#disability placards

[thedawgsblog]

CALIFORNIA CRACKING DOWN ON DEAD DRIVERS…….

NEW CALIFORNIA LAW REGARDING DISABLILITY PLACARDS AND ABUSE

12-31-2017

California officials plan to crack down on thousands of “dead” drivers.

A new law taking effect Monday will require the Department of Motor Vehicles to increase its oversight of the disabled placard program, including searching the Social Security Administration’s “death file” and canceling placards issued to drivers who are…

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[disabilityhistory-blog]

Well, someone has to pick on the disabled. Politicians aren’t going to do it. (OK, maybe Mitt Romney…) And I don’t want city staff to have to do it. So I’ll do it. I’ll ask the tough questions. How can we stop the scourge of handicapped placard cars parking in our our valuable downtown on-street spaces?

The one where I pick on the disabled

Totally!!!! I mean, how can we get rid of all those cripples occupying primo real estate downtown, where only the fittest of the human race should be seen and heard from? Cripples: what a nuisance! AmIRightOrAmIRight. /sarcasm

It's not brave to pick on disabled people. But not cuz we're such delicate pathetic little flowers that we'll break if you so bravely advocate balancing your city budgets on our backs. See, your words won't break me, but your parking policies might. If I have to move my car every 2-4 hours, or if I have to try to feed a meter with my gnarled hands or reach for it from a wheelchair on a snowy sidewalk, or if I have to park in a garage 3 blocks away, then not only will you not see my parking placard on the street, you won't see me downtown. 

We need to improve public transit for disabled people, first and foremost. That will relieve parking congestion for everyone. But we must also resist these misguided attempts to expel disabled people from driving and parking, thereby expelling us further from public life.

[disabilityhistory-blog]

"Economically, a free parking pass is a very nice thing to have, and there are always enough people who are a bit unscrupulous when it comes to parking that you can't expect self-restraint," said Donald Shoup, a UCLA urban planning professor and author of "The High Cost of Free Parking."

Sea of Blue Disabled Placards in Many US Cities

Wait, I'm sorry, please remind me whose "self-restraint" we're talking about here? Are you saying disabled people should "restrain" ourselves from leaving our homes and using our parking permits? I mean, god forbid we park all day at a meter because that's the only place we can park and be able to get to work or school or wherever else we have to be that day.

Maybe city governments should be the ones "restraining themselves" from playing doctor and balancing their budgets on the backs of disabled people.