BraunAbility’s Handicap Parking Campaign Save My Spot

Why are striped spaces important?

When you get a BraunAbility accessible vehicle, you buy your freedom to go anywhere you want when you want. Being able to drive to the store for a forgotten recipe item is no longer a fantasy. You can park and independently go to the store on your own! But when someone parks in the striped spaces next to handicap parking spaces, not only can you not deploy your ramp to re-enter the vehicle, you are stuck waiting for the offender to return and move their vehicle.

We won’t stand for it! BraunAbility vehicles bring independence to tens of thousands of people every year, and every year their independence is taken away over and over again by people who don’t understand the basics of parking near a handicap van.

What does the data say?

BraunAbility conducted a survey to see just what the general population knew about striped spaces. The results supported our hypothesis: most people simply aren’t aware what striped spaces are for – even people with accessible parking tags were unaware.

Here are the highlights:

• 74% of people have personally seen a handicap parking space being improperly used.
• 57% of respondents didn’t know what the striped spaces indicated.
• 15% of respondents didn’t know striped spaces meant anything at all.

What about invisible disabilities? Is Save My Spot for me too?

A quick 411 on Invisible Disabilities: these are physical, mental, or neurological conditions that may affect an individual’s movements or senses that aren’t apparent to others (hence the term “invisible”). These can be conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome, asthma, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, etc.

People with these invisible disabilities qualify for handicap space tags and often well-meaning onlookers may shame these individuals who are mistaken for handicap parking space abusers. However, Save My Spot is concerned with protecting the striped spaces located next to some handicap parking spaces usually marked with a “van parking” sign. If you have an invisible disability, you likely are not in need of these accessible vehicle parking spaces because you likely aren’t using a mobility aid like a wheelchair or scooter. These striped spaces were specially created to allow people with these aids to safely enter and exit their side-entry vehicles away from the traffic of the parking lot. The back passenger door opens and a ramp extends into the striped space. Without these spaces, wheelchair and scooter users are left stranded. So while Save My Spot isn’t specifically just for accessible parking, you can certainly use Save My Spot to help educate your communities about the importance of respecting handicap parking spaces.