I've become disgusted at selfish, indolent, drivers who use handicap parking spaces. I'm referring to perfectly healthy drivers who use parking spaces that are reserved only for the handicap. That's why I was glad to hear that the Governor's Council on People with Disabilities soon will be reviewing this abuse.

One in every 10 licensed Ohio drivers have been issued permanent handicap parking placards - usually good for five years. You've seen them. They're blue and white, carry the logo of a person in a wheelchair and are rectangular in shape. Whenever disabled drivers use a handicap parking space, they hang the placard on the rear view mirror, indicating they have been granted special permission to use that designated space.
It's rarely the disabled person who does the abusing. Rather, it's usually some misguided relative, friend or otherwise, healthy drivers themselves - some of whom don't even bother to display the placard.

Oh sure, I know. The warning signs indicate that violation of this parking space subjects the driver up to $250 in fines. But how many times have you ever seen a policeman issue a ticket to these cold hearted, self-centered, numbskulls. Large stores have their own security but all I've ever seen them do is to ask the drivers to display their placards or move.

With 1.2 million handicap cards issued, and that doesn't include the handicap license plates, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that spaces are at a premium, especially since they're normally closer to front doors than other parking spaces. But then that's the purpose of the handicap parking space; get the disabled closer to the door so they don't have far to walk.

Of course, for some healthy drivers, seeing an empty handicap space and not taking advantage of it is just too tempting. I've seen drivers park in spaces and briskly walk into the store, walk around to do their shopping instead of using an electric cart, and then walk out just as fast to their waiting vehicle. One can't help wonder whether these rude and arrogant drivers are using a friend's or family member's placard.

Still other drivers drop the handicapped person off at the front door and park the vehicle in a handicap spot. Why? If a healthy person is driving someone who is disabled and they're dropped off at the door, there's no need to use a handicap spot. That spot is for a disabled driver, not a healthy one.

But of all the abuse this privilege seems to promote, nothing is more irritating than to watch some slothful driver pull into a handicap parking space, drop off the passenger, put up the placard and then kick back and read the newspaper while waiting for the return of their disabled passenger.

I agree with the Governor's Council when they say not all disabilities are noticeable. A person in a wheelchair, someone who's missing a leg and needs permanent crutches for mobilization or a person with a portable oxygen tank are examples of obvious disabilities.

But try spotting a person with heart failure. The inability of their heart to efficiently pump blood to the lungs is hardly that obvious and justifies the use of a handicap spot. A person who wears leg braces because of atrophied muscles or someone suffering from Post Polio Syndrome who uses a cane for steady ambulation are just a few of the many disabilities that are not necessarily obvious to the average passerby. It's not the legitimate disabled person to whom I'm referring. It's the perfectly healthy one; the abuser, either habitual or casual.

So here's what ought to be done. Our state representative and senator should sponsor a bill raising the minimum fine from $250 to $1000 for the first offense of an intentional and/or blatant abuse of handicap parking spaces, $2500 for the second and $5000 and a year in the slammer for the third. And allocate enough money for the law to enforce it.

Future abuses would require them to become a chauffeur to a handicapped person, providing all the transportation and fuel costs for a full year. If those penalties don't teach them a lesson then their driver's license should be revoked permanently. Sooner or later they'll learn that it doesn't pay to mess with the disabled.

Now let's see if our state representatives and senators are listening.

Comments may be E-mailed to: Frankweaverjr@aol.com