Handicap Parking - OT

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Sorry, I really do not know where else to post this.

My son goes to a private school. In their parking lot there are three handicap spots. One is always taken by a teacher in need. This whole year when I have needed to go to a meeting with a teacher or any other school functions, even picking my son up from school - NON-handicap parents are parked there.

I spoke with the school. Bottom line they really don't care. Next I went to the DMV who transferred me to the DOT who put me in with the local police.

The local police are not sure if they can come on sight since it is a private school.

Does anyone know where I could get some concrete information re: this situation? I feel horrible as I have missed way too much of his senior year because the rest of the parking is way to far for me to access the school.

Thank you to anyone who has any insight.

 

[I Love Pluto]

Go back to the school personnel. They are the only ones who can answer your questions, since it is a private school. The local police cannot help, due to the "private" school having the freedom to make their own rules and governing policies.

Explain your situation again. Ask if there is an area where you can park when you come, & offer to display your handicapped placard as necessary. I am sure the school personnel will offer a solution for you.

Ask for a meeting - don't just walk in & expect someone to be available. Schools are very busy places, and the person you need might just be tied up at that moment. A planned meeting assures you of the time you need to explain your situation.

Hopefully, you & the school can come to an agreement. Good luck to you.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I believe the school would have to call the police to have the cars towed or ticketed.

Since it seems like the school is uninterested in maintaining the moral and legal issue here, I would talk with them again, making it clear that you will park immediately behind those scofflaws that are parking in the disabled parking without a genuine need/proper credentials. If it blocks the driveway, so much the better. Perhaps with the possbility of this inconvenience looming, the school will enforce the parking.
You could also mention to the school that perhaps a local newspaper would be interested in such a news story.
You could also speak with your local ADA chapter or some other dept of city government.

I think no matter what, you must continue to be that squeeky wheel. The school's hoping you'll give up.
Good luck!

 

[ReadingRainbow]

If they aren't enforcing parking rules, park wherever you want. Park in the driveway right in front of the door. No one is going to care or do anything about it apparently.

You get to be there. You don't have any problems. Seems easy enough to me!

 

[peemagg]

I agree, park where you want and if it blocks those offenders in and blocks a drive, so much the better! Maybe when they go into the school and pitches a fit because you are in the way, they will get told that because of where they parked, you had no choice since they were so insensitive to those who really need and can legally park in those spots. Maybe they will even call the police on you and you can explain to the police when they get there, that because of these cars parked illegally, you had no choice. It might be worth it even if you did get a ticket.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Check with your local police dept! In MD, it does NOT matter if it is private property or not, the police certainly can come on site and ticket cars that are 'illegally' parked in HC parking spots. I know this for a fact because they have done this on church parking lots and mall parking lots! And they are clearly private property. They ticketed my mom's friend's car and there were hardly any cars on the lot but she wanted to park next to the building to unload some heavy items. The police came along and ticketed her for not having a handicap placard/plate. They said so sorry/so sad/too bad. You don't park in those spaces for ANY reason without a HC placard/plate even on private property, even if the lot is empty. She had to pay the ticket.
So the moral is... I would call your local police dept and inquire with them about getting the parking there inforced. They might like a little extra income Because those parking tickets usually come with a pretty hefty fine!

 

[stitchlovestink]

I believe the school would have to call the police to have the cars towed or ticketed.

Since it seems like the school is uninterested in maintaining the moral and legal issue here, I would talk with them again, making it clear that you will park immediately behind those scofflaws that are parking in the disabled parking without a genuine need/proper credentials. If it blocks the driveway, so much the better. Perhaps with the possbility of this inconvenience looming, the school will enforce the parking.
You could also mention to the school that perhaps a local newspaper would be interested in such a news story.
You could also speak with your local ADA chapter or some other dept of city government.

I think no matter what, you must continue to be that squeeky wheel. The school's hoping you'll give up.
Good luck!

bolding is mine...
not in MD. private property or not, if they are illegally parked, anyone can call and report it to the police dept for the car to be 'ticketed'. Now, I doubt they would tow it though. But those are pretty hefty parking ticket fines. I would imagine that the 'offenders' would think twice before parking there again unless they have deep pockets.

