The Cape Girardeau City Council will hike handicapped parking fines to discourage able-bodied motorists from parking in handicapped parking spaces.
Disabled residents Miki Gudermuth and Dan Niswonger pushed for such action, as did the Vision 2000 civic group.
Gudermuth said too many able-bodied persons ignore the handicapped signs and park in those spaces, which are closest to store entrances.
"If you can't be moral, then they legislate morality," said Gudermuth, who has difficulty walking because of a childhood bout with polio.
The council last week voted unanimously to raise the fines and bring them in line with state law. Final approval is expected later this month.
Violators could be fined $50 to $200 instead of the current $15 to $25 for a single incident.
Violators would be fined $50 if they pay within a week after the violation. They could be fined as much as $200 if they pay their fine after that date.
In most cases, violators would end up paying a $50 fine, said Eric Cunningham, city attorney.
The council also will consider more restrictive legislation, also patterned after a new state law.
It would prohibit able-bodied persons from parking in the spaces even though they are driving handicap-designated vehicles with special state license plates or hang tags unless their disabled spouses or other relatives are with them and intend to get out of the vehicles.
The goal is to ensure that those parking spaces are used solely by handicapped people who plan to shop in the stores or visit public facilities.
"The higher the fine, the more people will follow the law," said Gudermuth, who directs the SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence.
But both she and Niswonger conceded the law will only work if it is routinely enforced.
Niswonger never paid much attention to handicapped parking when he was a Cape Girardeau police officer. But in April 1994, he was injured in a traffic accident while riding his police motorcycle.
Doctors were forced to amputate Niswonger's right leg and the right side of his pelvis.
He briefly returned to the police force, but in a desk job. But he had difficulty sitting for long periods of time.
He retired from the police force at the end of December.
Niswonger uses both a wheelchair and crutches to get around.
His disability has given him a new appreciation of handicapped parking spaces.
"Fines are only there for one reason: It is deterrent," he said.
Niswonger said some able-bodied people don't care where they park.
"People are just so rude," he said. "I really wish some of these people could experience a wheelchair for a week out of their lives."
Both Niswonger and Gudermuth said the public and merchants often don't realize the difficulties faced by the physically handicapped.
When snow is cleared from parking lots, it often ends up piled in handicapped spaces, Gudermuth said.
Niswonger said customers leave their grocery carts in handicapped spaces.
Gudermuth said businessmen have ignored violations because they don't want to anger customers.
Parking violations aren't a high priority with Cape Girardeau police, she said.
Gudermuth said on two occasions last year she reported handicapped parking violations at West Park Mall, but the police never came.
Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. said his officers will and do respond to parking complaints. But he added such laws are difficult to enforce.
Officers have to see the violation to write a ticket. Many times the offenders have departed before police arrive.
"We don't have the privilege of designating an officer to go around and write nothing but parking tickets," Boyd said.
The mall has 3,400 parking spaces of which 67 are designated for the handicapped. There are designated spaces near each entrance to the mall.
With so much parking, most handicapped shoppers can find a parking place close to the mall entrances, said Jim Govro, mall manager.
Govro said he gets few complaints about handicapped parking.
When a violation is spotted, mall security officers ask the able-bodied customer to move his or her vehicle.
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