Police Focus Efforts on Cars Illegally Parked in Disabled Spots

Gina Schuh has used a wheelchair for 16 years.  She struggles with the lack of accessible parking.  

“Being an individual with a spinal cord injury, I do not sweat below my line of injury, therefore, I can't regulate hot temperatures" said Schuh in a video released to members of the Phoenix Police Department.  "Someone like myself and many other people with disabilities that cannot regulate temperature, can literally die from autonomic dysreflexia from being stuck outside too long. This is not just someone abusing a parking spot, this literally a matter of life and death during summer months."

It's not just people parking in the primary disable parking spot, but others who block the access aisles Schuh and others use to get in and out of their vehicles.  

In 2019, there was an increase in calls related to cars wrongly parked in disabled parking spaces and access aisles

To help combat the problem, the Phoenix Police Department, volunteers from the Accessibility Compliance Enforcement (ACE) and the Motorist Assist Program (MAP) will be out looking for disabled parking violators.  

The crackdown aims to remind drivers not park in disabled parking spaces, even if it's 'just for a few minutes.'   Those minutes can have a huge impact on many of our community members who are disabled and could leave you with fines of more than $1000. 

Schuh's plea to the community is to consider the impact when you park illegally.  "I cannot tell you the countless times I've been late to meetings, to school, to very important things like hot dates," Schuh said.