Posts Tagged ‘Handicap Parking’

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Eigude Shame XVII

Friday, April 29th, 2011

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Yesterday I had to fill the holes in my purse, I was in need for cash.

Because ATMs are extremely inconvenient for quadriplegics, I don’t get the bucks out of the machine with my fingers, my wife fortunately takes over.

In front of the bank, supermarket and bakery recently a spacious parking lot was built with additionally 4 disabled parking places.

I dared to park on one of those 4 parking places, although I remained sitting in the car and thus could have used a regular parking place.

On the disabled parking place next to mine there was this poser car with high-gloss polished alloy rims.
A bit unusual for us foot-lame people, but you never know…

Along came a girl in her early twenties with a shopping trolley and started to load her groceries in the trunk of that car – which didn’t match her at all.

I approached her in a friendly manner that I didn’t like “that” at all.

She replied that she would be paying for it…
I interpreted it in that way that she wouldn’t have difficulties to pay the parking tickets.

Should we introduce 35 € parkometers for extra large parking places???

I told her that this would not be the reason, and we wheelchair users would need the space for getting in and out of the car.

She replied:

• She couldn’t park!

• We men couldn’t understand this!

• Her husband wouldn’t let her drive the car,

• only for the groceries!

My comment:

Practice, practice, practice…

Translator BL

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Chock Part VII

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

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I am happy about every available disabled parking place, especially if it is rather wide and possibly not on a busy street.
Have a look at this commendable

Disabled Parking Place

in the courtyard of a motorcycle accessories store.
Somebody really gave thought about it.
It is probably paved on purpose with

special composite stones

for wheelers so that the wheelchair won’t roll away while getting out of the car.

The little catch in it is just that in the moment you sit in your wheelchair after getting out of the car the wheelchair is not rolling at all anymore because the wheelchair tyres “stand” perfectly in the joints between the composite stones.

I like such immobiliser systems!!!

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Chock, Eigude- Shame | No Comments »

Technical Aids Tips und Tricks XXXI

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

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In general I don’t give way to panic and usually am not even afraid when I am carried up or down a stairway, provided that the volunteers don’t have 1,5 per mill blood alcohol level and are able to stand on their own.
The only thing which makes me uneasy is to get in and out of the car in the dark – we wheelchair users are not always home after dark although this is the general opinion.
In this process the car door has to be completely opened for the whole time, and I don’t want to end up as figurehead of another car driver.
To be seen better in the dark by other car drivers and provide a nice view to passers-by I have decorated my

driver’s door type Christmas tree

a little bit:

  • Red plastic reflectors from car accessories attached to the driver’s door from the outside which are also visible from the front.
  • Red adhesive reflectors, stuck to the inside of the door.
  • A small battery-operated white LED lamp is stuck to the door with double-faced adhesive Velcro tape!
  • The absolute highlight is a blinking neon yellow-green battery-operated fluorescent bar.
    I have introduced this part already in my blogpost from 09.03.2011(see older blogpost).

Safety instruction: The fluorescent bar causes nausea and insanity in the long run.
As you can gather from my words I am already beyond saving for years!

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Everyday life aids, Car and Hand Throttle, Technical Aids, Selbstgebaute Hilfsmittel, Tips and Tricks, Winter | 3 Comments »

I will only travel by bus soon!

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

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It is time again for my favourite subject:
The disabled parking place and its consequences for my blood pressure.

I have sufficiently explained in older blogposts that I need to open the driver’s door completely to get in and out of the car.

When I am parking, I leave on the driver’s side as much space as possible, even on big disabled parking places. You never know what may come to some people’s mind.

Additionally I have a big

”Please keep distance” label

next to my driver’s door.

Today I was ambulant in hospital and was happy that even two disabled parking places, even next to each other, were still free.
I decided to take the right one and leave in old manner enough space on the left side to get out. The blue car on the left applied the same method on the passenger’s side. Have a look what I had to experience when I wanted to go home.

Irrespective of the impertinence to park between two disabled parking places, this matchbox car has a disabled parking permit on the windscreen and a label on the driver’s door:

“Please keep door width distance”

The driver can only hope that he or she will never meet me in person. This person will be really disabled then, namely deaf.

How I came back into my car is kept my secret. Even as pedestrian you don’t manage to come into the car with half-opened driver’s door due to my foldaway slide board. To slide over from the passenger’s seat on to the driver’s seat is not possible either due to the hand throttle system! Additionally I have a metal plate in front of my pedals.
I don’t know if the wheeler has ever made it into the blue car.

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Car and Hand Throttle, Handicap Parking, Chock, Eigude- Shame | 4 Comments »

Nothing but the truth…

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

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As you can see from the tags (frontpage right site) the subject of handicap parking almost protrudes my blog meanwhile.
But I absolutely have to tell this story, I have witnesses:

On Monday I exceptionally took my own car to go to the hospital, I wanted to go to physiotherapy in their therapy pool. Usually I take the handicap taxi service for this.

