Last night I spoke to a friend who has a vehicle with a ramp that folds out on the passenger side for disembarking and embarking. She told me that she is having difficulty using her vehicle because people are parking in the access lanes - the striped area in the photo to the left, showing handicap parking spaces separated by an access lane.
I've seen motorcycles parked in access lanes, cars parked in access lanes, and I once met a family having a picnic in the parking lot of Walmart in the access lane where I was parked.
So what's it for? It's to allow the extra room needed for lifts, ramps or even extra long doors to open. It's to permit wheelchair, scooter and other mobility devices room to get next to or near the vehicle to be disassembled, assembled, etc.
It's part and parcel of the handicap spot, not just a lane that separates spots. And it needs to be kept clear.
As my friend was talking about coming out of places and dreading finding the access lane blocked and being unable to get into her car, or riding around to try to find a spot where an access lane was clear so she could even get out, I began to think that perhaps people just don't understand what an access lane is. I'm willing to bet that if more people understood the purpose of the access lane, they'd just leave it be.
Heck, we shouldn't have to pray to the patron saint of access lanes, whoever that might be, just to get in and out of our cars. But I'm thinking St. Christopher, the patron saint of travel, might be the go to guy.
[visual description: Top left: Photo of two handicap spots, with an access lane in between, covered with striped white lines. Right: Photo of a Saint Christopher medal, showing the saint with a staff carrying the child Jesus.]
1 comment:
Thank you for addressing this important issue. I experience the same problem. At the kids' school, sometimes people use the very wide aisle as an extra parking space.
When I don't use my scooter, I really try not to use a van accessible space (unless alternate parking is so far away I must use disability parking) or even park in regular parking, but I see other people park in van spaces all the time even when others are available. A lot of the access aisle offenders are other disabled drivers, most of whom don't use wheels.
I agree that people probably don't know what they're for, and talking to offenders about it confirms that. Drivers' ed training should include this information, as well as that curb cuts in sidewalks and in front of stores/buildings are needed for access.
Post a Comment