CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

MORE PARKING FOR DRIVERS WITH DISABILITIES

Nutley Sun - 4/5/2018

Parking in New Jersey is difficult and stressful enough; for individuals with disabilities, maneuvering for handicapped-accessible spaces can be an outright nightmare.

Parking in New Jersey is difficult and stressful enough; for individuals with disabilities, maneuvering for handicapped-accessible spaces can be an outright nightmare. This is a problem that is getting worse, and is relevant not only in New Jersey, but across the nation, and one that cries out for an update of the nearly 30-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act as well as closer scrutiny from lawmakers in Trenton.

West Milford resident Janice Sangle, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1992 and uses a wheelchair, has experienced this shortage of parking firsthand in recent years: "You have to plan ahead, and hopefully you have the energy. You never know if you're going to be able to find a space," she said. "I don't know if they think that people with disabilities don't go out, or what. We still have to get on with life. We still have responsibilities."

As reporting by The Record and NorthJersey.com shows, parking for people with disabilities in New Jersey is becoming increasingly scarce, making everyday tasks like buying groceries, grabbing a sandwich from the deli or picking up dry cleaning a constant, aggravating battle. And, as Staff Writers Gene Myers and David M. Zimmer report, the problem is likely to grow worse before it gets better.

Contributing factors include the fact that disabilities are on the increase among the general population, while thousands and thousands of baby boomers are also moving into their senior years. The number of handicapped-accessible parking placards in circulation has increased by 2.3 percent since January 2017, from 403,368 to 412,738, according to state figures. Since 2008, the number of New Jersey residents ages 65 to 74 with at least one disability has jumped by roughly 44,000 -- a 0.4 percent increase, per U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

"As people get older, they're likely to need or want those accessible parking spaces. So, yeah, [parking] is going to be a problem," said Joseph Young, executive director of the advocacy group Disability Rights New Jersey.

Meanwhile, there are two pending bills in the Legislature that could, if enacted, exacerbate the problem by adding to the list of individuals who can apply for handicapped parking placards. The bills would allow for caretakers of individuals with disabilities or autism to apply for placards, as well as people who have served in the military and been classified as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

In short, those with disabilities in New Jersey are facing a numbers crunch when it comes to parking.

Public officials at the local, state and federal levels need to refocus attention on the issue. There should a renewed push for reforms to the original ADA accommodations on parking before it reaches full-blown, crisis mode. Local police can do more, as well, by further cracking down on drivers without disabilities who use the limited handicapped-accessible spaces. There is also a critical need to look more closely at handicapped parking availability on public rights of way.

Finding a place to park for people with disabilities shouldn't be as difficult as it has become, in New Jersey or anywhere else.

The whole intent of the ADA, pushed through by President George H.W. Bush, was to bring those in our disabled community more easily into the mainstream of everyday life, and allow them to pursue their dreams like anyone else.

It will grow harder for them to do that if they can't find a decent parking place.

Parking in New Jersey is difficult and stressful enough; for individuals with disabilities, maneuvering for handicapped-accessible spaces can be an outright nightmare.

Nationwide News