Quite a few people who have accessible vans have told me that parking can be an adventure.
They told me stories about coming out and finding their vans blocked in by drivers who parked in the hash marks of handicap spots. Others told me how curious people are about their ramps or lifts. Many said they had trouble finding van access spots to begin with. I've included a video of a van opening and the ramp deploying for those who are unfamiliar with the space required.
The first thing I noticed was that older malls and office centers lack van access parking for the most part. The newer the buildings, the more likely I can park in the handicap spot and there's room to use the ramp. Without that, since I have errands to run or work tasks to accomplish, I have to get creative. I park in two spots, using a cone to alert drivers not to block me in or find a spot next to the end of the lot with an open space. One day I parked next to a dumpster. Not glamorous, but it did the trick.
Another thing I've noticed is that some van access spots are built right next to office entrances, meaning that deploying the ramp blocks ingress and egress into the building itself. In less crowded places, it's no big deal but in busy places, it's inconvenient for everyone. So far people have been friendly about it and are indeed curious about how the van and ramp work.
I haven't had too many problems overall. My guess is that the area I live in has better van access parking than most. I'm not leaving my Christmas shopping for the last minute though - I can imagine that in crowded conditions, finding a place to park will be an adventure.
As for being blocked in, so far so good, except for a truck that parked BEHIND the van. The explanation? *I* was parked in the loading dock spot, the driver said , pointing at the handicap spot. "I always use that to load my truck and if you're there, you can just wait for me," he said, ignoring my explanation that it was a handicap parking area.
Since he had an entire truck to unload, I just called the police and had them handle the situation so I could pull out. They gave him a ticket and also confiscated a handicap placard he had been using to park in those spots to unload his truck.
2 comments:
Wow, so he both asserted that it was a loading space and used a handicap placard to park there, amazes me what people tell themselves. That's great you called--more parking for the rest of us. No telling where else he's been using that.
Frida- Yeah, really - he's probably been using it to unload in those handy dandy blue zones we can't find to park in! ::sigh::
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