Ignoring the needs of the disabled
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Kimberly Reynolds
Published: August 24, 2008
I am writing this because lately I have been dealing with people who don’t care about the rights of the disabled. I am disabled and use a chair to get around.
I live in an apartment and they have a policy of having to call them to get a car towed that is parked illegally in a handicap parking space.
It seems that fines and towing can only be enforced by the police if it’s on government property. If it’s on private property then it is left up to the establishment on how they choose to deal with it. I had a
similar occurrence at a restaurant in Fredericksburg, where someone was parked in the loading and unloading area of the handicap parking space. When the sheriff came out he told us that since it’s
private property there wasn’t anything he could do.
He said it was up to the establishment on how they chose to handle these types of situations. The Americans with Disabilities Act was suppose to help us get better access to places, but over the last
couple of years I’ve noticed that our needs and rights seem to come in second to those who are able bodied.
It is obvious that these businesses are not truly interested in having disabled people live in their apartments or eat at their restaurants.
If they were, then they would see to it that something simple like a parking space would be available to those people who truly need them.
KIMBERLY REYNOLDS
Stafford County
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Posted by ( mmarin ) on August 25, 2008 at 7:09 am
The best approach to a business that isn’t monitoring those handicap spaces in front of thier business is to inform them of it. Since it’s their property they have control over the spaces.
If they don’t take any action you know where to (not) take your business.
Why did the sheriff even come out? If it was clear that the person was on private vice public (you called it government but We the people own that property so it’s Ours) property he should’ve just informed you to contact the manager of the store and that he should assist you.
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