Oh, they’re still at it. That Bentley on Thursday not only took two parking spaces at Shake Shack on Santa Monica Boulevard, but one of them was reserved for the handicapped. But hey, if your ego is big enough to require a Bentley, you just might need that extra room to get your head out of your car.
On Tuesday of last week someone who must be used to diagonal parking spaces (they have them in some small towns), managed to cover three spaces with his Ford pickup in the East Tower parking garage at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (right next to the elevators.) Then again, maybe he parked that big truck across three compact spaces because the macular degeneration for which he was seeing his doctor made it impossible for him to read the word “compact.”
Yes, we’re trying to find some sympathy for those People Who Can’t Park to appease those who accuse us of shaming them. Maybe each of those drivers was aspiring to be the next Rex Tillerson, who our commander in cheese has declared is “dumb as a rock.” There’s no better way to illustrate that qualification than taking more than one parking space in a town with a shortage of them.
We’ll continue from time to time to call out those who don’t understand, or just choose to ignore, basic parking rules. WEHOville invites its readers to share photos of cars that cross the line or park in spots where they’re not supposed to be. We aren’t including parking spots for the handicapped in this shame campaign because that’s a system so incredibly abused that it’s hard to figure out what permit holder really deserves one.
Use the photos above and below as an example of what you need to catch with your smartphone — the date, the rear of the car and its license plate, and how it is straddling the parking space line or crowding out the car properly parked next to it. Email it to me at henry@wehoville.com and I’ll publish it. And include the location. Don’t worry, we won’t share you name. It’s the People Who Can’t Park we want to call out.
Images of previously published People Who Can’t Park can be found below:
If you have a hadicap plackard and no handicap parking spaces are available we are allowed to double-park since one parking space isn’t large enough to deploy a ramp or to load and unload large equipment such as a wheelchair or gait trainer and it’s user. I get so sick of people who have no problem using their grandmas plackard illegally to get VIP parking, using the hashed off area as motorcycle parking or just extra space to park, park in handicap spots “just for a second” or use the areas in front of the curb cut ramps that wheelchair… Read more »
To be fair, the Mercedes at Trader Joe’s seems to have been forced to go over the line because of the Toyota. It he had parked “ within the lines” he/she wouldn’t have been able to get out of the car. Toyota is really to blame here.
If parking lot design went back to the original plan without dedicated spaces for compact etc. (other than handicap) it might eliminate a few spaces but folks could park in peace, without damage, angst and the “parking shame police”.
Let’s do an investigation on “service” dogs next and shame the liars.
We have been led to believe that Range Rovers are in charge, can do, can park anywhere, under any circumstances. The DMV won’t allow me to drive any more, so I have time, as a passenger, to observe the chaos and wonder just how long it will be before cars are banned from core streets in many cities.
Keep em coming folks! Shame, shame, shame!
Shaming never works. It is detrimental. This “story” needs to stop.
Couldn’t agree more.
This IS a serious problem and symptomatic of the society at large. We don’t use turn signals in L.A., especially the sheriffs who above all should be setting an example. We walk down the middle of sidewalks oblivious of leaving room for others to pass on the left and then get angry when we are brushed. We have raised several generations of people who don’t care about considering the needs of others or who just don’t care about making others’ lives easier. And it’s sad that there are comments here who treat this as inconsequential.
In aviation, and other environments, there’s a practice of situational awareness in which one should comprehend all of ones environment and adjust and react accordingly. Situational awareness would have us understand that other people occupy the world around us. Situational awareness is sadly lacking in our modern-day world .
AGREED!
Clearly this is a first world problem! Actually it’s even more narrow than that. I doubt people outside of the westside of LA and similar Sirius give much thought to this issue. Having said that, I get frustrated with some of this as well. however, this is easy as it is to blame the drivers of larger vehicles, the problem is more the fault of those who created these compact spaces in the first place. What is the definition of a compact? That may have been a good idea back in the 70s or 80s when most cars are smaller,… Read more »
There is nothing wrong with the Mercedes at Trader Joe’s. They had to park that way because of the idiot in the blue car on the left.
Seriously? This is what your life has come to?
I am having a hard time trying to figure out whether I should laugh at this story, or be sad for you.
This is one of the most pathetic stories of a “professional” news outlet I have ever seen. This embarrasses me for my city.
To be fair, the Range Rover pictured in the five-story structure is entirely within the markings of the space.
And so close to the edges that a drive in an adjacent space might not be able to exit his car. That’s why they are labeled for compact cars only
Hank – you make it sound as though the lines aren’t really the arbiter for how drivers should locate their vehicles when parking. Indeed, the lines delineate the limits of where vehicles are to be parked.
Perhaps an accompanying story might be an explanation for all of us regarding how architects (and cities) determine the size of spaces, as well as how much space is normally allocated between vehicles to allow drivers to open their doors.
The Dial a Ride van needs space to let the ramp down for disabled riders.