Disabled Parking Rant

requiem

requiem

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I was involved in a serious motorbike accident in Nov.

I shattered my ankle, my tibia, my hand and wrist.

Moving around is very difficult.

I am still wheelchair bound.

I can move very short distances by hopping on one leg, and using a crutch and a gutter crutch.

On Wednesday I went to the Airport (ORT) for work.

I parked in a disabled parking bay. Hopped to the boot and pulled out my wheelchair. A friend then pushed me to my office.

When we returned later that afternoon. Someone had done 2 things.

1) Scratched my car badly.
2) Placed a note on my windscreen.

"You are an *******. You have parked in a paraplegic parking bay. This means that disabled people can't get to their cars. FUUUUUUCK YOU!!!!"


While I am only temporarily in a wheelchair and I will eventually walk again. I wish to say to whomsoever took it upon themselves to vandalise my car - **** YOU
 
hmmmmmmmm

I deal with this every day of my life. In my experience old people think they can park in these bays and once i had a fight with someone who had haemoroids and he parked in a disabled bay.

Sorry you had to deal with this kind of moron. Best to stick a wheel chair sign in your window. Im sure they have CCTV footage of this incident, have you asked airport security?
 
Yeah, you do get *******s who over react like that. They think disabled parking's are only for permanently disabled people.
 
I think we had a thread about this before. Far worse than people parking in disabled spots are the white knight retards who think they're justified in causing thousands of Rands worth of damage to someone else's property, for doing something they don't agree with.

The airport has security cameras all over the place. Maybe you could get the footage and see who it was and let your insurance company's lawyers handle it.
 
Just apply for a temp disabled parking permit and you'll have no more hassles. Personally I take great pains to avoid blocking disabled areas and have verbally challenged people I see who park in those bays who obviously have nothing wrong with them.
 
That's just fscked up man, sorry to hear about that.

I hate douches parking in disabled bays as much as the next guy, but I always make sure of my facts before accusing somebody of anything. Damaging the car is just retarded.
 
Here, print this out and stick it in your window:

1194989282626056836disability_sign_james_ki_01_svg_hi.png
 
What happened to your car sucks. The schmuck who did it had no right.

The fact is that your car had nothing affixed to it that indicated you were injured/disabled, even temporarily. To that guy, you were the one in the wrong for parking in a disabled bay without any signage.

Perhaps consider sticking even just a paper wheelchair symbol in your rear window? It would at least signify that you're not being an uncaring and rude motorist. It may not be an official disabled sticker, but it still helps to convey the situation to others. Friends and family with disabilities carry several paper copies of the wheelchair sticker with them for when they are temporarily travelling in someone else's vehicle.

At the very least the response would have been a note saying "get official disability stickers!" instead of a rude note and physical damage to your car. Whoever scratched your car must have been in a REALLY foul mood to resort to such blatant vandalism.
 
I once took a cancer patient out for the day, just to help him spread his legs and get him out of the hospital. He wanted something from a shop (I forget what) so we stopped off to get it. The cancer treatments had obviously left the man disabled to the point at which he couldn't walk on his own and had to rely on me for support. Knowing he wasn't capable of walking across a parking lot I parked in the disabled bay. While I was assisting him out of the vehicle the security guard for the centre came over and told me that the parking was for disabled people only and that I needed to move. I mean while I understand that the man wasn't disabled because of some sort of car accident or something and that he didn't have a limb missing or something it was obvious that he clearly was unable to support himself on his own.

I argued with the guard all the while still trying to help the man from the vehicle and finally was forced to leave the poor man leaning against a pillar while I moved the vehicle. The guard also refused to support him and ensure he didn't fall while I parked on the other end of the lot.

I have always wondered if I was in the wrong for parking there or if the guard was wrong for insisting I move the vehicle.
 
Last edited:
porchrat said:
I once took a cancer patient out for the day, just to help him spread his legs and get him out of the hospital. He wanted something from a shop (I forget what) so we stopped off to get it. The cancer treatments had obviously left the man disabled to the point at which he couldn't walk on his own and had to rely on me for support. Knowing he wasn't capable of walking across a parking lot I parked in the disabled bay. While I was assisting him out of the vehicle the security guard for the centre came over and told me that the parking was for disabled people only and that I needed to move. I mean while I understand that the man wasn't disabled because of some sort of car accident or something and that he didn't have a limb missing or something it was obvious that he clearly was unable to support himself on his own.

