New Law Requires Handicapped Tag/Placard for DVs to Park in HC Spaces

[SGT Dave]

Yes, DV plates give you a free pass on toll roads.

Only few toll roads, and even then, only small sections. You can drive from I-35 to 183 on I-45 for free. But if you continue on 45 to Lockhart you'll get charged.

 

[benenglish]

City Code enforcement
Or
An ADA lawyer who will file suit and take a cut when the business settles out of court

The first option doesn't exist; the location isn't incorporated into a city. The second option is more trouble than I'll go to over a sign that I have no need to use.

Thanks for the response, though.

 

[Sasquatch]

The first option doesn't exist; the location isn't incorporated into a city. The second option is more trouble than I'll go to over a sign that I have no need to use.

Thanks for the response, though.

County must have an inspector or code compliance person though, no? Maybe phone an anonymous tip to one of the ambulance chasers and they'll find a "victim" to sue for. Is this Harris or Montgomery County?

 

[Axxe55]

The first option doesn't exist; the location isn't incorporated into a city. The second option is more trouble than I'll go to over a sign that I have no need to use.

Thanks for the response, though.

I'm curious if there might be some sort of state compliance laws for this?

 

[benenglish]

County must have an inspector or code compliance person though, no?

I don't know who's responsible for ongoing "code enforcement" in the unincorporated parts of Harris county.

 

[Axxe55]

I don't know who's responsible for ongoing "code enforcement" in the unincorporated parts of Harris county.

Honestly, I have no idea who enforces those codes outside of the city limits. Maybe contact your county precinct? Even if they don't, they might be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[Sasquatch]

I don't know who's responsible for ongoing "code enforcement" in the unincorporated parts of Harris county.

Try here:

Harris County Engineering Department - Permits > Compliance

Harris County Engineering Department - Permits

www.eng.hctx.net

 

[benenglish]

This is a rabbit hole, for sure. However, assuming the complainant isn't trying to make money, the place to report this is the Harris County ADA Coordinator. The procedures are on harriscountytx.gov.

It took me a while to figure that out.

 

[cycleguy2300]

I would hope so! We did on the left coast. 1/2 of the PD impounds I did were no insurance or no valid license, the other half were drunks. Maybe @cycleguy2300 or one of the other LEO here can answer - do insurers in Texas report to the state if you have valid insurance? In Oregon a LEO knows if you have valid insurance or not when they run your plate, as the insurers report to the DMV the status of your policy. If you lapse, they report it. If you get a policy, they report it. They know the status of registered owners DL, if they have a CHL, and a bunch of other info as well. There are those situations where you cancel one insurance policy because you changed carriers, and the new carrier takes a day or two to send a notice. Hell, some carriers send notice that your insurance is expiring in 30 days, and DMV would send you a warning in the mail. I don't remember if they could use the "no valid insurance" return as reasonable suspicion to initiate a stop or not, but the traffic code was an inch thick in small print - they could find any damn infraction to pull you over if they wanted to. I knew a few cops back there that worked traffic details and had major boners for uninsured motorists, because 1/4-1/3 (depending on the year of reporting) of Oregon's drivers were uninsured or had no valid operators license. I haven't looked at Texas' statistics, but I hope to god more people are responsible here and carry insurance.

Short answer is we can, but don't usually as we simply don't have time to wait for a wrecker for 30 min or an hour when there are shootings and stabbings holding... sad, but we can't fight every battle we come across.

Sent from your mom's house using Tapatalk

 

[majormadmax]

Worked with a lady who was ex military and had the DV plates. She parked in the handicapped spaces at work and she also went running on her lunch hour. She told me that she can run the toll roads free of charge due to the plate. I dont know if that is true or not.
What does irritate me are the thugs that use the HC spots, usually at convenience stores. They are probably the strongest most fit persons in the building yet they pull right up to the door

Same thing happens with HC placards all the time. There is a way to confirm who the placard was issued to, and if the driver is that person or not.

 

[karlac]

Just like anything else in life, Handicapped Parking placards are just another way some idiots have figured a way to cheat the system, and abuse that system. Just like welfare and food stamps.

QFT

 

[leVieux]

CAUTION !

MY "TAKE":

Yes, it seems that many abuse the reserved HC spaces. I especially hate having to park far away because some fat woman is parked in one, no plate or placard, sitting behind wheel, waiting for healthy person to finish shopping & leave.

BUT, she is depriving Handicapped folks of the space !

OTOH, a few years back, a Houston TV Station decided to do an "expose" on this issue. They staked-out some spaces at a local supermarket. An apparently healthy man with a placard parked & went-in, followed and video'd by the TV crew. a couple weeks later, they ran the piece on nightly news.

The SHTF when the man's Family revealed that he had been terminally ill at the time, and had DIED during the 2-week interval !

A Lady Physician Friend was once called into the hospital for an emergency @ 1:30 one morning and parked in the "disabled" space nearest the emergency entrance, but was ticketed AT 2:00AM, otherwise empty parking lot !

Today, as a 78 year-old retiree, disabled by erosive arthritis & with a cardiac pacemaker, there are good days and bad days. If I catch someone giving me the "evil eye" for parking, I go up, introduce myself, and explain WHY I am "handicapped". They are usually quite mortified.

Some days, I can walk fairly well. . . . . . . .

At Church, folks wondered why I carried a walking cane if I "never" used " it. Well, I do fairly well on completely LEVEL surfaces. But, from where I sit to where I park is over 2 blocks. If one of my ankles "locks-up", they'd SEE why I carry the cane.

For me, the essential thing is not whether violators get ticketed, but that their actions DEPRIVE those qualified form use of those spaces. I support TICKETING them even they are still in a running vehicle.

leVieux
.

