Fluff - where would you park?

Over here, my understanding is that the placard relates to the person not the vehicle so if mom was not in the car, you should use the regular bay. If she is with you then you can use either. If mom could cope with you being in the regular bay in your scenario, I’d use that incase someone with a greater need needed the other.

I'm with SO on this simply because I live next to a small strip of shops with about 20 regular carparks and two disabled out front. On busy days people end up parking on my nature strip in the No Parking area because the carpark is full, except for the disabled spots which are often empty.

Interesting topic. I take my parents out often and they have a handicap placard so we usually use handicap spots. I think in this instance, if I could get their walkers out easily, I would park in a regular space and leave the handicap for someone to use.

If I had a disability that required a handicap plate, Id park there. If I were my in-laws whose doctor hands them out the same way he hands out antibiotics, Id park in the regular spot.

Assuming you mean the handicap person is you or in the car with you, I’d park in the handicap spot.

In this case, I would park in regular spot and leave the handicap space open.

It's the opposite here, there are rarely any of the disabled spots used.

I would park in the regular spot if I didn't need the wider disabled spot.

I am not handicapped, and my car doesn’t have a placard. I park in huge parking garages for work. If I go from one site to another during a day, and arrive anywhere after 9:30-10, I regularly have to drive up 6-7 or more levels to find a regular parking spot. Meanwhile there are 8-10 handicap spots on each level, at a minimum, that I drive past.

Based on that, if you have a handicap tag, please please use it.

On the other hand, I once attended a concert for a country music legend in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena, with my parents. It was a once in a life time event and sold out months in advance. Then, a massive rush for tickets because the artist sadly passed, and many other artists did a tribute. Anyway…. We had my dads truck (handicap tag) and they always operate on “parking is eaaaaaaaasy.” In fact, they often get free parking that is wayyyyy better than premium paid parking. Anyway, for this show, there was no reasonable parking, handicap or otherwise. Eventually I convinced him to let me drop them off, then find parking somewhere. There was no way they could walk from “somewhere.” So, in a situation like that————- I think anyone without a physical condition should NOT park in a handicap space. If I hadn’t been with them, they wouldn’t have been able to go to the show that they traveled to.

I drive my mom. I need room for her wheelchair and a handy curb cut, so I use the handicapped spot. My husband has a placard too, but he’d leave the handicap spot for someone who needs the van access.

Bold mine..
Not just wrong...Parking in a handicapped spot without the person who has the placard is illegal and carries a hefty fine here as well as possibly being towed.

And with this topic, up pops an ad for a standup electric wheel chair...
How quickly it was picked up ..

So I should use my handicap placard even though my dad isn’t with me just so you don’t have to drive up a few extra levels. You then turn around and say anyone without a physical condition should not park in a handicap spot, make up your mind.

Depends on the situation and place. Sometimes, like at our local urgent care, there are a ton of handicap spaces open and everything else is full. I’d park in the handicap because I know a lot of people going into urgent care don’t have handicap placards but in that moment could use one.

If it’s just a store that is “normal” busy and only has one or two handicap spots, I’d park in the normal spot. If it was super busy for everyone, I’d probably choose the handicap spot unless it was a van access spot, then I’d choose the regular spot.

Situational awareness I guess.


I don’t have a placard, but my mom does. We also sometimes just drop her off at the door and park father away since we are able bodied.

Around here there are always multiple, sometimes dozens, of handicapped spaces that go unused, especially at stores like Costco or Target so if I was transporting someone with a handicapped placard I would use one of those spots if there were a lot of them open. If there were only two handicapped spaces and there was another regular space adjacent that was also open, I would probably park in the regular space if I didn’t need the extra large spot.

Another consideration would be how long I planned to be parked in the space. If we’re just running in for one thing and wouldn’t be in the establishment very long, I would be more likely to use the handicapped space as intended in that instance so anyone else could use the other regular space. If I was at a doctor’s office, a movie theater or somewhere where the car would sit there for an hour or more, I probably wouldn’t take up the handicapped spot there knowing it would be more likely someone else with a handicap placard might need a close spot before my car would move.