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Joseph G. Martinez of Brighton writes:

So a police sergeant was asking a woman about parking in a handicap spot. Now the Officer, a Guard and King Soopers is being sued by the woman, and for what, I’m sure if the woman was truely handicapped she would have had a label hanging in the window or a handicap license,otherwise the Officer would not have asked about it. Perhaps she was not handicapped and should have been fined. I see this all the time where people, who ar not handicapped, park in handicap spots. These poeple need to fined since they have no compassion for those who truely need the spots.

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READER COMMENTS

Tho I agree that non handicap shouldn't park in handicap parking....I would like to know what criteria is used to decide just how many handicap spots go where? There are times ( more than not) that I go somewhere and there are an over abundance of handicap spots...the place is busy and they still don't fill up. Maybe whoever does the figuring for the number of slots should make some location examinations and adjust accordingly. I tdo thing people with physical challenges deserve to have spots available. Even don't have a problem with fining those who deserve fining. Just reasses what we've got .....please.

People who have the ability to walk from the far end of a parking lot should thank God they have the legs to do so, and leave the handicapped parking spaces alone. It really angers me when I see those who have no tags and clearly are not handicapped stealing those spaces. You may begrudge the handicapped parking spaces now, but a day may come when you need them yourself, and will find yourself fighting for them with others as selfish as you are. People who shove carts into parking spaces instead of walking them to the cart returns are just as bad. I always wonder how many of them pay fees to belong to a gym, and yet can't walk a few feet to return their carts.

what is she suing them for ?

CH: If your speaking to my post...I do not begrudge handicap persons the spaces they need. I do however think having twent spaces unused on a busy Saturday at say Walmart is overkill. All I'm asking for is to revisit what ever the critieria is for figuringout how many spaces are actually needed. I am grateful that I have all my parts working properly. You sound a bit bitter, maybe you are intitled. But don't assume all of us are selfish , because I would never park in one of your needed spots.

Ann, I usually find the opposite. I try to go shopping at the Walmart or Target near my house, and the handicap spots are always full, which is a pain when you're in a wheelchair. Same when I go downtown to the hospital or movies. There never seems to be any open.

Ann---

Its called the Americans With Disabilities Act. There are provisions to calculate the number of required handicapped spots and their location. Take it up with the feds.

It was a question Tbone...no need to get you hackles up.

This lady clearly had a placard hanging from her rearview mirror. She is suing him because her and her daughter were roughed up by this officer and the King Soopers security staff (the kid suffered a broked collar bone) after she complained to management about the officer questioning her about her hanicapped "status" and not the person parked in the handicapped spot next to her.

Handicap parking is such an abused privilege it should be withdrawn; I cite myself as evidence.

My step dad was an amputee so they gave us a placard for his van. It was me who pushed him in his wheelchair and I was not handicapped. I could have parked at the far end and pushed him without effort or very little effort.

I was the beneficiary of the placard and though I am not obese, walking helped to keep me from getting obese and the placard took away my walking since my dad always insisted on the handicapped zone.

One hundred percent of the people will agree with me: Handicapped placards are abused. Give a doctor a few bucks and he will prescribe one. r22037yahoo

sorry Ann, I wasnt trying to come off as being defensive.

Sorry.. Tbone .sometimes we can't really tell the tone when its typed....

Mr. Grimes,

The distance from the entrance is not really the issue. It is the size of the parking space. It really is a pain in the rear trying to “prepare” disabled children for a trip from the car to the store. Sure, I'm capable and willing to walk whatever distance that is required for my journey, even though that journey can be dangerous for my disabled child, seeing how most folks driving in a parking lot are the most important people in the world. If we get in their way and slow them down one iota, please...please forgive us! I know they are in a hurry and their perceived superiority takes precedence over my child's safety.

These folks usually drive massive SUV's. I really enjoy parking between two of them, in a small “standard” parking space, while I prepare my kids for the trip. The only space available is behind my vehicle where I buckle one child into a wheelchair, cringing while some idiot “squeezes” past us and an opposing vehicle in the drive.

Or I hang my placard, park in a sufficient space, usually equipped with a “staging area” to the side and sometimes a walkway in the front and proceed about my business without interfering with yours.

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