Let's Eliminate Government-Mandated Handicapped Parking Spots.

[Zincwarrior]

I tend to park way out just for the exercise

I tend to park as close as possible because its freaking 102 outside and humid...
I don't see it as too much of an issue. There are lots of nearby spaces at HEB.

 

[Couchpotato]

Its a choice to be handicapped?

It's a choice to be overweight.

People arent overweight because they are handicapped. They are overweight because they shove too much food in their face.

 

[Foxfyre]

In 2025, America is faced with such an erosion of liberties that many of us are numb to it. It's just expected, and it's imbedded in so many subtle ways.

Today, I'm going to focus on one of my pet peeves that I am sure many of you will disagree with me on, conservatives included: Handicapped parking spaces.

Ten years ago this summer, I had a torn quadriceps tendon, had major surgery and was in a cast for six weeks. I borrowed a walker from a neighbor. There was a point when no one was home, and I had to go to Walmart to buy groceries. All the close by parking spots were taken, except for the 20 or so handicapped spots of which about five were occupied. As you know, handicapped spots are the premium locations always closest to the door. So I began my slow trek about 200 feet from the entrance. As I neared the empty handicapped spots, a van pulled into one of them and out waddled a 300-pound woman. I don't know what her disability was, but the main one appeared to be that she was morbidly obese. She was walking without assistance, so I would assume if she were to drop 150 or so pounds, she could walk normally and not need a special spot. The only requirement for getting approval for handicapped parking is for a health care professional to sign off. Doesn't have to be a doctor. A nurse practitioner will do. And there doesn't have to be a specific condition; only the determination that one has difficulty walking normally. So this could be most anybody who wants one. I am told these things are relatively easy to come by.

A business must have 2% of spaces solely for handicapped parking. For a small business, any number under 20, must be for the handicapped; again the prime spot. My beef is that this spot is usually available, and 98% of the population is inconvenienced at all times to accommodate the possibility that less than 2% might use a spot. For a business like Walmart or Lowe's that has upwards of 1000 parking spots, at least 20 front-and-center spots have to be available. Usually fewer than half are filled. This inconveniences everybody else. I sure could have used one of those spots that day I was in a cast with my walker.

This madness started in 1973 with the Rehabilition Act which guaranteed rights for the Disabled. While the act didn't mandate parking spaces, it set the table for the American Disabilities Act of 1990 which ushered in the familiar guy-in-a-wheelchair blue icon where the rules were standardized.

My thoughts? This is just another unfunded mandate that businesses are expected to eat. The decision should be left up to the business. If they think a spot should be left open, leave it open. If not, don't have a handicapped spot. If people complain, it's on the business to decide. It also depends on the type of business. Hospitals and doctors' offices could choose to have them. Athletic speed performance centers may decide they don't need them. Right now, no one is encouraged by our laws or government health care system to be healthy. America is increasingly obese, and we must not fat shame people. In fact, we are told by the left we must celebrate people's obesity. "It's who they are". There are no incentives for being fit. No incentives to walk. But if we were to mandate spots, let's restrict eligibility and make it tougher. Being a 40-year-old fatass should not be enough.

But if we must have mandated handicapped parking, let's do it more intelligently. Lowe's shouldn't have 15 open prime real estate spots on a crowded business day. Have 15-minute parking. Or open those spaces for everyone between, 6 pm and 8 am. Or if there are say, eight parking spots, let the end spot be for the handicapped; not the one right in front (which requires another adjacent space for loading and unloading).

It's all part of the softening of society. What did people do before 1974? They worked it out. They went when it wasn't busy. They got dropped off. Someone went in for them. They did what they could to become ambulatory again. Or businesses decided for themselves. Forced mandates are not compassion. True disabilities are unfortunate, but you don't make everyone else move heaven and earth to accommodate. Government needs to get the hell out. It's none of their business.

History of Handicapped Parking Tags

Discover the history of handicapped parking tags, how they originated & shaped accessibility laws to support drivers with disabilities.

wkfirm.com

US obesity rates have tripled over the last 60 years | USAFacts

Nationwide surveys show that 40% of Americans are obese, while 10% are severely obese.

usafacts.org

Just because some obese person uses a handicapped spot is not a good argument for why there should be no handicapped parking places. You often cannot tell what a person's disability is just by looking at him/her. To get the legal permission to use one of those spaces is not easy in most, maybe all, states. My husband has a handicap tag as walking any distance can be extremely painful for him. But you can't see that pain just looking at him. And he hates not being the vigorous, athletic person with great stamina that he once was.

The odds are very good that if those spots were not reserved for those with disabilities, they would already be full of cars driven by the young and able bodied before you got to them. And the old and physically struggling people would have little chance to get there either.

