Handicap tag abuse!
 

Today on local news, police were checking handicap tags and made me wonder if the Villages has any way to enforce the use of handicap tags on the golf course.....Played with a gal the other day whose mother is the legitimate owner of the handicap tag but her daughter was the one using it that day 5 feet off the green, with her mother comfortably at home....Another golf outing the golf tag belonged to a guy that had knee surgery 5 years ago and while laughing said he is as "good as new"....I appreciate that many have legitimate reasons for tags but concerned with the abuse that I've witnessed....Also, what is the ruling for how close you can get to green with carts.

Reasonable Access tagholders are required to stay at least 15' from the green and not drive between the greenside traps and the green.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I think some of them drive on the collar of the exec. green behind my house. Often they (many times the only one in the cart) get out and look for balls by the lake or in the grass, then drive 3 ft. from the green.

I've seen the ambassador ride by and never say a word.

OMG another injustice to Bitch about. If you see some one abusing the tag, call them on it.

Or...
 

Just enjoy your life. Getting worked up for that is a waste of good heartbeats! You cannot fix broke down people :rant-rave:

OR. if they don't appear to be physically challenged, kick 'em in the knee!!

went to the grocery today and parked in handicap was a guy sitting in the drivers seat. Officer asked who's sticker he said his mom who was in the store. Officer went back to his car wrote the guy a ticket and told him to move the car....so there's your sign

At least no one has suggested calling the police yet as they did in the thread with the poor lady who was walking in the rain!

Huh? It would seem that this person was using the tag properly. If his mother was the one needing the close parking and it was she who went into the store, what's wrong with that? The problem would be if the son was the one who went into the store while the mother stayed in the car.

The handicapped person staying in the vehicle should NOT be a problem as there is no provision in the law that prevents it. I'm not going to again go through what I did in the past about that misconception (originating via personal opinions with the FL DMV) that the handicapped must leave the vehicle, but I will provide a link to my posting last year that pretty much sums up the results of the emails I went through with the former Chief of Lady Lake, and his checking with the DMV, after he mistakenly made the "leaving the vehicle" statement in a TV publication.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...512-post1.html

Also, to the posters that stated "If you see some one abusing the tag, call them on it" and "if they don't appear to be physically challenged, kick 'em in the knee," remember that things are not always as they seem and there are legitimate conditions that qualify for a permit that are not obvious or readily identifiable. Just be glad you're not one of those that fall under that category! BTW, for disclosure, I am a legitimate user of a handicapped tag!

Yesterday I watched as a woman zipped into the HC spot next to me while yacking on her phone in total disregard of her surroundings. She looked all around Nd bolted for the door to CVS. I went in behind her and called out, "Miss. You forgot to put your pass in the window. You dont need the ticket and they (cops) are coming". She retreated into her car and moved into another spot. It was GREAT.
My Ex had brain surgery and has intractable pain. He was forbidden a HC permit for county golf and the woman said, "You don't LOOK disdabled". How dare ANYONE make ASSumptions like that? I made 1 call. He got his pass and an apology. She was suspended for 2 days. We never know.

Kudos to you on the CVS gal! A very tactful way of handling the situation! And it sure beats kicking her in the knee! :clap2:

Good idea when the card isn't placed in the window. I realize some disabilities aren't visible, but next time I see a kid jump out of the car and they are the only one in the car, I'm writing down the placard number and see what the police have to say. I'd bet a dollar to a donut hole the placard belongs to the parent or grandparent.

This is a big problem everywhere and with a disabled brother, it really ticks me off when I have to help him out at the front of the store (blocking traffic and the front door).

It is my understanding that the initial thoughts were that golf carts would not be allowed on Executive Courses. Obviously that limitation was re-considered. I have played with a number of people who displayed handicap tags. Some appeared to e physicallt fine. However like many of you I prefer not to pre-juge and so accept that this is the players status.

However I have found a few who abuse the situation driving onto the first cut of a green and in fact have seen a few who drive right over the green.

I am one of those that believes a player must be respectful and fillin divot and repair ball divots on greens

Unfortunately we all run into people on the course that we wish we could have avoided.

If a player repeatedly ( and the operative word is repeatedly)abuses a course during a round I might be tempted to speak to an ambassador

some of the tags are from those who have passed on long ago...it does make for a expensive ticket:ohdear:

:agree: If this is the way it occurred the officer made a mistake.

AAAHHHMMMMMMM ! You said a naughty !

How would you know these things? The tags have expiration dates so they couldn't be more than a few years old and still be valid but I don't know how you'd know the tag holder had expired long ago.

I would like to commend the above poster for his/her last paragraph/comment. There are folks with un-seen issues, for sure. There are many diseases and conditions where just looking at the person you might think "they're not sick, they don't have _____(fill in the blank)!! I'm one of those folks and believe me, I really wish some days that I did in fact have a handicapped sticker in my car. You don't have to be in a wheelchair or have a cane to fit into this criteria.

While I'm at it, I have a close relative who "is" disabled and in a wheelchair. This person will expound greatly on the folks (the abled ones) who park next to or on, one of those spots that indicate a space with the disabled parking spots (it has diagonal stripes painted) which are for wheelchairs to come out of the side of their van. Probably this has been done because the person who parked "illegally" I might add, didn't want to walk a bit further. Just saying....don't judge, if you don't know!!!

A little off topic here, but I use a legit tag because I can't walk far. We went to Walmart and, dontcha know, parked in the very first handicapped space, were two huge, shiny Harley motorcycles. No tags. We had to park a long way down the lot.

For us it wasn't too bad. My dear hubby just had to push me farther, but what disrespect!

I complained to the first employee I saw and he seemed genuinely disturbed and said he's take care of it right away. And he did!

The original topic was about handicap tag abuse on Golf Courses in the Villages. We seemed to have strayed off into general use and abuse of handicap tags in parking lots.

This may warrant separating this into a new thread in the General discussion forum.

Moderator

:coolsmiley:Good advice. "It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues." A. Lincoln

I have enough of my own vices, at least enough to not worry about other people's vices. :popcorn:

I agree with ya. You can't always tell if a person has reason or not to have that handicap sticker.

My hubby is the owner of the tag because of foot problems. If its me by myself you'll find my car parked elsewhere because I don't feel right using the hanger even on days my back may be bugging me. But not all people are that way though. But if he's in the vehicle we always try to find a spot since walking long periods will bother him. There is normally is no outward appearance of a problem but he's looking at surgery down the road here.

So don't be to fast to judge unless you know the person and know they're pulling something. I've know a younger gal that had severe back problems due to a car accident. She looked fine but again the walking long distances was the problem and she always got looks when she parked in the handicapped spaces even though she had a legitimate reason for it.

Some people cant walk the 100 yards from a normal parking space, but can walk 500 yards inside a store like Walmart --- very strange !! Just follow a handicapped tag owner into the sore and see how many use the electric cart --- there are far more cars parked in handicap spots then elec shopping cart in use.