When Grandma takes a handicapped parking spot
January 5, 2013 at 6:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
Before anything else, heed this: Never, ever use someone else’s handicapped parking permit. It’s a matter of respecting those who truly need it, and it’s just not the right thing to do.
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You do the crime, expect to pay the fine no matter what age.
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There are many people that do benefit from a permit, but then there are some that could benefit more from the walk. Seems like doctors hand the permits out like candy. I guess we are all ENTITLED to one.
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Being old and being overweight are not qualifying factors for a disability parking permit / license plate. (In fact, studies show that being somewhat overweight in old age is protective against death and disability. It is the elderly who have wasted away to skin and bones who are particularly frail.) If Mrs. Hick has a breathing difficulty of qualifying severity, then she should apply for her own permit / license plate.
The fact that she was using someone else’s permit is indicative of intent to abuse the system again and again. If a driver with no permit who parks in a handicapped parking space as a one-time infraction is deserving of a fine of over $200, then a driver displaying someone else’s permit (indicative of an ongoing intent to break the law) certainly is deserving of a $586 fine.
The writer of this article omits a number of key facts. How long had Mrs. Hick possessed this permit and how many times had she previously used it to park in a designated parking space? Did she or a family member contact him in an attempt to shame the police officer for issuing the fine? (If not, how did this situation come to his attention?) Are the authorities taking steps to revoke Susan Huso’s handicapped parking privileges? (The official state form that she completed to apply for the permit stipulates the following: “Knowingly allowing the misuse of the certificate or disability license plates shall result in the cancelation of disability parking privileges.”)
Mrs. Hick largely accepted responsibility for her actions and should be commended for that. Her relatives and the writer of this article? Not so much.
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