Sorry for not combining this with my first post, but I didn't see this post until after I had already posted that!

 

[anonymousegirl]

bolding is mine...
not in MD. private property or not, if they are illegally parked, anyone can call and report it to the police dept for the car to be 'ticketed'. Now, I doubt they would tow it though. But those are pretty hefty parking ticket fines. I would imagine that the 'offenders' would think twice before parking there again unless they have deep pockets.

Sorry for not combining this with my first post, but I didn't see this post until after I had already posted that!

I wasn't sure about MD so I tempered my statement with "I believe". Not only does the situation vary state to state, but it can vary dependent on the amount of public access to the private property.
Example: your private driveway versus the shopping mall. Both are private property but one allows complete public access and must adhere to mandated disabled parking regulations.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Thanks for all the replies. I cancelled my meeting with the President of the school until I had all my ducks in a row.

The police stated that a specific sign had to be up for them to go on property but I am learning more from a friend who's husband is an attorney.

It is my son's senior year. The last thing I want to do is make it miserable for him, but to be honest my son is way more tolerant than the higher ups in the school. He actually wrote his college entrance essay regarding the hardships/discrimination that he has seen for me and our family because of my disability.

I was "put on notice not to block anyone" during the call today trying to get just one car moved so I could go see my son's teacher. Needless to say I never made it in the door.

I have to mention, my son's school is in an old Mansion on a hill. There is very little parking near the school but you can park on the side streets and go up the stairs (which I can not) or walk the hill (impossible for me). I usually do not drive by myself but today I had no other option.

I wrote a nice letter to the teacher and hope that the missed meeting can be rescheduled. I spoke with my son and I will take this to the next step. If that means speaking with the President I will. I am going to also going to contact someone who can help.

I will continue to read and ALL suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[stitchlovestink]

Thanks for all the replies. I cancelled my meeting with the President of the school until I had all my ducks in a row.

The police stated that a specific sign had to be up for them to go on property but I am learning more from a friend who's husband is an attorney.

It is my son's senior year. The last thing I want to do is make it miserable for him, but to be honest my son is way more tolerant than the higher ups in the school. He actually wrote his college entrance essay regarding the hardships/discrimination that he has seen for me and our family because of my disability.

I was "put on notice not to block anyone" during the call today trying to get just one car moved so I could go see my son's teacher. Needless to say I never made it in the door.

I have to mention, my son's school is in an old Mansion on a hill. There is very little parking near the school but you can park on the side streets and go up the stairs (which I can not) or walk the hill (impossible for me). I usually do not drive by myself but today I had no other option.

I wrote a nice letter to the teacher and hope that the missed meeting can be rescheduled. I spoke with my son and I will take this to the next step. If that means speaking with the President I will. I am going to also going to contact someone who can help.

I will continue to read and ALL suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I am wondering can you elaborate on what the police are talking about when they say a specific sign had to be put up for them to go on property?
I am glad you are talking with a friend who is an attorney. This is really ridiculous that they are required to have HC parking but then they allow anyone to park there! Why bother to have it then??

I also meant to suggest that you not block anyone in or block any means of ingress/egress. If you do this and your car gets hit, you could be considered culpable and then you would be considered to be a contributory factor to the accident. So that would be charged against your insurance as well as the other party's. Personally, I don't think it is worth the risk of getting hit to block someone's car in. I value my insurance rates too much!!