A bit of compassion and understanding is in order here I think.

 

[Couchpotato]

Just because some obese person uses a handicapped spot is not a good argument for why there should be no handicapped parking places. You often cannot tell what a person's disability is just by looking at him/her. To get the legal permission to use one of those spaces is not easy in most, maybe all, states. My husband has a handicap tag as walking any distance can be extremely painful for him. But you can't see that pain just looking at him. And he hates not being the vigorous, athletic person with great stamina that he once was.

The odds are very good that if those spots were not reserved for those with disabilities, they would already be full of cars driven by the young and able bodied before you got to them.

A bit of compassion and understanding is in order here I think.

I would argue that it's not that hard to get a placard and being morbidly obese is seen as a disability which it is not.

 

[Zincwarrior]

It's a choice to be overweight.

People arent overweight because they are handicapped. They are overweight because they shove too much food in their face.

We're talking about handicap spots and cards. You are assuming they are handicapped because they are obese, not obese because they are handicapped.

 

[Foxfyre]

I would argue that it's not that hard to get a placard and being morbidly obese is seen as a disability which it is not.

The standards to get one here in New Mexico--a deep blue state--are pretty demanding.

You do not know why a person is morbidly obese. Many people suffer from various medical conditions that cause that without overeating being the reason. But it very definitely is a disability. Just as persons on perpetual oxygen and/or suffering from severe and probably eventually fatal COPD due to smoking are disabled. In my husband's case, his disability is due to arthritis issues for which he had no way to avoid or prevent. My Aunt Betty will be 99 next month, but she looks 70 and the picture of health. But she has become more and more frail and walking more than 100 feet without stopping to rest and catch her breath is no longer an option. To deny her a handicap placard would be criminal.

Again less judgmentalism and more compassion and understanding won't hurt us. Look at it this way. Most adults don't get the physical exercise they need for optimum health. Parking on the back 40 of the parking lot encourages the able bodied to walk more and that is good for them.

For those unable to do that, those handicapped parking spaces ae a godsend.

 

[dblack]

No one wants to dismiss the struggles of disabled people. But, as a matter of principle and precedent, these laws are "special rights for special people" - the heart and soul of DEI.

I'd approve of repealing the legal requirements, but I'd also enthusiastically support businesses that kept the handicapped spots anyway. They're not bad practice, but they shouldn't be mandated by the state.

 

[Couchpotato]

We're talking about handicap spots and cards. You are assuming they are handicapped because they are obese, not obese because they are handicapped.

I do believe that many people whose only "handicap" is obesity get placards that is true. You might be obese and handicapped for some other reason. No one is obese because they are handicapped. 99% of people who are obese are that way because they shove too many calories in their face.

To sum up.

1. Obesity is not a handicap, and you shouldn't receive a handicapped placard because of your obesity.

2. People are not obese because they are handicapped.

 

[Mac-7]

The standards to get one here in New Mexico--a deep blue state--are pretty demanding.

You do not know why a person is morbidly obese. Many people suffer from various medical conditions that cause that without overeating being the reason. But it very definitely is a disability. Just as persons on perpetual oxygen and/or suffering from severe and probably eventually fatal COPD due to smoking are disabled. In my husband's case, his disability is due to arthritis issues for which he had no way to avoid or prevent. My Aunt Betty will be 99 next month, but she looks 70 and the picture of health. But she has become more and more frail and walking more than 100 feet without stopping to rest and catch her breath is no longer an option. To deny her a handicap placard would be criminal.

Again less judgmentalism and more compassion and understanding won't hurt us. Look at it this way. Most adults don't get the physical exercise they need for optimum health. Parking on the back 40 of the parking lot encourages the able bodied to walk more and that is good for them.

For those unable to do that, those handicapped parking spaces ae a godsend.

America appears to be one of the few countries where such people exist in large numbers, or at all

Is there any explanation for that which does not involve stupid and lazy?

 

[Lesh]

I do believe that many people whose only "handicap" is obesity get placards that is true. You might be obese and handicapped for some other reason. No one is obese because they are handicapped. 99% of people who are obese are that way because they shove too many calories in their face.

To sum up.

1. Obesity is not a handicap, and you shouldn't receive a handicapped placard because of your obesity.

2. People are not obese because they are handicapped.

You’re pretty good at making up numbers and making baseless assumptions

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Democrats taught me a lot about mandates

Wait till you humans see the mask I make you wear...

.

I fought back by making and selling very expensive masks that the leftist losers simply drooled over, that had subtle messages about what idiots they are. That's what made it possible to daily tolerate the presence of freaks like Penelope, who wanted me to die so that she didn't have to stay at home in order to feel safe.

Now I'm working on figuring out how to tolerate the fact that so many people abuse the handicapped parking system.

