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Last December, the Florida state legislature passed a law that allows anyone who is pregnant to receive an “expectant mother” parking permit. This permit is good for one year and makes it legal for the bearer to park in a space that is designated for people with disabilities.
So on April 13, the United Spinal Association filed a federal lawsuit, as well as three disabled plaintiffs who are residents of Florida, alleging that this law violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
United Spinal Association states that it represents the 5.5 million wheelchair users in the United States. Founded in 1946 to serve “the paralyzed World War II vets who came home to an inaccessible nation and made it their new mission to create a fully inclusive society,” it now claims to have 60,000 members.
According to the lawsuit complaint, parking areas are required by the ADA to have a minimum percentage of accessible spaces. “The required number depends upon the size of the parking area. The total required is about 2 to 4 percent of all parking spaces,” it states. “Hospitals must have 10 percent and rehabilitation centers must have 20 percent. At least one out of six accessible disability parking spaces must be designed for vans. A van-accessible disability parking space is wider and gives enough room for the disabled person to use a ramp or lift to exit the vehicle.”
But, the complaint goes on to say: “There are not enough accessible disability parking spaces for people with disabilities who need them . . . . More than half say they have skipped a trip because they worried they could not find parking . . . . Policymakers wrote the first 2 to 4 percent rule about fifty years ago. There are now many more people with disabilities in the community. In Florida, based on public records, there are almost twenty disability permits for every 100 registered cars. This means that accessible parking spots should be about 15 to 20 percent of all parking spaces to include Floridians with disabilities.”
The plaintiffs insist that they do not begrudge pregnant women having reserved parking spaces. “The state of Florida can pass a law encouraging or requiring parking areas to have designated spaces for pregnancy,” says the complaint. “But to comply with federal law, the designated pregnancy spaces must be new designated parking spaces. Florida can not take away parking spaces reserved for disabled people under federal law and give those spaces to nondisabled people.”
United Spinal Association wants the court to “rescind and invalidate all currently existing expectant mother parking permits” and/or “take steps to ensure that Expectant Mother Parking Permits only allow permitholders to use parking spaces designated specifically for pregnancy, and not accessible disability parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities.”
As a person with disabilities that require the use of a wheelchair, I often find that the spaces that are intended to be used by people like me are occupied. And I don’t even live in Florida.
Not being able to find parking is far from the greatest injustice that disabled people face. But it is annoying and very avoidable and the Florida law is bound to make it worse. So what the plaintiffs are trying to do makes good sense to me.