Questioning Of Another Driver Turns to Brawl

THE PERILS OF ENFORCING HANDICAPPED PARKING ON YOUR OWN: After the recent columns on handicapped parking scofflaws, Ruben Griego has a parking experience to share. It’s one he won’t soon forget.

Neither will you once you read it.

He says via email that two years ago – April 27, 2009 – he and his son went to the Sam’s Club on Eubank. There he “observed a new yellow-and-black Jeep with no state of New Mexico handicapped credentials half parked in the handicapped zone.”

Ruben asked the driver “how come he couldn’t park in the regular parking spaces like anyone else.” And it went south from there.

The Jeep driver “got extremely angry and accosted, then berated my son and I very badly. Needless to say things escalated, but I’m proud that neither my son nor I engaged in fighting this bully. He then hit me with a very hard punch that knocked me down, and my glasses went flying off under a nearby car.”

In the ensuing years the Jeep driver has denied throwing a punch, Ruben learned the parking lot cameras weren’t working and so there is no recording of the encounter, and he is “still dealing with medical issues.”

He says “in retrospect, I probably should have notified store security, but I thought I was doing the right thing being a concerned citizen. I still think I did, but unfortunately I’m still paying for this sad incident.”

Ruben is asking “readers that if anyone witnessed this incident or knows someone who may have, to please contact me” in order to ensure “this individual does not endanger any other law-abiding citizen here in Albuquerque ever again.”

I will forward any responses on to Ruben.

WHY DON’T MY HANDICAPPED PLACARD AND LICENSE EXPIRE TOGETHER? That’s what Ron wants to know.

“I renewed my driver’s license last year for eight years,” he emails. “However, when I received my handicapped placard, it was only renewed through 2014. Used to be, if I remember correctly, the placard always expired when the license did. Has something changed?”

Apparently.

New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department spokesman S.U. Mahesh says “under the law, handicapped placards can be issued for a maximum of up to four years before being renewed.”

WHICH PLATES LET YOU PARK IN A HANDICAPPED SPACE? A caller asked for a review, not for himself but for the drivers he sees illegally parked in these spaces – like Jeep man above.

According to the Motor Vehicle Division, state law says to park in a designated handicapped space a vehicle MUST have EITHER a plate that has the wheelchair symbol on it OR a handicapped placard hanging from the rearview mirror.

MY PLACARD IS VISIBLE, MY HANDICAP ISN’T: Another readers emails that “it is important with handicapped spaces that store customers realize that not just the elderly use handicapped placards.

“I do not look handicapped – I bite my lip and try to get around as quickly as I can. My toes and feet are in shoes and socks but are held together permanently by screws and pins from a head-on car accident. The looks that I get are mostly from the elderly! Sorry, I am not quite elderly yet, but I am in pain and will deal with it every day; do not give me those ‘you don’t need the placard’ looks. I may be the one out in a parking lot some day with my socks in my hand showing my deformed feet and toes to the elderly!”

WHY LEAVE THE PLACARD HANGING? That reader also asks “why do quite a few drivers with placards leave them on the rearview mirror? This is not lawful; (it) says (so) right on the placard, and if you are afraid you will misplace it you should not be driving.”

I’m betting it’s not that these drivers are concerned about misplacing it; it’s about forgetting to hang it up in the first place and risking a citation that runs from $250 to $500.

BOOT LEGISLATION ON TONIGHT’S AGENDA: And there’s an update on pending City Council legislation to set guidelines for businesses that boot vehicles in private parking lots.

At tonight’s meeting, sponsor Councilor Isaac Benton is expected to add “well-lit” to the sign requirement and also remove the civil penalty for not following the law, since there is already a criminal penalty of “a fine of up to $500 or up to 90 days in jail.”

Thanks to policy analyst Diane Dolan for keeping us informed.

D’Val Westphal tackles commuter issues for the Metro area on Mondays and West Siders and Rio Ranchoans on Thursdays. Reach her at 823-3858; road@abqjournal.com; P.O. Drawer J, Albuquerque, N.M. 87103; or go to abqjournal.com/traffic to read previous columns and join in the conversation.

— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal