Monday, March 15, 1998
Handicapped parking riles up people
BY DEBORAH KENDRICK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Mark Seifarth, director of legislative affairs for the Ohio Rehabilitation Services commission, quips that there are three areas sure to lock up the Ohio Legislature: liquor, mourning doves and handicapped parking!
Whether or not Ohio is unique in this regard remains unclear, but there's no doubt that handicapped parking, as an issue, revs up more than our elected officials.
In a meeting of some 50 consumer advocates on disability issues last week, discussion was locked for an hour (and could easily have gone longer) once the topic of handicapped parking privileges was raised.
It reminded me of my Enquirer mail and telephone calls:
Who is eligible?
How do you get the special plate or transferable placard that entitles you to those special curbside spaces?
Why is the snow always piled in those very spots designated as being for the convenience of drivers or passengers with disabilities?
And so on.
The particular trigger for all the current buzzing is that Ohio Rep. Bryan Williams, R-Akron, has introduced a Handicapped Parking Placard Bill that would ''tighten'' some of the conditions regarding this privilege. If Mr. Seifarth's rule holds true, there's no rush in the house to act on this proposal, but the fact that it gets people so stirred up fascinates me.
The basic changes proposed by Mr. Williams would be to increase the fine from $20-$100 to $250-$500, and to require a physician's prescription to obtain a plate or placard.
There would also be a cross-check between placards issued and deceased lists, so that when a legitimate user of a ''handicapped parking'' card dies, the placard would cease to circulate.
If you have a disability in Ohio, you can obtain a form for your physician to sign, return it to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles with $5 and be issued a transferable placard that can be carried with you and hung in any car in which you might be traveling.
If you have a disability and drive your own car, you can opt for a permanent ''handicapped parking'' license plate.
Where people get excited is over who is eligible for these privileges. In 1992, the Ohio BMV issued 62,000 placards or plates. In 1997, that number more than doubled to 140,000. Are people becoming more aware of their rights or is this simple privilege being abused?
As far as eligibility is concerned, everyone has an opinion. Some say only people with difficulty walking should park in the designated spaces. The problem: A battery-powered wheelchair can arguably traverse a parking lot with greater speed and ease than someone, say, with a serious heart or respiratory condition.
Some argue that people who are deaf or blind should be excluded because their disabilities pose no limitations on walking. True, but for a blind person to walk across an unfamiliar parking area can be as difficult as for a person with crutches to do so; for a person unable to hear speeding cars from behind, proximity to entrances in parking areas is a safety factor.
People with no disabilities get worked up because they, too, have temporary disabilities, which can make hobbling from driver's seat to pharmacy a painful experience, and should, therefore, have easy access to short-term handicapped parking privileges on an as-needed basis.
Can you tell the issue makes me tired?
When 70 percent of all people with disabilities are unemployed, most have no means of convenient transportation and many are faced with inaccessible housing or unavailable medical care, all this fuss about where to park a car seems ridiculous.
Any third-grader could come up with a solution: All of us might try just being honest - using the spaces when we really need them - and exercising some healthy respect for everyone else.
Maybe that's asking too much.
Deborah Kendrick, a Cincinnati free-lance writer, is a nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. Write: Deborah Kendrick, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; e-mail: 71340.473@compuserve.com.
KENDRICK ARCHIVE
