Some parents teach their children to accept things to be polite, to not complain about their Christmas presents, and to say nice things or say nothing at all. While my parents taught me all of these things and more, one thing they never taught me were courtesy rules of parking. What does this mean?
Park five spaces back.
What do I mean by this? It means that when I am parking in a parking lot, I conscienciously park at least five spaces away from the handicapped spots. In rows without handicapped parking, I park at least two spaces away from the first five regular spaces.
Why do I do this? I do this out of courtesy to those who might need a spot closer to the entrance. I know you may be thinking, "Well that's what handicapped spaces are for, right?." Of course you're right. There are many rules set by the ADA National Network for parking accessibility; One of these rules is correlated with the overall number of cars a lot can accommodate. For example, if a parking lot is designed to fit 26-50 vehicles, there must be at leasttwo handicap accessible parking spaces in the lot.
Now, you would hope that there would be more spaces than just two in this situation, just as you'd hope there'd be more than five accessible spots in a lot or garage with 101-150 total spots. Sadly, this isn't always the case. Regardless of how many handicap accessible spots are available, I park at least five spots back from the handicapped spots, and two away in rows of "regular" parking.
Another reason I park at least five spaces back is expectant mothers, and mothers with infants or small children. Most parking lots, at least in the North, do not have expectant mother parking signs on their lots, partially due to the fact that there aren't any rules that require them. Having had family members who I've traveled with while they were pregnant, I realized early on that it's not easy having to park 20 spots into the parking lot, trek through the grocery store or mall, and then have to walk back to the car with a baby (or toddler) on board. Being pregnant is exhausting and having children are exhausting, I'm sure. So why would I make it harder for a [soon-to-be-] mother to get her errands done? Parking 5 spots back allow a chance for someone who needs the spot more than I do to get it.
When I see an elderly man or woman walking from their vehicles, I can't help but wonder if they needed a closer space to the entrance.This is another reason as to why I always park 5 spaces back. They may not have a handicap tag on their vehicle, but they might need that shorter walk to the door. Plus, this is just out of common courtesy.
This is honestly the same idea as giving up your seat for someone who is handicapped, pregnant (or with a small child), or elderly. While this is an old tendency that is taught less and less, I feel as though it should be brought back, while also implicating the idea of parking away from the entrance.
This is why I always park at least 5 spots back. Although I slip up sometimes and park closer than this, I never park directly beside a handicap accessible spot, because it could cause conflict with someone being able to get out of their vehicle.
Next time you're going to park in a parking space, I encourage you to ignore that "closer spot". Sure, it may end up getting taken by someone who isn't in need of a close spot. But if someone needs a closer space and they get one, it'll make their experience and day a little brighter.
