If I hired a driver, I'd hope they could see when I came out of the
store or maybe they shouldn't be driving! In such a case, I would, call
on my cell phone to let the driver know I'm done. And if we were both
shopping separately and I needed to wait for them, then it wouldn't
matter where we parked, I'd just remember where and go back to that
spot. Here in the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area, handicapped parking
spaces aren't generally right next to the sidewalk of the store or mall.
One still has to cross the small road that passes through next to the
store.
I would strongly oppose such a law allowing people who are blind to have
"handicap parking." Of course as has been pointed out that's my right as
a citizen. I think special allowances have to be balanced with real and
practical need, because otherwise the price becomes to great in the
message that is conveyed to the public. Remember some accommodations are
appropriate for certain groups of people with disabilities. For example,
Braille is only appropriate for people who are Blind and who read
Braille. Elevators are even an accommodation for people with physical
disabilities, but not for people who are only blind or visually impaired
and don't have any other disabling condition. Special accommodations
are never one size fits all and should never be applied across the
board. Remember, those law-makers hear all the supporting reasons why
people who are blind need x y z, and usually such cases are presented
rather strongly. So, in the case of people who are blind needing
handicap parking I'm sure they are told or left with the impression that
those people are easily disoriented, not very good at crossing vehicle
traveled passages and generally not as competent or independent as
others who aren't blind. It basically feeds their already held notion
that people who are blind are in-firmed and incapable of being
independent.
Just my opinion.
Terri Hedgpeth
Disability Research Specialist
Cubic, iCare box 87-8909
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-8909
(480) 727-8133 (voice)
(480) 965-2751 (fax)
http://cubic.asu.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: VICUG-L: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan Rossi
Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 7:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Visually Impaired And Disabled Tags.
George,
that is exactly my point, it wasn't my interpretation of the law.
According to Mary Blanton it wasn't the intent of the legislature to
allow
blind people to use these parking spaces. She had to have the law
changed.
You bring up some fine points, I don't typically use drivers. I am
usually with sighted friends who are doing the driving, or I walk to my
local shops independently. I agree that I would not want to be
wandering
around in a busy parking lot looking for a car which I could not see.
But
your point just doesn't seem to be valid about the intent of the
legislature to include the blind, if that had to be ammended to the law.
That is where I am coming from.
On Fri, 14 May 2004, George Cassell wrote:
> Dan said ...
>
> "The idea behind the handicapped parking spaces
> is to allow those who are "mobility impaired" better access to public
> places."
>
> That's your interpretation, Dan. But it's obviously NOT the intent of
the
> lawmakers who wrote the laws, and included those of us who are blind
or
> visually-impaired.
>
> If the lawmakers had intended these parking spaces to be reserved
solely for
> those who are,"mobility impaired," they would not have made them
available
> to those of us who are visually-impaired as well.
>
> As for what is "required" by a visually-impaired person, it is not for
you
> to say. If you can do without utilizing such parking spaces, then by
all
> means, park elsewhere. But some of us do find such parking spaces to
be,
> not just niceties, but necessities. For instance, I can't find our
car when
> it's parked somewhere out in the lower forty of a mall. I can't even
see it
> when I'm standing right next to it. So what am I supposed to do?
Wander
> aimlessly up and down the aisles of a busy parking lot, where cars are
> coming and going, and backing out of parking spaces, without even
looking
> where they are going, endangering life and limb? I'm not about to
endanger
> my life, just to be, what you may well consider to be politically
correct.
> My life is worth far more than some high-minded ideal.
>
> When we park our car in a handicapped stall, I do not have to cross
against
> any traffic -- we're along the sidewalk that leads into the stores
we're
> going to shop in. I am capable of doing much of my shopping without
further
> inconveniencing the driver who brought me there. And so I do. When I
have
> my packages, I want to be able to take them to the car that brought
me,
> freeing myself up to do additional shopping.
>
> I can't do that, if I can't find the car, and I can't find the car, if
it's
> parked among the hundreds, or even thousands of vehicles in a busy
parking
> lot.
>
> But as I said, anyone who doesn't want to park there, doesn't have to
do so,
> and nobody is going to hold a gun to their head to force them to do
what
> they don't want to do. All I ask, is that people leave the rest of us
> alone, and allow us to do whatever it is that we want to do, whether
or not
> others like it. We're perfectly legal, and entirely within our
rights. And
> if we're not, then we'll be cited, and brought to trial in a court of
law,
> and not by some kangaroo court of idealistic, yet not realistic people
.
>
> -- George
>
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> To join or leave the list, send a message to
> [log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply
type
> "subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
> VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
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>
>
>
--
Blue skies.
Dan Rossi
Carnegie Mellon University.
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Tel: (412) 268-9081
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask] In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html
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