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Thursday, January 25, 2007

"Just a minute is 60 seconds too long " : New public service announcement


..aimed at raising awareness of the problem of people illegally using handicapped parking spots stars Mark Zupan, who was in Murderball. Click above for a link to an article and video about the campaign by United Spinal.

It emphasizes that parking illegally in handicapped spots even to just run in for a cup of coffee, use an ATM machine or do another short errand out of convenience, is wrong and shows Zupan waiting for a handcapped spot to open up when someone else illegally parks there.

I'm hoping they do a whole series - highlighting all of the rationalizations used , including spaces taken by motorcycles, people using disabled relatives' handicapped parking permit, etc.

The campaign is also aiming to promote awareness NOT to park in the striped access lane adjoining the handicapped parking spot even if you have a disabled parking permit since that room is needed by wheelchair users to transfer into their wheelchair. (I experience this frequently where I cannot exit my car or, worse yet, can't get back in when I return and someone has decided to turn one handicapped spot into two.)

4 comments:

Rosemary said...

I've seen that double parking on blue places way too many times. They don't leave you enough room to maneuver at all!

This is a problem that every TV station needs to run public service announcements about, since so many people just don't see the harm.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the comment... if you have any questions about accessible parking or disability issues, visit www.unitedspinal.org and download our “Parking here for ‘Just a Minute…’ is 60 Seconds too long!” parking pad at http://www.unitedspinal.org/pdf/parkingpad.pdf

Edward said...

I need to speak or write to the management at the Washington Wild Things (Washington, PA) baseball team before next season starts. The games sell out regularly, which is fine, but they allow people to park in the striped areas between handicap spaces (I refer to them as "loading zones"). I actually AVOID parking in the handicap parking there, instead choosing a spot farther out where I can park on the end of a row.

Ruth said...

Edward,
Yeah once the striped areas are blocked I can't get my wheelchair out of my car. The end of the row works and can be a safer choice in more crowded places because so many folks violate that law. Sad but true - I park at the end of the row whenever I go to most big events because of this.