SAN DIEGO — Even if you think it will just take a minute, a veterans advocacy group is reminding people that it will take those with disabilities a lot longer to get where they need to go, if there’s not a blue spot available.
"If we have to turn around and go back home or have our spouse or caregiver leave us in my vehicle and run in and get it, it takes away our independence," Anne Robinson, a U.S. Army Veteran, who was paralyzed from the chest down after a vehicle accident 21 years ago, said.
She's been navigating life with her husband and two children ever since.
Robinson is bound by an electric wheelchair, which can be an ordeal.
For those that aren’t disabled, we might take our mobility for granted. We don’t think twice about the simple action of parking your car and walking into a store.
"So, if you have just a couple of minutes to run in and do something, for those of us, it takes me, if I need a parking spot, it takes me even five minutes to get out of the van and get something," Robinson said.
In conjunction with the Paralyzed Veterans of America, or PVA, Robinson wants to remind people to leave the handicapped parking spots to people like her.
"So educating them is the most important part of the spot," she said.
Honor the Spot, an ad campaign from PVA, reminds people to keep the blue spaces clear for the people that need it. The blue lines next to the spot, an area for wheelchair ramps and lifts, to get people like Robinson safely in an out of the car. So to save yourself the embarrassment or a hefty fine, honor the spot, don’t borrow placards and keep looking for a space in the parking lot.
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