Disabled or not, more Washington-area drivers are using — or abusing — handicapped parking spots.
A combination of drivers ignoring signs in favor of a shorter walk and handicapped passes circulating among friends, police said, has led to a shortage of spaces for disabled in the area.
Fairfax County police issued 755 such citations last year, said Bob Otten, supervisor of the county’s parking enforcement unit, a 25 percent increase from 2008.
“Word got out” among officers that spaces were being used by people who didn’t need them, he said. It’s gotten to the point where Otten crosschecks the name on the handicapped tag with identification for drivers who look able-bodied.
Handicapped drivers contend the winter is the most difficult time to find parking, with their spots sometimes used as dumping grounds for snow — the byproduct of being closest to sidewalks.
“We’re not anything special,” said Ken Fredgren, chairman of the volunteer Reston Accessibility Committee. “We’re just asking for the law to be obeyed.”
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors took notice, raising the fine to $500 last year for illegally parking in handicapped spots. In Montgomery County, it carries the same wallet-draining penalty.
Trish Gallalee, a member of the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities — wheelchair-bound herself — said she can’t avoid frustration with some using the spaces.
“You can’t question somebody if they have a tag in their car,” she said. “Sometimes you have to wonder, though, as that teenager is jumping out of a Hummer, is it legitimate?”
Despite more spaces allotted for handicapped drivers, she has been forced away from the grocery store because of no available parking.
Commercial building permits throughout the region are contingent on level and close-in parking spaces for people with disabilities.
Otten said the handicapped aren’t without blame for parking problems, though, citing the more than 100 in Fairfax County last year given citations — ultimately dropped — for not displaying their tags.
Regardless, Fredgren said parking will continue to be a problem until some ditch their “I’ll only be a second” mentality.
