Spaces for the disabled are routinely abused

Barb Fletcher said it is not unusual to find a car illegally parked in spaces reserved for the physically disabled.

Fletcher's daughter, now 20, was paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident at age 17. The family has two vans, one is driven by her daughter when she is in her power chair. Sometimes people will even park a car or motorcycle in the space next to the accessible spot reserved for vans, preventing her daughter from using the wheelchair ramp.

"It's a problem," said Fletcher, who lives in Springfield, Mo.

People with disabilities too often find that there aren't enough accessible spaces in grocery store or shopping center parking lots, said attorney Kimberly Barge of Paraquad, the St. Louis-based independent living center.

"The number of people with disabilities is growing every day," Barge said. "There is a variety of different disabilities out there, and they prevent people from moving freely and walking long distances."

So it is important to have accessible parking spaces near the entrance to stores, restaurants, hotels, banks or entertainment venues, disability-rights advocates say.

The Missouri Department of Revenue has issued 529,475 permanent disabled placards and 33,484 temporary disabled placards. In addition, the state has issued 115,205 disabled license plates.

Missouri had 4.2 million licensed drivers in 2009, according to U.S. Department of Transportation figures.

Earlier this month, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster wrote police chiefs across the state to remind them that it is OK to venture beyond public property to arrange for the removal of cars wrongly parked in spaces reserved for disabled drivers.

"Law enforcement officials may enter private property that is open to public use in order to enforce this law," Koster wrote in the Aug. 3 letter.

Koster spokeswoman Nanci Gonder said the attorney general's office had received word that police were not enforcing the law near some shopping centers. Specifically, police in some cases were under the impression they needed to get permission from a business owner to ticket or tow the offending car from that business's parking lot.

"We were just clarifying that if it is private property but open to public business, then (police) didn't have to get permission of the business establishment," Gonder said.

Ride took an unofficial survey of shopping centers â€" including West County â€" and found that police wouldn't have to look too hard to find cars without placards or disability plates parked in spaces reserved for the disabled.

"You see it all the time," said Nadine Wenig, an assistance-dog trainer. "And I say something to them. If I don't see license plates or something hanging in their window, I let them know. I do voice my opinion, because we do work with people every day that need those places."

Wenig was at the West County Center in Des Peres last week training a group of people with disabilities who were receiving service dogs. One of the recipients was Fletcher's daughter.

Ethel Sherman of University City said she used to notice people parking in the disability spaces without the placards â€" usually at grocery stores. But there are generally enough remaining spaces to park.

That was the case last Thursday at the Brentwood Promenade, where she parked to go shopping at the Target store. Ride counted two cars parked in designated disabled spaces without a placard or a license plate.

Sherman suggested there might be other forms of abuse that are more difficult to detect. For example, "where they have the handicap card but the kid of the family is driving the car," said Sherman, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and has been issued a disability placard. "But they still have the placard, so they use it."

State law makes it a misdemeanor to fraudulently use the disabled tags. Department of Revenue spokesman Ted Farnen said questions about fraud should be directed to law enforcement. Barge said she suspects there is some fraudulent use of placards but couldn't say how often.

Meantime, it's a misdemeanor for a doctor, chiropractor, advance practice registered nurse, physician's assistant, podiatrist or optometrist to sign a statement on behalf of a patient if that patient doesn't have one of the specified disabling conditions.

BUS STOP EVALUATION

Metro has begun reviewing its 7,200 Missouri bus stops to see whether some should be removed or relocated.

The St. Louis-based transit agency says it will consider relocating bus stops if needed to improve efficiency and provide more uniform spacing between stops. Ideally, bus stops should be no closer than roughly a quarter-mile of each other.

"We have some that are much closer together than that," said Metro spokeswoman Dianne Williams.

The move should save fuel costs and wear and tear on buses, Metro officials say.

Stops being targeted for possible removal will have special signs. The first lines under review are the No. 57 Maplewood Wildwood; the No. 33 Dorsett-Lackland; the No. 45 Ferguson Florissant; the No. 11 Chippewa; and the No. 90 Hampton.

Deadlines to make comments are coming up fast.

If you want to weigh in, you can call Metro's customer service line (which is listed on the signs). But you can also comment at www.nextstopstl.org, Facebook, Twitter or via e-mail at customerservice@metrostlouis.org.