handicapped parking ticket- do I have a case?

[meissen]

Well, if the judge is as careless to individual circumstances as the site is, looks like you're going to be out the fine... better be making arrangements such that the apartment complex manager is reimbursing you.

[90503]

I doubt you will have any recourse with the court or the apartment manager. As you stated, they were doing 25% of the parking at a time, surely all you tenants were given notice about the project so you could plan ahead or make other arrangements. Its an inconvenience, but not an excuse to park in a handicapped only spot.

[Nessal]

The apartment management has NO liability here. They did not force you to park in a handicap spot so any point in trying to get your ticket reimbursed is just dreaming. This law is clear as day. Park in a handicap spot, get a ticket. Period. Do the crime, pay the dime.

[Coltrane]

on above two posts.

[Soloshawn]

As a 21 year vet of being in a chair from being paralyzed in a motorcycle racing accident this is personal to me. There is no excuse and I have heard them all when I catch people doing it. Somehow disabled people which is about 20% of the population are not really deserving of having their own parking spot vs regular people. The reason it is there is that for wheelchairs you need to open the door wide enough to get the chair out and get in and out of it. That's one reason for getting my Camaro 2ss/rs was because it is a 2 door for easier access for the chair. Plus I love the look when I get out of the car and people look at you as in you can drive that car. So don't be a greedy person and take responsibility for taking the easy way out. You deserve the penalty.

[christianmotox]

I don't see what all of the discussion here is all about.
Even if it was the last spot on earth and you have to walk 20 miles to get to you're place, You cannot part at a handicapped space if you dont have a permit.
Plain and simple.

[meissen]

Man - glad I don't live in an apartment complex....

[abaucom21]

On one hand I understand why you parked where you parked but fact is you parked in handicapped and that is not acceptable under any circumstances. Your apartment complex management should have made alternate parking available, but they are not required to do so. However, they are required to give you advance notice that you need to find alternate parking solutions. Appears you had some advance notice. Sucks you were given a ticket in the early AM. I too would like to know if someone called in a complaint to the PD in the early AM, or if PD was just shopping around to meet a ticket quota. Regardless, just go to court, be respectful and tell the judge you take responsibility. Perhaps judge will reduce your fine.
My father was a diabetic and at times had trouble walking. He had a hang tag for handicap parking and to my knowledge never used it even when he should have used it. My experience with my father when he became frail is why I became an advocate for people with disabilities, later published a textbook on considerations for people with physical differences, and have lectured world wide how do design for people with physical differences.
My opinion is your property management should have offered you temporary alternative parking solutions but they are not required to do so. In my Ottawa high-rise I pay for two indoor-underground parking spaces for my two cars. Each year, after winters end, underground parking is full of winter salt dust so garage must power-washed and parking strips repainted (one day). My building management gives me a months notice to remove my cars for 8 hours, and they do make arrangements for me to park elsewhere in the neighborhood for 8 hours. But those arrangements do not include parking in posted handicapped spaces or in fire lanes.
Best of luck to you getting your fine reduced. I do think your fine is excessive high under the circumstances.

[DarkneSS]

Originally Posted by BowtieBelle

Originally Posted by WheelmanSS

Lemme know if you change your thoughts on that when you blow out your ACL or MCL.

Im an amputee.

If you can navigate the parking lot or the place you are at then why do you need to have special privilege to park?

I just love handicap spots at the mall. If you cant park at the distance everyone else does then how the hell are you going to navigate the mall?

Usually the spots are empty no matter where you go, same in this situation.

What is the logical reason that we need handicap spaces?

[Blitz]

Just my two cents... seems excessive, but in all seriousness, where were you supposed to park given the scenario?

[01TtopRS]

Originally Posted by cwahl

I also noticed that the other 2 handicapped spots were empty

I understand getting a ticket for parking in a handicapped spot without a permit, but in this situation it's not like the OP forced a handicapped person to walk a mile to get home by taking this spot. The 2 spots that were open when he parked were still open when he left so unless more than two people showed up between 11pm and 5:30 am and parked in and left the other two spots any handicapped person that showed up would have had a spot to park in.

[10forty2]

Do what you can to get the apartment complex to pay the fine since they did not make arrangements for you to park elsewhere while they maintained the parking lot. I HIGHLY doubt that you'll get out of the ticket in court. And if AZ is like NC, if you pay off the ticket and don't go to court, you'll still be charged "Cost of Court" in addition to the fine.

And FWIW, from this day forward, don't park in a handicapped parking place unless you have a permit! They are there for a reason....to give better access to handicapped patrons. It's not up to me to judge who has a handicap that limits their accessibility to facilities. I personally won't even walk up a handicapped ramp unless it's the only way to get into a facility. And I don't use the handicapped stall in a restroom, even if it's the only one available....I'll wait. It's just what I do, and I wish everyone was as respectful.

[upflying]

BTW, if you are caught using a handicap placard or plate that does not belong to you and you are parked in a handicapped space, the fine in Ca is $1,000.

[FL1CK]

My father is handicapped, no sympathy, pay the fine...