I really wish you luck in getting this situation resolved in a reasonable way. This is ridiculous the way they are handling this. I do think maybe you need to escalate this to the President and sooner rather than later. I really think he/she needs to know about this. You can't be the first and I can't imagine that you will be the last to encounter this situation. Obviously, those under the President don't realize the 'seriousness' of this situation and they just think you are 'whining'. You need to address this for yourself and for others who will 'follow in your footsteps' at this school. Please keep us posted as to what happens and how this is resolved. Best of Luck!!!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I know you don't want to stir anything up as your son is a senior, and you only have a half a year left now. If things do not get resolved by the end of the year, I honestly would go to the media. Let them question the school about their practices. They would be mighty embarrassed with their school name splattered all over the news for allowing others to illegally park in the handicap parking areas! It may not help you as it is too late, but it can be helping the next parent who cannot find one of those spots empty

 

[KPeveler]

Make sure the spit is fully legally marked too. I think there needs to be a sign and paint on the ground. I once had a cop tell me he couldn't ticket a car because the spot was not "up to code."

 

[bidnow5]

In Rhode Island we have the Disability Law Office ( they offer free legal help to handicapped people ) I had a problem with a local shop owner parking diagonal on 2 handicap spaces the police did nothing so I called the Disability law office they talked to the DOT the next day he stopped parking there.

I don't believe private property has anything to do with the ability for police to enforce handicap parking laws. I'm pretty sure most handicap parking spaces are on private property

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Thankfully I have a cell phone that the calls during they year have been made on. I am making a list of calls throughout the year and whom I spoke with. I also wrote down license plate numbers because my phone did not have a camera before. It does now. I am taking pictures and video each day forward to show the problems I am having. I will be able to show I called and the prove the illegal parking.

I have found only information that proves that the police "can" come and ticket the illegal cars and I plan on doing that also. Time is going to be a factor since most are only there for 10 -15 minutes to get what they need done at the school, but some are students who are there all day.

My son knows this is going to happen and we plan on giving it a month, then we will go to the media etc (if needed). I will state they did eliminate one of the handicap spots already this year and re-painted. They have the signs painted in the concrete and also actual stand up signs cemented in the ground. On one side it is just two spots without the extra area for loading/unloading and one for loading on the other side.

I am drafting a nice letter (not sure if nice is going to work, but I don't want it to look like I didn't give them a chance to rectify the problem) and then I will go from there. I am also going to look for a local charity/office that works with people who are having problems due to being disabled.

I sent my son to this school because of the reputation it has of making boys into well-rounded men. I can say 98% of the school is very good at this. The other 2% are the top of the chain and I would very much assume they are not graduates of the school.

Thank you again to everyone. A good nights sleep has helped clear my mind a bit and the suggestions here are a godsend. I will continue to update and hope that if anyone else can give me some suggestions that they post.

Happy Holidays to everyone. Today is the last day of school before break. So I will have a nice quiet time to reflect and make sure I handle all of this properly.

Again may all you wishes come true this Holiday Season!!!

 

[disney david]

Thankfully I have a cell phone that the calls during they year have been made on. I am making a list of calls throughout the year and whom I spoke with. I also wrote down license plate numbers because my phone did not have a camera before. It does now. I am taking pictures and video each day forward to show the problems I am having. I will be able to show I called and the prove the illegal parking.

I have found only information that proves that the police "can" come and ticket the illegal cars and I plan on doing that also. Time is going to be a factor since most are only there for 10 -15 minutes to get what they need done at the school, but some are students who are there all day.

My son knows this is going to happen and we plan on giving it a month, then we will go to the media etc (if needed). I will state they did eliminate one of the handicap spots already this year and re-painted. They have the signs painted in the concrete and also actual stand up signs cemented in the ground. On one side it is just two spots without the extra area for loading/unloading and one for loading on the other side.

I am drafting a nice letter (not sure if nice is going to work, but I don't want it to look like I didn't give them a chance to rectify the problem) and then I will go from there. I am also going to look for a local charity/office that works with people who are having problems due to being disabled.

I sent my son to this school because of the reputation it has of making boys into well-rounded men. I can say 98% of the school is very good at this. The other 2% are the top of the chain and I would very much assume they are not graduates of the school.

Thank you again to everyone. A good nights sleep has helped clear my mind a bit and the suggestions here are a godsend. I will continue to update and hope that if anyone else can give me some suggestions that they post.

Happy Holidays to everyone. Today is the last day of school before break. So I will have a nice quiet time to reflect and make sure I handle all of this properly.

