disabled-vector-sign_9124Ok look. I get it. Winter is here, but it’s been a weird one for Toronto. We’ve barely had any cold weather warnings and I count two major snowfalls that have barely lasted a few days on the ground. We’re not used to the slushy white stuff. I parked the wrong way round on my street and could barely reach my car today. I get it. I really do. When you’re in an outdoor parking lot, you’re lucky if the plows have cleared it well enough to even know where each spot is. Half the time you end up making up spacing between cars as you go. I really go get it.

That being said…see that sign? It’s bad enough that snowplows seem determined to turn the spots marked with that logo into their snow dumping grounds. Can you all please use a bit of common sense when you are parking NEXT to a disabled parking spot? Just because you can’t see the lines, don’t think that means you should park so close to the driver’s or passengers doors that they can barely open them!

Once again, I should have taken a picture, but the combination of shivering fingers and rage and I didn’t think of it at the time. I did get the satisfaction of confronting the driver of the giant-ass white Ford F-150 that barely gave me the width of my chair between our cars. I got a sheepish apology when he realized that yes he had parked like a dumbass and yes he COULD have seen the lines if he’d bothered to look.

I know there is no way he could know that my car loads a wheelchair and needs space for sideloading. I get that too. There is a reason, however, that disabled spots are extra wide! It’s not just for chairs, but for walkers or anyone who just needs a bit of extra space to open their car door completely to get in and out. Respect that space! Even if you can’t see the bloody yellow line from the brown muck and slush obscuring it, you can see the signpost showing you are beside a disabled spot! When you are making up where you think the lines are, respect the space! It isn’t much to ask. You’d do it if you could see the lines, so do it even if you can’t!

That is all!

/rant done