HANDICAPPED-PARKING FINES

Nothing raises the ire of a shopper more than driving into a store's crowded parking lot, finding a space some distance from the entrance, walking across the lot and seeing an able-bodied motorist pull into a parking space reserved for the handicapped.

Look at the situation from another perspective: Imagine your are a disabled motorist who wants to shop at the same store, but every handicapped-reserved parking space is taken. And not all of the cars in those spaces display the appropriate handicapped identification.

Either way, abuse of handicapped parking spaces happens too often. The Cape Girardeau City Council hopes that increasing the fines for misusing the spaces will help. Hefty penalties of up to $200 are possible for the worst offenders.

In addition, the city's new ordinance will target motorists who have the proper handicapped tags but are able-bodied themselves. This happens, for example, when the able-bodied spouse of a handicapped person drives the family car to the store and parks in a handicapped slot. The new law will permit this only if the handicapped person also is in the car.

Policing handicapped parking isn't easy. While abuses of the system raise howls of protest, the fact is most handicapped motorists are able to find a special parking place. It can be hoped that the occasional offender who takes advantage of the special parking spaces -- the ones closest to a store's entrance -- will be less inclined to do so knowing the cost could be pretty hefty if ticketed.