Great thing with this taxi service, thanks to the city of Frankfurt from this side.
In half a year 96 taxi rides respectively 36 taxi rides when a car is owned are for us handicapped Frankfurt citizens within the town and surroundings free of charge. The city bears the costs.
This should be introduced in the whole of Germany.

Then it was time again for having some fun with parking at the hospital.

On one of the 6 disabled parking places a minivan taxi was standing, great…


When I arrived another wheelchair user just parked his car on the left side in the restricted parking (we are allowed to), but left enough space for not blocking the SUV which stood on one of the disabled parking places.

I parked my car into this space because the wheelchair driving SUV driver is a friend of mine with whom I am in the water together anyway.
When I looked around from my car out of the open door which kind fellow citizen might help me getting out of the car I could hardly believe my own eyes.

There was actually sitting a (female) driver in the minivan taxi!!!

I didn’t see her before, the blood pressure rises if you want or not.
I don’t mind if pedestrians are parking on a disabled parking place if they remain sitting in the car and drive their vehicle away when one of us would like to park there.
In this moment another wheelchair user arrived with his car and parked on the other side in the restricted parking.

Is the lady really that ignorant?

Just wait until I am out of the car!
I had the impression that she was watching me.

Hmmm, why not actually get out of the car with her help?

Then the lady gets at least out of her warm car in the fresh (cold) air, is doing something good, and an adequate comment will be placed by me at the end for free as well.

I beckoned to her, and to my surprise she actually approached me from her car.
My look was probably not the friendliest one.

Even before I could say anything she said meekly to me:

I know, I know… my car is not starting, I am waiting for the breakdown service!

Can I help?

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Simply great | No Comments »

Disabled Parking Place Occupier

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

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All parking facilities for exceptionally disabled people, also known as disabled parking permit, are known to have the colour blue.
For us lame footers sitting in the car it is hardly possible to determine whether a permit is lying in the car which is parking e.g. on a disabled parking place in front of a bakery or not.
(Older blogpost: Please keep our disabled parking places free!).

Should I coincidentally see that no parking permit is displayed of course I would wait for a couple of hours on the street until the assumed

Disabled Parking Place Occupier

is coming out of the bakery with his/her groceries. Maybe I would have got a bread roll from him/her.

To avoid such unnecessary waiting time in the future, and to have disabled parking place occupiers easily identified by the regulatory authorities, allegedly all vehicles from disabled people with parking permit have to be painted blue from now on.
Here in front of a hospital one of the first

blue types.

Of course now without unnecessary parking permit!

One could almost think it would be a vehicle from a German TV station if nobody would have retouched the picture!

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Eigude- Shame | No Comments »

Christmas Party 2010

Friday, December 17th, 2010

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Chock, Pimp My Ride, Winter | 7 Comments »

Please keep our disabled parking places free!

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

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At this stage I would like to ask all pedestrians NOT to park even only short-time on disabled parking places.

You get a disabled parking permit only when an exceptional walking disability is entered in the handicapped ID. We exceptionally disabled can’t walk anymore at all or very bad and thus are reliant on short ways.

Except for the old and frail people it could also be somebody out of the around 100.000 people in Germany who have the neurologic disease MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and are still able to walk a little bit. This disease can hit anybody.
Then there is also the fraction of para- and quadriplegics like me. I had a car accident through no fault of my own.

We para- and quadriplegics almost all can only get in and out of the car when the driver’s or front passenger’s door is opened completely.

This is the reason why disabled parking places are that big.

I totally understand that such a parking place with its wide is quite appealing when you drive with your SUV which is an absolute must in Frankfurt to the groceries.

Please imagine the following situation:

I am driving with the car to the post office at the train station. When the two disabled parking places are occupied it’s tough luck.

It absolutely doesn’t matter if somebody is parking 5 minutes
or 3 days on a disabled parking place.

I don’t see if there is a disabled parking permit displayed in those two cars and if the drivers might be gone by train to Munich, or if they will walk out of the post office in 5 minutes.

Thus there is nothing left for me except looking for a normal parking place.

I might find one eventually which is wide enough, another car is parking next to mine.

So far so good.

I am coming back to my car, but in the meantime the car next to mine has changed.

It is now parking 5 cm closer to my car, and I can’t open the driver’s door completely any more.

So much for that!!!

If it would be my “way” I already had abolished all disabled parking places on supermarket parking lots, then I wouldn’t get upset that often any more.

On those parking lots everybody can park as he likes. It is private property, and Mr. Aldi or Lidl are not interested who is parking there.

Address the people and explain it to them. Shouting unfortunately doesn’t help.

Click on tag Handicap Parking, to read more or less odd handicap parking stories .

Translator BL

 

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Posted in General, Car and Hand Throttle, Handicap Parking | 2 Comments »

Apologies!!!

Monday, September 13th, 2010

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On Sunday a young lady parked with her black New Beetle on my disabled parking place. I have completely overreacted and insulted this poor lady in the worst way possible when she came strutting with her noble handbag around her arm and the car key in her hand.

