We recently received two letters from people with valid handicapped parking permits who said they were harassed because the public doesn't understand who can use those special parking stalls. Handicapped parking
also for care-givers’ useCharlotte Townsend, acting executive director of the State Commission on Persons with Disabilities, agreed.
"The focus needs to be on violations that make it illegal" to park in handicapped parking stalls -- vehicles not having proper placards or license plates, she said.
The driver is not always the one assigned the permit, she said.
Here are the two "auwes," the first which describes how it often may be the passenger in a car who qualifies for the handicapped parking permit:
"I recently delivered my 98-year-old disabled mother at the Barnes & Noble coffee shop at Kahala Mall to enjoy lunch with a friend. I left on errands, then returned to pick her up, both times using the handicapped stall. Auwe
"As I readied to pick her up, an elderly man leapt out from behind a post and began scribbling my license number. Our valid, current permit was in plain view.
"There is a misconception (perhaps derived from the wheelchair picture on the stalls and permits) that any person using a handicapped parking stall will be in a wheelchair, on crutches or visibly identifiable as disabled. This is not the case. The majority of the limited disabled will be transported, understandably, by able-bodied care-givers or helpful friends.
"It is also the case that the criteria for obtaining permits (authorized by doctors) includes conditions which have no external sign of disability, such as circulatory, respiratory or heart conditions. I have a friend who has had extensive lung surgery and her tolerance for activities such as walking is extremely limited. Outwardly, she appears hale, but has a legitimate handicapped permit because of her permanent disability. She and her companions always get 'stink eye' when they use the stalls.
"Would people please erase the idea that permits go only to those with wheelchairs, walkers, etc., and would the vigilante focus on cars that have no permits or outdated permits."
"Auwe to the busybody in the Star Market Kaneohe parking lot who hassled my grandmother and me when we parked in a handicapped stall. Just because I am not handicapped does not mean that I cannot use the space to shop for my grandmother. This woman, not an employee, followed me into the store and demanded I show her my pass, which was in the vehicle. She offered no apology when she realized my grandmother was handicapped." Auwe
Other Kokua Line items:
Beware phone callers
