I know what it is, my question was more along the lines of, if they're able enough to work out at a gym, they really don't need a handicapped parking permit.

 

This may be one of the most wrong-headed posts I've seen on here. And I've seen a lot of them.

Are you kidding me?

 

Why the hell would I have posted it if I were kidding?

 

If they're able to go to a gym and work out, would they not be able to walk the extra 20 feet or so in the parking lot and save the handicapped spot for those who truly need it?

They could easily be going to the gym for rehab. My grandpa goes to the gym 2 times a week and I'm pretty sure he has a handicap sticker and rightfully so. He doesn't walk very well.

Why the hell would I have posted it if I were kidding?

 

If they're able to go to a gym and work out, would they not be able to walk the extra 20 feet or so in the parking lot and save the handicapped spot for those who truly need it?

...

They could easily be going to the gym for rehab.

 

Right. My whole contention was I find it hard to believe 6 handicapped spots are occupied very often at a gym. Guru said lots of older people who are Sliver Sneaker members go there and most likely have the handicapped permits. If they are in wheelchairs, they obviously need them. For the year + I've been a member at a gym, I've never once seen a person in a wheelchair there. Highly doubtful this gym would have 6 at any one given time.

I'm curious about this, and I don't know if you know the answer to it or not, but how is it determined what spots are designated for handicap use? This goes to the fact that it seems there are two spots next to the building's entrance at SOAS, but the other 4 being discussed are actually not curbside. Is there only so much distance you can go laterally, before going across to the other side? Is it a simple radius from the entrance?

 

Actually, unless I'm mistaken, handicap accessible does NOT mean the space or spaces have to be the closest to the entrance, or within any particular radius of the entrance. I think it's up to the owner and/or design professional to try to put those spaces in the most reasonable location in context to the handicap entrance.

 

For example, there is an existing building with a parking lot that has a main entrance that has a landing located at the top of 7 steps. With the slope of the property the building is built on, the most reasonable way for a handicap person to enter is through a door near the rear of the building that is located much closer to the surface of the pavement. A small handicap ramp is built to the rear door, which happens to be quite a bit further from the parking lot than the front door. Thus, the handicap spaces are further away from the handicap entrance than the non-handicap spaces are from the main (non-ADA Compliant) entrance.

Why the hell would I have posted it if I were kidding?

 

If they're able to go to a gym and work out, would they not be able to walk the extra 20 feet or so in the parking lot and save the handicapped spot for those who truly need it?

It was the best I could come up with for such an ignorant post.

Right. My whole contention was I find it hard to believe 6 handicapped spots are occupied very often at a gym. Guru said lots of older people who are Sliver Sneaker members go there and most likely have the handicapped permits. If they are in wheelchairs, they obviously need them. For the year + I've been a member at a gym, I've never once seen a person in a wheelchair there. Highly doubtful this gym would have 6 at any one given time.

 

I go to the Y and their handicap spots are full every morning (5-6 spots). I'll let the guy with one leg that goes there to swim know he doesn't need that handicap spot and should park with the rest of us abled body folks in the regular spots.

I go to the Y and their handicap spots are full every morning (5-6 spots). I'll let the guy with one leg that goes there to swim know he doesn't need that handicap spot and should park with the rest of us abled body folks in the regular spots.

 

Yeah because that's what I said...

 

Guru said older people who have handicapped permits frequent the gym. He didn't say disabled older people, he simply said older people. My comment was regarding that. It made it seem like the only requirement to get a handicapped permit is to be old.

I know what it is, my question was more along the lines of, if they're able enough to work out at a gym, they really don't need a handicapped parking permit.

Not necessarily true. A person with paralysis can work the upper body just like a normal person. A person with difficulty walking can still exercise to improve their health. Disabled people don't just sit in their wheelchairs and vegetate. Well, I do...but that's an atypical case.

Guru said older people who have handicapped permits frequent the gym. He didn't say disabled older people, he simply said older people. My comment was regarding that. It made it seem like the only requirement to get a handicapped permit is to be old.

 

That's what I was thinking too... I was confused with the outrage towards your post.

So...without knowing it's okay to assume that no one was in need of a spot during the HOUR it took to unload some mats (what kind of mats were they, to take an hour?) and it's also okay to assume that everyone speeds or has questionable moral standards?

 

It's a sad day that common decency is known as a "holier than thou" attitude.

 

How many of you that are taking up for the violator have used a wheelchair yourself or been the primary caregiver of a disabled person?

That's what I was thinking too... I was confused with the outrage towards your post.

 

What population do you think has the highest percentage of physical disabilities?

Yeah because that's what I said...

 

Guru said older people who have handicapped permits frequent the gym. He didn't say disabled older people, he simply said older people. My comment was regarding that. It made it seem like the only requirement to get a handicapped permit is to be old.

As a matter of fact it's exactly what you said. I would say the majority of people using handicap spots are elderly.

What population do you think has the highest percentage of physical disabilities?

 

I guess it comes to whether you think naturally getting old is a physical disability. The way Guru worded his initial post I questioned, made it seem like the sole reason those people have handicapped permits is because they're old, as if that in and of itself is sufficient.

 

My grandma is 83 years old, has bad knees, and struggles walking in general. She doesn't have a handicapped permit, because, as she says, "I'm not disabled, I'm just old". She can still get where she needs to go, it just takes her longer than it used to. I don't think she should have a handicapped permit, and that's the type I thought of with regards to his original post.