Handicap Parking- Do You Really Need It?

How many times have you witnessed someone pull into a handicap parking spot only to, literally, jog their way into a store? We've all seen it, and chances are many of us were left shaking our heads at the "presumed" disrespect of the act. After all, who would park in a spot reserved for our community's physically vulnerable, just so they could nail a prime spot?
We found out.
Boy, did we find out.

What we discovered were drivers, young and old, men and women, taking advantage of the system and, dare I say it, their own family members' disability. Our hunt spanned several days with Sgt. Bob Yates, a 20 year veteran deputy with the Lee County Sheriff's Office. He's a hard core southern gentlemen, who wears his badge with honor. If you're breaking the law, he's going to find you and let you know it.

It took only moments before we found our first violator. A woman, who claims she was buying medicine for her sister-in-law, only her sister-in-law wasn't in the car. Busted. Another guy simply confessed, his placard was really his wife's, who wasn't with him. Then there were violators who got angry at us. One woman said to our deputy, "you're mean." I couldn't believe how many people put up a fight. Another even told our deputy to, "go catch someone really breaking the law." As if! I couldn't be more proud of Sgt. Yates when he calmly responded, "I just did...you." Go Yates, I thought to myself.

In the grand scheme of things are these violators, committing crimes that will leave children parent less or community's in danger, no, of course not. But they are robbing people, people like Bruce Wix. At 40 years old, many men are married, with children and reaching their prime. Not Brucey. Instead, he's wheelchair bound, physically immobile, and barely audible. Brucey was born with cerebral palsy. He loves to go out, but it's always a gamble. Some days handicap spots are available, some days their not. His mom describes the hunt in one word, "wicked."

Our investigation lead us to discover the extreme measures people take to, essentially, walk a shorter distance. Talk about being lazy. We uncovered, placards that were literally copies printed off a computer. I mean, really! In fact, one was a copy of a placard who's real owner died several years ago! C'mon people! We even found permits sold on the internet. We purchased them, 100 for 50 bucks.

I finished this story and found myself left with one question unanswered, why? Why would someone who didn't need to park in a disabled spot, deliberately park in one? Laziness? I don't know. Maybe. It's a question I'm not even convinced violators can answer. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I even want an answer. If you don't have to park there, don't. If you don't need it, stay away. You can walk, people like Brucey Wix can't...and never will.

I welcome your thoughts.