I would like to officially apologize for my slightly risen voice at this stage.

She explained that she hadn’t seen neither the signage nor the labeling, and she didn’t understand my reaction at all.

Retrospectively I am sorry that I didn’t believe her affirmation of innocence.

She had only parked for 10 minutes.

Kind of strange when shortly afterwards her mother, aunt or so came along and told that she stated at her visit that she was parking with her car on a disabled parking place.

A little suspect!

Perhaps she takes the same pills like me and is slightly confused as well.

When she was driving away she must have accidently slipped from the clutch with her foot, otherwise her racing start is not explicable for me.

As excuse I would like to offer her to please send me an e-mail before her next visit so that I drive away my car on time to make my disabled parking place free for her.

Comments requested!

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Eigude- Shame | No Comments »

Signs Part III

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

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Although I am in possession of a valid driving licence for a car adapted with hand throttle (see older blogpost), I have never made a

wheeler driving test,

otherwise I would know this

floor labeling in connection with a parking restriction sign

in the middle of the street for sure.

“except ambulance vehicles”
I don’t understand it.

It is not a labeled disabled parking place.

Could it be the parking position for an ambulance vehicle driven by a wheelchair user?

Is a wheelchair a vehicle for the sick?

Help me, I’m confused…

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Comedy, Various | No Comments »

Disabled Parking Permit

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

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Since I belong to the users of

disabled parking places

I have noticed that very often the drivers of

SUVs and Cabriolets

forget to lay out their parking permit if they park on a disabled parking place. I don’t want to accuse anybody of the intent to park unauthorized on these parking places, only out of laziness, or because they can’t park, but I am always a bit astonished. The width of the parking places makes sense if you transfer from wheelchair to car, and the door has to be opened completely.

A friend of mine, wheelchair user as well, is driving a SUV, a Jeep Commander with 7 seats. It’s always an experience to watch him jumping in and out of his car.
He has always laid out his parking permit.

Free disabled parking places are scarce!!!

Every now and then I find a free one.

Here next to the “Old Opera” in Frankfurt

When I was at the opera “Aida” in Bregenz (Austria)

at the lakeside stage at Lake Constance I got hold of the last disabled parking place.
There was actually parking a

BMW Cabriolet

with a

disabled parking permit valid in California

and this with a

license plate from Vienna

behind me on one of the 6 disabled parking places.

I would have liked to meet the driver!!!

If he would have been American he probably would have hung the parking permit – as it is common in the USA – on the inside mirror. Thus the form like a door hanger in a hotel.

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Eigude- Shame | 1 Comment »

Simply Great! Part I

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

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As already reported in blogpost Eigude Shame VII , the

“mirror socks” on my car

were stolen before the match Germany vs. England (4:1), and the German flag was broken off. An old friend of mine has fixed together with his girlfriend in a conspirative underground mission new

World Cup mirror socks

to my car.
Great mission. Thanks again to both of you!
Probably my mate now has his upper body full of welts like a galley slave as I was forced due to lack of parking space to park very, very close to a hedge. Such a guy from German disaster relief can’t be stopped by anything.

Everything just in time before the friendly match against Argentina.

Germany – Argentina 4:0

God is no Argentinian after all.
Bye-bye Maradonna, have a good flight, handballer!
Semi-final, go Germany…
(Behind me is not my mentioned mate).

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Simply great | No Comments »

Eigude Shame VII

Monday, June 28th, 2010

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As self-confessed football fan for many years the current

World Cup in South Africa is a highlight.

Especially because I spent the last Euro Cup in hospital.
My car was decorated with the

car flag from the world cup 2006.

Additionally a friend has fixed in my absence the commonly known

“mirror socks”

to my car.
I was not granted to see my car only once in that way because within 14 hours my

flag was broken off and the socks were stolen.

The car was parking on my own disabled parking place.
Within 20 years my car was broken into 15 times on various locations, and radios, amps, speakers… were stolen, but I have never faced such a

disrespectfulness.

 After the

4:1 against England

I am more relaxed again.
Quarter finals, go Germany…

Translator BL

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Posted in Car and Hand Throttle, Eigude- Shame | No Comments »

Eigude Shame V

Monday, June 14th, 2010

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I have reported already several times about disabled parking places and their frequent misuse.

Here is a particularly nice spot.

Recyclable Disposal Area

Probably a wheeler has emptied his backpack there.

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Eigude- Shame | No Comments »

Eigude Shame III

Monday, June 7th, 2010

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As a wheeler you shouldn’t get upset any more when tormented, stressed, overworked, outcast from society, pitiable pedestrians keep the disabled parking places with their cars dry for wheelers. These parking places are also excellently suitable for placing bulky waste.

Seen today, sad but true:

Two out of four designated disabled parking places

blocked with

Recycle Bins

in the courtyard of the department of the

Commissioner for the Disabled of the city of Frankfurt.

Thank you Frankfurt, great example!

Translator BL

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Posted in General, Handicap Parking, Eigude- Shame | 3 Comments »

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