even when his wife wasn’t with him, he should be ashamed of himself.
Carolyn, with respect, I should point out that we’re discussing handicap parking, definitely car related although admittedly a drift from the original subject.
I think I went a bit far afield there mountain. I think she was referring to my post.
but healthy people parking in handicap spots is about as dumb as you can get and not off topic at all.
some places do go overboard with the handicap spots tho. some convenience stores have 6 or 8 spots in front of the windows. I think they like to keep an eye on the gas pumps
My local gas station/convenience store has only one, way at the end of the row of parking spaces, well away from the doors. I think they’re afraid the regular customers will be offended by having to see handicapped people struggle.
Marshall’s department stores around here accommodate the handicapped with a sign on the glass next to the door by the handicap spaces telling them to call the store for assistance getting in the doors. And there’s no overhang. Imagine if you will being some poor person in a wheelchair sitting in the cold rain waiting for a store employee to come open the door. Now that I think about it, perhaps I’ll call the state ADA office tomorrow.
I think JT was refering to what others have said to him.
I would never think that the handicap, park in only handicap spaces. I’m sure that there are many who "Feel pretty good today and will walk farther. Then tomorrow they might be really hurting and need that space.
Or just because that sticker is on that car, doesn’t mean that the person whom it is for was along. This could be the able bodied spouse.
My mom has one, but only uses it on the days that she is hurting. Which is only about 30% of the times she’s out and about.
I really think that the law should state “that the sticker must only be used if the handicap person it was intended for is present”, if not give them a big fine.
Not meaning to get into the handicapped sticker issue too much, but some people are also very quick to assume that because someone with a HC plate parks in a HC spot and meanders away from their vehicle with no apparently visible issues the assumption is that “there ain’t nothin’ wrong with them”.
A late uncle of mine had a HC plate after going through multiple back and neck surgeries for very severe issues. He looked fine going into a store and back to the car.
What was not seen was his pain once back in the car and at 1 in the morning while trying to sleep.
Then again, he was a pretty tough cookie after serving in the Rangers in Europe during WWII and then volunteering for the conflict in the Pacific. He did not want to seem soft so to speak and would often avoid using a HC space to leave room for others whom he felt may be in worse shape than himself.
Hi TSM - yes, you’re correct. I wasn’t responding to the discussion of the parking. Perhaps I jumped in more quickly than I had been, and anticipated a digression that didn’t happen. Thank you for your note.
OK4450, you are 100% correct. People need to realize that handicap parking permits are not handed out like popcorn, at least not in NH. They require a doctors certification of the handicap along with the doctor’s description of the reason.
Yosemite, you are also 100% correct. A few years ago, when I wasn’t so bad, I used to try to only use the permit on bad days. I tried to park farther from the door whenever possible to force myself to walk, just as an exercise routine so I wouldn’t get worse. It didn’t work, but I tried.
In NH, the permit is actually issued to the driver rather than the car. I have the hanging ones, because I won’t give up my veteran’s plates and in NH you cannot get disabled veteran’s plates unless the disability is service related. If I’m riding with someone, it’s perfectly legal for me to bring the placard and use it for them to park in a handicap space so I don’t have to walk so far.
I can trade the placards in for plates if I choose to, as long as I’m the registered owner of the vehicle. The plates become issued to the car. A non-handicapped person can get plates if they can prove that they’re the primary transport for a handicapped person. That involves a bit more proof.
Because of an incident in which I was involved yesterday, I am going to return this thread to the original theme, namely a driver who endangers others by engaging in a ridiculously hazardous act on the road.
Yesterday afternoon, I was driving on I-287, which–as usual–had a moderate volume of traffic. Most cars (including mine) were moving at 70-75 mph, with the occasional 80-85 mph vehicle zooming past everyone else.
I was in the center lane because I knew that I was approaching an on-ramp that tends to get a lot of cars merging into traffic. I noticed ahead of me that a Nissan Rogue had stopped on the shoulder, and was beginning to back up–probably because the bone-headed driver had passed the adjacent exit. That is dangerous enough, but what that driver did next was something that I have never before seen, and I hope never to see again.
The driver decided to do what I would call a “reverse K-turn” into the right lane of the Interstate Highway! Try to visualize this: Instead of doing the normally dangerous maneuver of backing from the shoulder into the exit ramp behind the car, this driver chose to swing his/her steering wheel hard to the left, thus putting that Rogue across the right lane at more or less of a 45 degree angle! This was apparently so that he/she could then drive more or less forward onto the exit ramp, rather than backing up for a longer distance.
Thank God that I was in the center lane, and I blasted my horn at this idiot as I drove past. The car coming up in the right lane had to lock up his/her brakes in order to avoid hitting the Rogue, which then simply drove off onto the exit ramp. Luckily for the car in the right lane, nobody rear-ended him, as I think that he had to come almost to a complete stop in the 70-75 mph traffic.
This was just one of the many, many situations where it would have been nice for a cop to witness this…selfish…mindless…incredibly reckless…driving behavior. Unfortunately, no cops were there to witness it, so this fool may just wind up killing someone with an equally dangerous maneuver on another day.
SMB, I did not make that remark, except to report what others said. And they were complaining about handicap spots being open when there were no other spots available. Personally, I don’t mind walking a long way to the store from a distant parking spot.
SMB; That is a good idea to issue the plackard to the person, not the auto.
It would make more sense that the HC person could get a ride from anyone.
The visiting nurse, the daughter, husband, or the grand daughter that came from far away to visit.
I do think that there is a percentage that get the sticker under false pretences. Even if it’s a small percentage.
In Milwaukee a few years back, a cop realized that all the Handicap spaces were filled everyday and with the same cars. He investigated and found that all those cars were employees of the state office building near by. Granted there could be Handicap people working there, but after a big investigation, they found that an employee that was in charge of issueing the permits, was selling them to co-workers.
We (Maryland) have portable tags that hang from the rear view mirror, and have for years. They are good for multiple car families with mobility challenged members.
Do you really want to compare yourselves to mere housecats? Don’t you want to upgrade to something grander and exotic? I am thus upgraded to lion tamer. Or Siegfried and Roy.
But I haven’t intervened when general discussion threads evolve and stay about cars. I think either way - redirection or deference to the discussants - will leave some folks less than satisfied, but I would be interested in people’s thoughts, privately. (I don’t want to cause the third big digression!)
Yosemite’s neighborly assistance reminds me of mine.
Walking in the mall one day , I look over into the jewelry store / pawn shop / tax prep place and see a customer of mine. I walk in to greet him and, with a pocket full of papers from the day , I’m fully prepared to write a conversation with my deaf/mute friend .
about the third time he glares back at the counter and throws up his hands in frustration, I ask what’s wrong.
Seems they won’t wait on him…he can’t hear them say ‘next’ , and they won’t pay attention to his waving.
So I step to the counter and they wait on me like nothing’s wrong ( as if they have no clue they just bumped a customer ahead of me ! )…’‘Get a pad and pencil ‘’, ‘‘and wait on Wilfred here, you’ve ignored him six times now.’’
– she looks at me dumb-founded –
ok, one thing at a time for this chick…’‘GET A PAD AND PENCIL.’’
