Abuses of Handicapped Parking

Abstract

This study investigated several aspects of handicapped parking in a small mid-southern town. Specifically, in the first part of the study, city residents were observed unobtrusively in the parking lots of two public places to determine demographic characteristics of who was parking in these spaces. The second phase involved evaluating the number of handicapped parking spaces available in relation to the number of handicapped license plates and temporary and permanent placards issued in the county. The final phase involved identifying from public records, disability categories under which persons were assessed handicapped stickers from their physicians. Results indicated that although a majority of persons USing designated parking did indeed have a visible plate or placard, 67% of the group showed no visible disability (abnormal gait or assistive device). This finding was observed despite the fact that 81% of physician documented reasons for issuing placards/plates were for cases where a person was diagnosed with two disabilities, could not walk more than 100 feet without resting, or was diagnosed as “severely” disabled due to arthritis, neurological, or some orthopedic condition. Implications and recommendations for dealing with this growing occurrence are discussed.