TX: Houston CHL sentenced to 20 years for murdering attorney over dispute over handicapped parking spot

[chasfm11]

I have a placard that I use when I am a passenger in someone else's vehicle. I have been harranged by those who don't understand Texas Transportation Code 504.201.

Like many other areas including gun laws, there seems to be a lot of people who THINK that they know the fine points but have never studied the actual written descriptions.

My wife had a temporary placard after each her knee surgeries. She didn't use a cane or a walker as she had in the initial stages of her recoveries but she was still very limited in her mobility. We got a lot of glares because she had no signs of the surgeries unless you looked closely at her knee areas - her surgeon did a great job. She was encouraged by her therapist to try to achieve a normal gait when she walked but she was physically limited to the number of steps that she could take within a time period and had to rest between periods.

Here is the write-up on placards.

Placard and plate eligibility is based on a medical condition that meets the legal definition of a disability. "Disability" means a condition in which a person has:

Visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses
Visual acuity of more than 20/200 but with a limited field of vision in which the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less
Mobility problems that substantially impair a person's ability to move around; these problems can be caused by:
Paralysis
Lung disease
Cardiac deficiency
Wheelchair confinement
Arthritis
Foot disorder
Other medical condition causing a person to use a brace, cane, crutch or other assistive device.

A parking placard or plate is ONLY valid when being used by the person with the disability or someone who is driving the person with the disability.

It is a violation of state law to use the placard or plates for a disabled parking spot without the person with the disability in the vehicle. People who misuse disabled parking placards are subject to fines of up to $1,250 and/or up to 50 hours of community service.

Emphasis mine.

[RPBrown]

Be careful shaming people for "looking able bodied". Looks can be deceiving. Prime example is someone with a serious heart condition. They can't walk very far without being winded or extremely tired. They look just fine but they are not. Chemo patients are the same way. I am sure others can think of similar situations.

I only shame people who are obviously fit. When you can lifting cases of water over the side of a pickup bed ( multiple cases), or you jog into Sams while you leave the person who actually qualifies for the placard in a running car with the A/C running ( illegal by the way) I get a bit perturbed. I have had several friend who have need the space as they went through Chemo, so I don’t jump to conclusions.

Hmmm, "obviously fit" or, in your eyes, "apparently fit"?

Yes, when the guy is 6’5” tall and built like an NFL tight end and running around his Diesel PU ( which he left running) tossing cases of water and 57 lb bags of dog food into his PU I call him fit. Fit is like Porn, you know it when you see it. I see the main problem is the Doctors who hand out these HC plackards like candy and then the plackards not expiring until your DL is up. Many deserving injuries are short term yet people abuse the plackards.

Well, I am 6’4 and built more like an NFL lineman , on the good days stated above, I also load cases of water and 50lb bags of dog food. However, what you don’t stick around to see is me leaning over my truck trying to catch my breath and sucking on my inhaler afterwards. Looks can be deceiving or ill perceived by some that know nothing about the persons issue. With some luck, maybe you will never have to use the handicap spaces but the older you get the more the chances are you will

[oljames3]

In a previous post I mentioned Texas Transportation Code 504.201. I should also have cited 504.202 as the eligibility requirements for veterans are different from those for civilians. Any potential, self-appointed parking police should consider this. I had to waste a day to go to court in Travis count to get an official parking complaint dismissed because the official volunteer parking patrol did not recognize my Disable Veteran plate.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs ... TN.504.htm

[WTR]

[quote=WTR post_id=<a href="tel:1258638">1258638</a> time=<a href="tel:1564800878">1564800878</a> user_id=19425]
[quote=Oldgringo post_id=<a href="tel:1258635">1258635</a> time=<a href="tel:1564799521">1564799521</a> user_id=3191]
[quote=WTR post_id=<a href="tel:1258544">1258544</a> time=<a href="tel:1564716205">1564716205</a> user_id=19425]
[quote=howdy post_id=<a href="tel:1258535">1258535</a> time=<a href="tel:1564713857">1564713857</a> user_id=5560]
Be careful shaming people for "looking able bodied". Looks can be deceiving. Prime example is someone with a serious heart condition. They can't walk very far without being winded or extremely tired. They look just fine but they are not. Chemo patients are the same way. I am sure others can think of similar situations.

