For most members of the SMU community, walking a long distanceto and from a parking space can be a frustration. This frustrationcan turn into pain for the physically disabled when others park intheir spaces illegitimately.
“I know people who have fake handicapped tags and usethem,” said Brian Vidrik, junior political science major.”I think it’s a shame because the people who do reallyneed to use them don’t get that privilege. Yeah, it’stough to find spots, but there’s a reason why we havehandicapped parking.”
Tiffany Tagliarino, a senior psychology and broadcast journalismmajor, fractured her pelvic bone when she was dancer her senioryear of high school. After having her pelvic bone replaced with abone cement substitute and taking a medical leave last semester toreceive pain shots, doctors told her that the new bone is rubbingaway the cartilage and nerves in her leg.
“My experience with the parking here at SMU has not beenexceptional,” Tagliarino said. As a commuter, she hasreceived tickets for parking in the wrong spots; however, the SMUpolice department dismissed them.
According to the SMU PD Web site, SMU has 101 general spacesdesignated for disabled parking. The total number of SMU parkingspaces is 5,697. About 2 percent of total spaces in an area shouldbe designated for handicapped parking, said Mark Rhodes, directorof parking and ID card services.
Rhodes said that the required number of handicapped parkingplaces is defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.Only lots constructed after the implementation of the act requirethat exact percentage, he said.
The nearly 6,000 spaces include all parking controlled by SMU,such as resident life properties adjacent to campus and off-streetparking. SMU has the flexibility to take location intoconsideration when planning for the number of handicapped spots,Rhodes said.
For example, it is not practical or convenient to designateseveral handicapped spots in the Dedman 3 Lot or on the fifth floorof a parking garage. The concentration of handicapped parkingspaces should be closer to buildings on-campus, he said. Forbuildings that have more traffic, like the Blanton Student ServicesBuilding, it is helpful to have more than the allotted amount ofspaces. The Blanton lot has three handicapped and 20 regularspaces.
Rhodes, who has been working at SMU since Jan. 5, plans toassemble a parking advisory board that will, among other things,assess the handicapped-parking situation on campus.
“I’m very interested to see what people’sperceptions are about access, availability and locationissues,” said Rhodes.
“I think SMU would have enough handicapped spots if peoplewould sit back and let the people who really need them usethem,” Tagliarino said.
Reserved handicapped spots are also available for students,faculty and staff who are on campus daily. Parking manager RuthHenderson estimated only a “handful” of handicappedspaces are reserved, and anyone interested needs to place arequest.
“You have to have a state hangtag or state license toqualify,” Henderson said.
No report listing the specific number of citations regardinghandicapped parking was available, but the SMU PD Web site ranked”illegally parking in a space designated for a disabledperson” seventh in a list of eight most frequent violations.Leading the list was “parking in a no parking zone andplacing emergency flashers on.”
The minimum fine for parking in a handicapped space is $200, andaccording to the Web site, “it’s one of the moststrictly enforced parking rules on the campus.” The Web sitealso states that “sale, possession or use of a counterfeitdisabled parking hang tag is a Class A Misdemeanor and usingsomeone’s real disabled hang tag is a misdemeanor punishableby a fine of not less than $250 or more than $500 for first timeoffenders.” In addition, student offenders will be referredto the dean of Student Life for disciplinary action.
“It is very irritating to me that there are people outthere who don’t have enough respect for physicallyhandicapped people,” Tagliarino said. “Handicappedpeople don’t ask to be handicapped – it just happens– something that no one can control, but we can control theparking situation.”
