Handicapped parking
Many employers misunderstand accessible parking
Employers are bound by law to provide accessible parking to eligible employees. But that’s not always enough. When employers fail to treat each accessible parking issue individually, they may be in violation even when they think they are operating well within the law. A former Kaiser employee sued her company for $143,000 after she was […]
NY legislators support new disability icon
Lawmakers in New York are following the lead of the state’s largest city and backing a change to the familiar icon representing the disabled. Instead of a stick figure sitting upright in a wheelchair, which advocates argue portray the disabled as passive, the revamped image shows the figure leaning forward with arms raised as if […]
The case for free metered parking for the disabled
In Washington, state lawmakers are debating whether holders of disabled parking passes should continue to receive free parking. The same question was posed recently in Portland, OR, where the city council opted to end free parking for motorists who don’t require wheelchairs. In Chicago, disabled parking placard-holders began paying for parking this month, with only […]
Benefits for disabled parking placards in Illinois curtailed
This month, drivers in Chicago who slide into a metered parking spot and who neglect to feed it because their rear-view window sports the familiar blue disabled parking placards will be courting a $65 fine. That’s because Illinois state law now requires all placard holders to pay for parking, unless they use a wheelchair, can’t […]
Portland city council votes to end free disabled parking downtown
The city coffers of Portland, OR, may soon welcome more than $1 million annually when disabled parking permit holders begin paying for parking in its downtown. The city has offered free parking to disabled motorists for decades, but a 2008 change to state law gave local governments the option to suspend free parking to disabled […]
Public employees gaming TN’s disabled parking system, say officials
When the Tennessee General Assembly meets in January, it will reconsider overturning a law that distinguishes it from other states: allowing local governments to charge disabled motorists a fee for parking on any municipally owned or leased street, metered space, or lot. Suspicious numbers of applicants from public employees at the Knox County City/County Building, […]
Court case expands employees’ ADA parking rights
Before last month, employees had to show that a reasonable work accommodation, such as the provision of handicapped parking spaces, was linked to the performance of essential job functions if they wanted to file a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). That changed when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in an employee’s favor in Feist […]
Wisconsin lawmakers push for equal parking rights for disabled bikers
Disabled bikers could soon start enjoying accessible parking privileges in Wisconsin. (Currently, eligible motorcyclists can’t be issued a disability placard or sticker like their counterparts who own four-wheeled vehicles.) Senator Frank Lasee (R-DePere), who proposed a bill last week to give disabled bikers the same parking advantages as those who own a car, explains that […]
Tampering with disabled parking placards to draw bigger fines in ME
Drivers found tampering or using expired disabled parking placards in Portland, Maine may now have to pay a heftier fine of $200. On 21 October, the City Council gave the first reading of this ordinance change in an effort to curb the rampant misuse of disabled passes. If the new rule is implemented, frustrated parking […]
Handicapped no more, say Ohio lawmakers
A new Ohio law may soon repeal use of the word “handicapped” to refer to people with disabilities. Lawmakers are also working to remove the term from designated parking signs. State representatives Michael Stinziano and Cheryl Grossman have pushed for the new law that will take away all forms of the word “handicap” and replace […]
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