I only shame people who are obviously fit. When you can lifting cases of water over the side of a pickup bed ( multiple cases), or you jog into Sams while you leave the person who actually qualifies for the placard in a running car with the A/C running ( illegal by the way) I get a bit perturbed. I have had several friend who have need the space as they went through Chemo, so I don’t jump to conclusions.
[/quote]

Hmmm, "obviously fit" or, in your eyes, "apparently fit"?
[/quote]

Yes, when the guy is 6’5” tall and built like an NFL tight end and running around his Diesel PU ( which he left running) tossing cases of water and 57 lb bags of dog food into his PU I call him fit. Fit is like Porn, you know it when you see it. I see the main problem is the Doctors who hand out these HC plackards like candy and then the plackards not expiring until your DL is up. Many deserving injuries are short term yet people abuse the plackards.
[/quote]

Well, I am 6’4 and built more like an NFL lineman , on the good days stated above, I also load cases of water and 50lb bags of dog food. However, what you don’t stick around to see is me leaning over my truck trying to catch my breath and sucking on my inhaler afterwards. Looks can be deceiving or ill perceived by some that know nothing about the persons issue. With some luck, maybe you will never have to use the handicap spaces but the older you get the more the chances are you will
[/quote]

Unfortunately, I did have to use those HC spaces when I was wheelchair bound. Additionally, I was in the rehab hospital with people who haven’t been as lucky as me and gotten out of the chairs. I know one young girl who was a quadriplegic and got around in a motorized wheelchair by blowing into a straw. I’m sure they would happily change places with you. I get tired of folks who whine about a bad joint when they just need to man up. Try being tied to a wheelchair and your Wife or Mom can’t find a space large enough to transfer you into the chair. So, while I am passionate about the subject, I’ve never confronted a person over a HC space. Ihave given them a look of “ really”.

[Paladin]

There was a similar story back a bit but I can’t find it. Older guy fighting with a guy at a convenience store about parking in handicapped spot. Older guy pushed down and fires and kills guy parked in handicapped spot.
Can’t believe there are armed nuts monitoring handicapped spots. Crazy.

Most of the people I see parking in handicap don't seem handicapped at all to me. They hop out of their car and stroll into the store like everyone else. It does irritate me but I never considered challenging any of them.

[RHenriksen]

I broke my foot in Dec 2017, had surgery to put in a plate, and went through three months of crutches, walking boot, physical therapy. After that, I was told it was healed, but it might take as much as a year to feel totally normal.

A few months later I was on antidepressants and voluntarily went back on crutches for months because 16 hours/day of pain was turning me into a zombie.

It took over a year and visiting three additional doctors to learn I'd been undiagnosed/misdiagnosed, and been suffering from a Neuroma from the splint & PT. I'm still undergoing treatment from a podiatrist in the hopes of avoiding a second surgery to cut out the nerve.

I have a blue handicapped tag, but I don't *look* gimpy. Please feel free to get in my face in the parking lot & pass judgment without reviewing my MRI, nerve study, CT scan, a dozen sets of x-rays, etc.

[joe817]

I broke my foot in Dec 2017, had surgery to put in a plate, and went through three months of crutches, walking boot, physical therapy. After that, I was told it was healed, but it might take as much as a year to feel totally normal.

A few months later I was on antidepressants and voluntarily went back on crutches for months because 16 hours/day of pain was turning me into a zombie.

It took over a year and visiting three additional doctors to learn I'd been undiagnosed/misdiagnosed, and been suffering from a Neuroma from the splint & PT. I'm still undergoing treatment from a podiatrist in the hopes of avoiding a second surgery to cut out the nerve.

I have a blue handicapped tag, but I don't *look* gimpy. Please feel free to get in my face in the parking lot & pass judgment without reviewing my MRI, nerve study, CT scan, a dozen sets of x-rays, etc.

^^^^^^ This.

[Venus Pax]

This is absolutely appalling.

My ex-husband was injured in a vehicle accident years ago (when we were married), and I recall it being a hardship when I had to unload his wheelchair and help him in it, in all types of weather, and leave him at the front of the establishment while I parked the vehicle. I would get rather irritated when I would see a young, healthy teen/young adult skip out to what appeared to be grandma's cadillac with the disability plates. In retrospect, I wish I had taken the plate and a description and made a report, but I would never have considered confronting the person. A) There is always the chance it's a disability that is not visibly apparent, or B) it could lead to violence, which I would prefer to avoid.

[Syntyr]

Be careful shaming people for "looking able bodied". Looks can be deceiving. Prime example is someone with a serious heart condition. They can't walk very far without being winded or extremely tired. They look just fine but they are not. Chemo patients are the same way. I am sure others can think of similar situations.

While true I think this is far and few between. Where I work there is a woman who drives a vette with handicapped plates. She parks in a handicapped spot on the third floor. Does she go to the elevator? Nope she flys down three flights of stairs without breaking stride.

Back to on topic. Over a dang parking space. People are just too wound up out there!

[03Lightningrocks]

Back to on topic. Over a dang parking space. People are just too wound up out there!

This^^^^^^