 

[Axxe55]

CAUTION !

MY "TAKE":

Yes, it seems that many abuse the reserved HC spaces. I especially hate having to park far away because some fat woman is parked in one, no plate or placard, sitting behind wheel, waiting for healthy person to finish shopping & leave.

BUT, she is depriving Handicapped folks of the space !




A Lady Physician Friend was once called into the hospital for an emergency @ 1:30 one morning and parked in the "disabled" space nearest the emergency entrance, but was ticketed AT 2:00AM, otherwise empty parking lot !


leVieux
.

First of all, you can call the local LE agency and report the violation. You did know that didn't you?

Griping about it and not trying to find a solution sounds like whining. Not reporting it, and griping isn't helping to solve the problem.

If you report these violations, and people start getting hefty fines for those violations, then word gets around and people will start abiding by the rules, because it will get expensive for them.

Second, the time of day, and the fact that no one handicapped was using the space is totally irrelevant. Re-read your first sentence of your post. Unless you believe in being a hypocrite. That it was okay for for your friend to violate the rules. She deserved the ticket.

 

[majormadmax]

First of all, you can call the local LE agency and report the violation. You did know that didn't you?

Griping about it and not trying to find a solution sounds like whining. Not reporting it, and griping isn't helping to solve the problem.

If you report these violations, and people start getting hefty fines for those violations, then word gets around and people will start abiding by the rules, because it will get expensive for them.

Second, the time of day, and the fact that no one handicapped was using the space is totally irrelevant. Re-read your first sentence of your post. Unless you believe in being a hypocrite. That it was okay for for your friend to violate the rules. She deserved the ticket.

The SAPD has a volunteer program where members are trained and sworn in by a magistrate to write handicap and fire line violation citations.

We often patrol malls and tell local security to report any HC violations to us as they have no authority to issue tickets.

The substation we work out of also knows to call us while we're on patrol and we'll investigate a violation called in to them.

We also regularly get pass complaints and look into them as well.

Ironically, one of the most common locations for violation are gyms. In fact, there is one across the street from the substation I work out of, and we regularly patrol it first and issue several citations. Theme parks (Six Flags and SeaWorld) are also ripe for violations, it's not uncommon to write over a dozen citations or more when we patrol there.

That said, during my nearly ten years of volunteering I've written almost as many warnings as I have citations. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt when there isn't clear evidence that the violation was blatant.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I will go along with strict enforcement provided the space is clearly and legally marked.

I recall a time about 25 years ago I had parked in a handicapped spot and had some old son of a bitch chase me around the store until I stopped what I was doing and moved the car. I should have beaten the shit out of that stupid bastard. I went outside, to the parking lot with exactly 2 cars in it, and moved mine, still not seeing anything. After I got out I could study the pavement on foot and make out the remnants of a handicap icon painted on the pavement. Needless to say, I was pissed at that point.

 

[Axxe55]

I will go along with strict enforcement provided the space is clearly and legally marked.

I recall a time about 25 years ago I had parked in a handicapped spot and had some old son of a bitch chase me around the store until I stopped what I was doing and moved the car. I should have beaten the shit out of that stupid bastard. I went outside, to the parking lot with exactly 2 cars in it, and moved mine, still not seeing anything. After I got out I could study the pavement on foot and make out the remnants of a handicap icon painted on the pavement. Needless to say, I was pissed at that point.

And the store should have been keeping the spot clearly marked and defined. That is the fault of the store and their management.

But I do agree with you.

 

[mongoose]

I know a man who qualified for DV plates. He was a machinist for 30 years and never wore hearing protection. He has 80% hearing loss. Someone explain to me how that works.

 

[benenglish]

After I got out I could study the pavement on foot and make out the remnants of a handicap icon painted on the pavement.

It has been explained to me, at length by a Tomball PD officer, that the paint on the pavement means nothing. Only the sign creates the handicapped space. That was a few years ago and possibly only a Texas thing so, as always, YMMV.

 

[IndyDave1776]

It has been explained to me, at length by a Tomball PD officer, that the paint on the pavement means nothing. Only the sign creates the handicapped space. That was a few years ago and possibly only a Texas thing so, as always, YMMV.

Its the same in Indiana. I dont know if that was the case at the time or not.

 

[benenglish]

Ironically, one of the most common locations for violation are gyms.

That used to strike me as really odd. I would be at the gym and see people park in the single handicapped space near the entrance, no placard or plates, and go into the gym and do a heavy workout. It irritated me enough that I started calling them in to the non-emergency number for my local Constable. The gym was near their office and it was an easy ticket so the response tended to be prompt.

One time, I sat in my car and called in a truck in the handicapped space. I had just left the gym where the lunkhead I knew to be the driver had been blasting out squats and bench presses, all the while making sure his "Hey, look at me!" grunting was reaching every corner of the place. A minute after I hung up, a Smart Car pulled into the striped area next to the truck which is still part of the handicapped space. The young lady driving it, dressed in workout attire, bounced out and went into the gym.

A minute after that, the Constable pulled up, blocked in both vehicles, and wrote two tickets.

After I called in a half-dozen or so instances, the gym put up a big sign telling members that the handicapped parking was being enforced. That was enough to solve the problem, apparently; I didn't see any more violations.

I know some would condemn me for calling in the violations but I've had plenty of trouble getting my sister into various locations when all the handicapped spaces are taken. Normally I just assume the best and deal with the situation. But for pity's sake, the folks violating this particular space were all going into a gym and working out, some quite strenuously. They could have easily parked legally just 20 yards away. I sort of ran out of goodwill towards them.