I argued with the guard all the while still trying to help the man from the vehicle and finally was forced to leave the poor man leaning against a pillar while I moved the vehicle.

I have always wondered if I was in the wrong for parking there.
Click to expand...

I dont think so. I think what you did was right.
 
Thanks for the posters. I will print one out. I just cannot believe the gall of some people.
 
ghoti said:
I dont think so. I think what you did was right.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the vote of confidence.

I would have brought a wheelchair with but the hospital had none to spare and we waited over an hour for one. If we had waited longer I would not have had time to take the man anywhere. In the end he asked if we could just go without the chair. Nice guy but can be a little impatient. :p

I wonder if the sight of an actual wheelchair would have made that guard think twice about confronting me like that. I still feel bad for making that poor man lean against that pillar like that and I wish the guard had at least complied with my request to steady the man while I parked elsewhere. Ah well, not much I can about it all these years later. :p

I also think there should be a line at which you can no longer be considered disabled enough to qualify for the use of the disabled parking but to me as long as without the added space and/or close location of the disabled parking you would not be able to make use of whatever facility it is you are visiting you should be permitted to use that disabled bay.
 
porchrat said:
I once took a cancer patient out for the day, just to help him spread his legs and get him out of the hospital. He wanted something from a shop (I forget what) so we stopped off to get it. The cancer treatments had obviously left the man disabled to the point at which he couldn't walk on his own and had to rely on me for support. Knowing he wasn't capable of walking across a parking lot I parked in the disabled bay. While I was assisting him out of the vehicle the security guard for the centre came over and told me that the parking was for disabled people only and that I needed to move. I mean while I understand that the man wasn't disabled because of some sort of car accident or something and that he didn't have a limb missing or something it was obvious that he clearly was unable to support himself on his own.

I argued with the guard all the while still trying to help the man from the vehicle and finally was forced to leave the poor man leaning against a pillar while I moved the vehicle. The guard also refused to support him and ensure he didn't fall while I parked on the other end of the lot.

I have always wondered if I was in the wrong for parking there or if the guard was wrong for insisting I move the vehicle.
Click to expand...

I would have told the security guard to fsck off in no uncertain terms. I wouldn't even have bothered arguing with him.

What you did was right, in terms of parking in the disabled bay.

OP : What I would do is get in tough with ORT's security, they have cameras. find the person who scratched your vehicle, track them back to their vehicle and go to the police to open a case of Vandalism (or whatever you can), also lay a claim with your insurance and mark the person as the culpable person. Insurance will have a field day.
 
requiem said:
I was involved in a serious motorbike accident in Nov.

I shattered my ankle, my tibia, my hand and wrist.

Moving around is very difficult.

I am still wheelchair bound.

I can move very short distances by hopping on one leg, and using a crutch and a gutter crutch.

On Wednesday I went to the Airport (ORT) for work.

I parked in a disabled parking bay. Hopped to the boot and pulled out my wheelchair. A friend then pushed me to my office.

When we returned later that afternoon. Someone had done 2 things.

1) Scratched my car badly.
2) Placed a note on my windscreen.

"You are an *******. You have parked in a paraplegic parking bay. This means that disabled people can't get to their cars. FUUUUUUCK YOU!!!!"


While I am only temporarily in a wheelchair and I will eventually walk again. I wish to say to whomsoever took it upon themselves to vandalise my car - **** YOU
Click to expand...

Why don't you have a sticker on your car, or printed one. I'm not justifying what this person did, what would you have done if security clamped your car - they would probably teell you they would not have done it if car had a sign
 
isie said:
I'm not justifying what this person did, what would you have done if security clamped your car
Click to expand...

He would have merely strolled over to the security dudes in his wheelchair and someone with half a heart would've gladly released his car without thinking too much about it.

Clamping car (minor temporary inconvenience) != Scratched car (major permanent damage)

ToxicBunny said:
I would have told the security guard to fsck off in no uncertain terms. I wouldn't even have bothered arguing with him.
Click to expand...

+1
 
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