.

 

[Couchpotato]

The standards to get one here in New Mexico--a deep blue state--are pretty demanding.

You do not know why a person is morbidly obese. Many people suffer from various medical conditions that cause that without overeating being the reason.

Very few people suffer from obesity for any reason other than shoving lots of food in their pie hole. It may be easier for one person vs another to become obese due to genetics but that doesn't change why 99% of people are obese.

But it very definitely is a disability.

It's definitely not.

Just as persons on perpetual oxygen and/or suffering from severe and probably eventually fatal COPD due to smoking are disabled. In my husband's case, his disability is due to arthritis issues for which he had no way to avoid or prevent. My Aunt Betty will be 99 next month, but she looks 70 and the picture of health. But she has become more and more frail and walking more than 100 feet without stopping to rest and catch her breath is no longer an option. To deny her a handicap placard would be criminal.

Again less judgmentalism and more compassion and understanding won't hurt us. Look at it this way. Most adults don't get the physical exercise they need for optimum health. Parking on the back 40 of the parking lot encourages the able bodied to walk more and that is good for them.

For those unable to do that, those handicapped parking spaces ae a godsend.

Exercise has little effect on whether or not your obese. Running a mile burns 150 calories. There are 270 calories in a package of Twinkies.

 

[dblack]

Now I'm working on figuring out how to tolerate the fact that so many people abuse the handicapped parking system.

That's the problem with special rights for special people. Who's special? Who isn't?

It shouldn't matter.

 

[Mashmont]

Just because some obese person uses a handicapped spot is not a good argument for why there should be no handicapped parking places. You often cannot tell what a person's disability is just by looking at him/her. To get the legal permission to use one of those spaces is not easy in most, maybe all, states. My husband has a handicap tag as walking any distance can be extremely painful for him. But you can't see that pain just looking at him. And he hates not being the vigorous, athletic person with great stamina that he once was.

The odds are very good that if those spots were not reserved for those with disabilities, they would already be full of cars driven by the young and able bodied before you got to them. And the old and physically struggling people would have little chance to get there either.

A bit of compassion and understanding is in order here I think.

For the sixth time, I never said there should be no handicapped parking spaces. They are not difficult to get. You do not have to have a specific medical condition to get them, only that you can demonstrate difficulty walking as any morbidly obese person can. The problem is the left making a victim class of the obese

 

[Couchpotato]

You’re pretty good at making up numbers and making baseless assumptions

I'm not making them up. 99% might be a bit of an exaggeration but it's not much of one if at all. Humans aren't plants. We can't create calories through photosynthesis. There's one way to get excess calories in your body and that's through the hole under your nose. Are some people more prone to obesity than others? Sure. Is it easier for an 18 y/o to stay fit and trim than a 50 y/o, typically yes. But at the end of the day the 50 y/o needs to eat fewer calories if he wants to not be obese.

 

[Mashmont]

The standards to get one here in New Mexico--a deep blue state--are pretty demanding.

You do not know why a person is morbidly obese. Many people suffer from various medical conditions that cause that without overeating being the reason. But it very definitely is a disability. Just as persons on perpetual oxygen and/or suffering from severe and probably eventually fatal COPD due to smoking are disabled. In my husband's case, his disability is due to arthritis issues for which he had no way to avoid or prevent. My Aunt Betty will be 99 next month, but she looks 70 and the picture of health. But she has become more and more frail and walking more than 100 feet without stopping to rest and catch her breath is no longer an option. To deny her a handicap placard would be criminal.

Again less judgmentalism and more compassion and understanding won't hurt us. Look at it this way. Most adults don't get the physical exercise they need for optimum health. Parking on the back 40 of the parking lot encourages the able bodied to walk more and that is good for them.

For those unable to do that, those handicapped parking spaces ae a godsend.

Why do you bring up a 99 year old who can’t walk? Nowhere was it ever said deserving people should get parking. I’m starting to get annoyed. Can you people please read the OP?

 

[Lesh]

For the sixth time, I never said there should be no handicapped parking spaces. They are not difficult to get. You do not have to have a specific medical condition to get them, only that you can demonstrate difficulty walking as any morbidly obese person can. The problem is the left making a victim class of the obese

“The problem” is you whining because you were too stupid or lazy to get a temp card

 

[Mashmont]

“The problem” is you whining because you were too stupid or lazy to get a temp card

Lol. I don’t need any card. I walk 4 hilly miles three days a week

 

[Robert W]

You’re pretty good at making up numbers and making baseless assumptions

You are expert on bring in your turds and leaving them here.

 

[Robert W]

Lol. I don’t need any card. I walk 4 hilly miles three days a week

Lesh has dropped thousands of turds here so just get amused by his nonsense.