I once met a newly injured guy who had a hard time adjusting to his disability, and he especially didn't want to be known as "the guy in a wheelchair" when he was driving. This meant two things - he was going to get a truck, no vans for this dude, and he opted for a disabled parking placard instead of a plate.
To him, there was nothing worse than announcing to the world he was disabled. And when you have a disabled license plate, that is essentially what it does. There's no hiding the wheelchair symbol on the plate, and it's not like you can just take off your license plate when you're driving. For him, and millions of other people like him, they're worried about being disrespected on the road if other drivers know they have a disability.
Needless to say, there are two camps when it comes to disabled plates vs. parking placards. There are the folks who care what other people think of them and then there are those who don't give a you know what, and sign-up for their disabled license plate right away.
When you have a disabled license plate, you never have to worry about it being stolen, and you never have to worry about it being visible. When you use a disabled parking placard, the law requires you hang it from your rearview window when you park. For a lot of people, this can be hard and they'll just put it on their dashboard instead. Here�s where they go wrong.
I've known two people who've gotten parking tickets for not having a disabled parking placard, only they did, but the police just couldn't see. I even made the mistake of wrongfully accusing a woman of illegally parking in a disabled parking spot at Walmart once, only to find out that her placard was hidden on her dashboard. I sure felt sheepish.
If you're new to needing disabled parking spots, you may find the lack of spaces frustrating. Know there should always be at least one accessible van parking spot in every parking lot. For parking lots with 1 to 25 spaces, one van spot is required. And if the lot has 26 to 50 spots, one regular disabled parking space and one accessible van space is required. If you ever find a place that doesn�t offer accessible parking, remember, you can always report them to your local authorities. The ADA makes our complaints more powerful than ever.
And don't get me started on people illegally parking in disabled spaces, or parking in a van accessible space when they don't need it. I have seen too many old ladies waddle away from a van accessible parking spot completely unaware that she took away the only spot that would've worked for me.
What is your opinion on the great disabled plate vs. placard debate? Did you choose a placard because you like the freedom of hopping from vehicle to vehicle, or did you go with a plate, loving the peace of mind it gives you?