Parking Lot and Americans with Disabilities Act

You know all those blue signs and stripes of blue paint that make you park in the area of the parking lot further away from your destination? Those are the result of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA stipulates that a certain number of parking spaces must be provided for individuals with disabilities. It specifies that the parking spaces for disabled individuals must be located with the shortest route from the parking lot to the entrance of the establishment. If the building has multiple entrances, the spaces may be dispersed to be closest to each accessible entrance to the building. Accessible spaces must also be 96 inches wide to allow extra room for maneuvering in and out of the vehicle. And the blue paint is not enough. The Americans with Disabilities Act also requires the placement of signs at accessible parking spaces, placed such that they cannot be obscured by a vehicle parked in the space.

So why do we have the ADA and all these rules it applies to parking lots? It’s to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals and increase the accessibility of things that non-disabled individuals take for granted. It shortens their path from parking lot to store, it tries to ensure that no one parks so close to their vehicle that they cannot get in and out of it, and it makes being out and about safer for these individuals. You’ve had someone park so close to your car that you couldn’t get the door open and climb in, right? Just imagine trying to deal with that situation while in a wheelchair, or using a walker. If you can barely squeeze between your vehicle and the next with an able body, how would someone with an assistive device manage to get into their vehicle? They wouldn’t. That’s why the Americans with Disabilities Act has provisions about parking lots and regulates the size and location of the parking spaces to prevent situations that would be difficult for disabled patrons.

Next time you complain about having to park further away from the store and walk through the rain or snow, remind yourself how healthy you are and how difficult life would be if you were disabled and we didn’t have the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many of us don’t consider how daunting every day tasks can be when a person is disabled.

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