Again may all you wishes come true this Holiday Season!!!

Yeah just keep the non emergency number so you can call the police and remember they will dispatch an officer and thy get you as soon as they can the police mean is their a sign saying it a handicap spot. Hope it all works out and you and your family has a great holiday.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I'm just curious about this are there other empty spots available and people are using the handicapped ones just to be closer or are all the spot in the lot taken?

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Good Luck! I am glad you are not waiting till he graduates to do anything. This is really unacceptable. Please keep us updated on how it turned out. Hope you have a great Holiday

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I'm just curious about this are there other empty spots available and people are using the handicapped ones just to be closer or are all the spot in the lot taken?

Yes there are a few other spots but these are the closest to the doors the boys are released from at the end of the day. The parking lot has maybe 100 spots on the side they are released and another 100 or maybe 150 on the other side of the building. The students are suppose to park on the other side, but there is one spot that is "given to the highest bidding senior" that is near the front of the door. Parents are suppose to line up in the last row and move as students leave. Instead of getting in the long line they use the handicap spot. Also on parent/teacher nights and any assemblies they also park in the handicap spot because they really are short on parking. BUT the parents can park on the side streets. Lets just say some parents feel they are too priviledged (sp) to have to walk.

I don't plan on dropping this and I know the school does not want any negative publicity. Neither would the parents, many of which are well known in our city.

I am just really glad we are on break right now!! This is me - at least for two weeks, then it will be back to this !

 

[disney david]

Yes there are a few other spots but these are the closest to the doors the boys are released from at the end of the day. The parking lot has maybe 100 spots on the side they are released and another 100 or maybe 150 on the other side of the building. The students are suppose to park on the other side, but there is one spot that is "given to the highest bidding senior" that is near the front of the door. Parents are suppose to line up in the last row and move as students leave. Instead of getting in the long line they use the handicap spot. Also on parent/teacher nights and any assemblies they also park in the handicap spot because they really are short on parking. BUT the parents can park on the side streets. Lets just say some parents feel they are too priviledged (sp) to have to walk.

I don't plan on dropping this and I know the school does not want any negative publicity. Neither would the parents, many of which are well known in our city.

I am just really glad we are on break right now!! This is me - at least for two weeks, then it will be back to this !

So their only three marked spots with signs and paint for handicap parking and no one but that one teacher has a handicap placard. A local super market in my town has all the handicap spot at the end of the row closet to the entrance so you would get a lot of people wanting to be lazy and park in those spots. Until a police officer decide to patrol that lot and gave everyone tickets and then would try and drive through the lot at least once a day and now their empty and only people with placard park their. I guess a ticket can fix lazy pretty quick my police don't put up with any one parking in fire zones and handicap spots. So I would try and get the police on it even if you have to call each day and if they don't send someone put the first time they will after awhile and I bet they get the handicap spot freed up for you. Do you notice if any police car drive by the school maybe you could flag one down and report the people who park their illegally.

 

[disney david]

Fund this online not sure it helps it old


What is the name of your state? Missouri

My son just got a ticket in the parking lot of a private school. He parked in the hash marks next to a disabled spot thinking he was avoiding the disabled spot and just parking in a spot that wasn't a spot. It is a big fine and of course we are aggravated that the police were even in the parking lot of the school at 9:30 PM. After checking the ordinance, it appears that police can enter "private property open for public use" to enforce the disabled parking laws.

Not that it makes any difference, but this campus is really not even being used at this time except for a few special events like the student only, extra curricular activtity my son was involved in this evening. The lot is striped with excessive disabled spots based on previous usage of the campus from many years ago. It has been relatively vacant for years and will be renovated soon. Anyway, I suppose I am just trying to make the point that this particular instance of enforcement serves no public good and is meant to enrich the obnoxious wealthy municipality in which this campus is located.

All that said, my real question pertains to the definition of "private property open for public use". I can't find a definition using google or yahoo. By the way, this is a private school campus, not open to the public for any purpose at this time.

Thanks for your help.