Disabled Parking Safety Advice in 2022

Safety is essential, and one of the disabled parking permit holders should learn about it.

As such, disabled parking safety is an important thing to know about. When you are a responsible passenger or a safe driver, you will follow all the safety guidelines for accessible parking spaces.

This will ensure a safer experience for you and all the other people around you. Other car users and passengers will stay safer when you follow the safety guidelines. When you keep them safe, you will also be keeping yourself safe.

What Types of Disabled Parking Permits are available in 2022

There are the following types of disabled parking permits in many US states.

- permanent accessible parking placards and license plates

- temporary accessible parking placards and license plates

- Organizational disabled parking permits

- Disabled Veteran’s license plate

Safety needs to be one of the most important priorities for anyone holding these types of handicap parking permits.

What are the Qualifying Conditions for Disabled Parking?

For someone to qualify for a disabled parking permit in most US states, one needs to have the following qualifications to make them eligible for the handicap parking permit.

- Being unable to walk 200 without the need to have a bit of rest

- Being unable to walk without the use of assistive devices such as prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, crutches, and canes

- Heart conditions that have been classified as being Class II or greater

- Lung disease

- The use of a portable oxygen tank

- Legal blindness

- An orthopedic, neurological, or arthritic condition that limits the person's mobility.

Suppose you have any of the above conditions. In that case, you are eligible for disabled parking, and you can make an application for a parking placard or a license plate, which will enable you to use the unique parking spaces in most parking lots.

Safety For Disabled Drivers

All holders of disabled permits must know how to stay safe whenever traveling in a vehicle. Additionally, the permit holders are also allowed to use their permit in any vehicle they are traveling in.

This is regardless of whether they are driving the vehicle or not. It is essential to learn how to be a safe and responsible passenger. Additionally, knowing how to be safe means that you will ensure the safety of the other road users.

Disabled Parking Safety Advice in 2021

To stay safe whenever you make use of accessible parking spaces, you will need to:-

- Understand and obey all the disabled parking rules

- Employ safety measures for COVID

- Practice safer defensive driving

- Become a responsible vehicle passenger

- Ensure that your vehicle gets regularly serviced.

Where Can You Park as a Disabled Parking Permit Holder?

When you are the holder of a disabled parking permit, you will be allowed to park in all the designated parking spaces for disabled drivers and vehicle owners.

These spaces usually have the Universal Symbol of Access on them, and as such, they are easy to recognize, and you can easily spot them from far off owing to their unique nature.

The disabled parking permit holders will also be allowed to park in time-restricted on-street parking spaces without paying and for much longer. You must check the rules of where you are traveling since not all places have the same rules about parking in metered spaces on the street.

The handicap parking permit from your home state can also be used in all the other US states and several other foreign countries such as:-

- Canada

- Mexico

- Australia

- New Zealand

- EU

- the UK

What are the Rules for Handicap Parking Spaces?

These are the rules that have been laid out by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), and they state that the accessible parking spaces must:-

- Be present in every parking lot in a specified number which usually depends on the lot size

- Be available on the streets

- Be present in a more significant number close to specific medical facilities

- Connect to the shortest accessible route to the amenities which they serve

- Be eight feet wide for the standards spaces and eleven feet wide for van-accessible spaces

- Have access aisles that are at least five feet wide

- Have a clear marking of the International Symbol of Access for easier recognition by the drivers looking for these spaces so that they can park in them.

What are the Handicap Parking Safety Guidelines for COVID?

While disabled parking, this is how you can stay COVID-safe:-

- Wear a face shield or mask

- Maintain the appropriate social distance

- Avoid physical contact with others

- Sanitize the surfaces that are used frequently

- Wash hands according to the guidelines provided by the CDC

- Make use of a hand sanitizer

How Can Disabled Drivers Stay Safe While Driving?

Defensive driving can be used for disabled drivers to stay safe on the road. It involves:-

- Being alert and maintaining your eyes on the road

- Maintaining maximum concentration and reducing distractions

- Slowing down at all junctions and intersections

- Ensuring that you maintain a safe distance from the other vehicles that are on the road

- Ensuring that the other drivers can see you

- Staying cautious and aware of blind spots

How Can a Disabled Permit Holder be a Responsible Car Passenger?

Safety for disabled parking also entails being a responsible passenger in the following ways:-

- Wearing your seat belt

- Being calm when you speak

- Avoid distracting the driver

- Encouraging safer driving

- navigating whenever necessary

- Avoid hurrying the driver.

When you adhere to these practices, you will be a responsible driver who will ensure that you can drive safely. As such, you will have promoted your safety, that of your driver and the others on the road. This is important and why safety is an essential priority for disabled drivers.

Get your handicap parking placard online today!

References

1. https://disabledparking.com/disabled-parking-blog/disabled-parking-safety-advice-2021/

2. https://www.vantagemobility.com/blog/accessible-parking-issues

3. https://www.safetysigns4less.co.uk/Traffic-and-Parking-Signs/Disabled-Parking-Signs

4. https://adata.org/factsheet/parking

5. https://liu.edu/Post/Public-safety/Vehicle-Access-Traffic-Safety/Handicapped-Parking-Policy

6. https://sites.rowan.edu/publicsafety/parking/handi.html

7. https://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/what-are-laws-for-handicap-parking-spaces-2/