Handicapped Parking

We had a lot of trouble with the handicapped parking at my child's school this past fall. People were constantly illegally parking in the spaces. The solution that seems to be working is the addition of an orange traffic cone. Simple for the school to do and a much calmer start to my daughter's school day. I can easily jump out of my car and move the cone and pull the van in. The person with disabilities, driving themselves, can easily drive right over the cone if necessary, to park in the spot. It's been a win-win, so far.

I have no problem waiting my turn to park if the handicap parking spaces were all being used by legally marked cars with handicap tags or plates but each day was so frustrating. People had excuses galore for using the handicap parking spots. "I'm just running into the school 'for just a minute,'" "I was hoping to get back to my car before the space was needed," etc. You, the illegal car parker, do not know my child's schedule. "Just a minute," is 60 seconds too long. You do not understand what it takes to pull a wheelchair and walker out of my van, having the room to do so and get a growing child into a wheelchair. You don't know what it is like to push all this over the ice and snow. Handicapped parking places have been made so that they have extra room around the car. They are usually close to the building because it often takes the person actually using them, much more energy to get to the door than you or I. The handicap parking spaces are placed by easy access ramps for the wheeled equipment.The handicapped parking places are placed to assist people with health issues. Be grateful you don't need this space and please respect those who do by parking in the hundred other parking spaces available nearby. Thank you.

UPDATE: Nowadays, the orange cones are placed at the end of the yellow lines, so I can just drive around them.