We all know how
\nstressful the rush for a free parking space can be, especially downtown or at
\nthe mall. That is why, we get so happy when we manage to find a space, even
\nthough sometimes that place is reserved for people with disabilities. Many say:
\nI’ll only be five minutes, or these places are never taken anyway, because
\nthere are not so many disabled people who drive. Seriously? would say those
\nwho should normally benefit from these spaces. And that rhetorical question
\nwas the beginning of an awareness raising campaign, run by the Motivation
\nFoundation, who works with and for people with locomotor disabilities. The
\nfoundation wishes to draw regular drivers’ attention to the importance of
\nleaving this assigned spots free, for the disabled to be able to actually use
\nthem. This campaign, titled Seriously?, would like to eliminate at least part
\nof the preconceived ideas about the lack of mobility of the disabled. Many of
\nthem are actually independent and active, and they drive or travel as
\npassengers in vehicles adapted to their condition. And their number is much
\nhigher than the other people think, as Erika Garnier, a PR officer with the Motivation
\nFoundation, told us. She gave us some statistical data, made available by the
\nRomanian Automobile Register:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In
\n2017, some 1700 vehicles were adapted to be able to be driven by or carry
\npeople with disabilities, and that was only till October. By the end of the
\nyear, the figure must have grown. As compared to 2012, it grew five times. And
\nthat is evidence that the number of people with disabilities who are active is
\nactually higher, people who want to be an active part of the life of the
\ncommunity. The disabled are first of all regular citizens, who have certain
\nneeds, which needs they should be able to meet and take part in all the
\nactivities that we normally do: to go shopping, driving, hang out with friends,
\nall the things that we do on a regular basis. And for this thing to be
\npossible, they need these dedicated parking spaces.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Erika herself
\nis a disabled person, but she is a driver too, and is many times faced with the
\nsituation in which she cannot find a place to park her car. What actually
\nprompted the Seriously? campaign was this very situation, encountered every
\nday, which can be prevented by means of information campaigns. Erika Garnier
\nhas a message for those who abusively take on the parking spaces reserved
\nfor people with disabilities: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
First of all, me and my colleagues who are in wheelchairs, and people with
\ndisabilities in general, need that dedicated parking spaces. So, we want to
\nmake it clear that any justification like: ‘I was in a hurry’, ‘It’ll only take
\nfive minutes’, or ‘that space was not taken anyway’ is by no means valid. And
\nthe fact that someone parks their car in such a place for five minutes, or
\nbecause they are in a hurry, prevents someone who is disabled to do something
\nabsolutely natural, such as entering a building to do their shopping, or
\nentering an office building, because they have an appointment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Also, it is very
\nimportant to understand why these dedicated spaces are close to entrances and
\nwhy they are wider than the other parking spaces. Speaking about that, here is
\nErika Garnier once again:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
When you’re in a wheelchair, you are less visible for somebody
\nwho is driving in reverse. Also, it is very important that the space be close
\nto the building entrance. Moreover, you need more driving and maneuvering space
\nso that you may get off the car while seated in a wheelchair. You cannot do
\nthat in a parking lot crammed with cars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Tudor Darvareanu
\nis an instructor with the Motivation Foundation.Tudor has introduced
\nhimself as a very dynamic person, who loves sports, a person who carried on
\nwith his active life even after he got into a wheelchair. Tudor Darvareanu is a
\ndriver himself, and oftentimes he has been faced with the situation in which
\nsomebody with no disabilities took his dedicated parking space. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking about
\nthat, here is Tudor Darvareanu himself. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I was lucky because I had a companion
\nwith me, who helped me find another parking space, somewhere at the far end of
\nthe parking lot, where there is more space. And there, I could park my car
\nsafely. First of all, it’s about lack of information and feeble awareness of
\nthe importance of parking spaces. You don’t see that many disabled persons
\ndriving a car, precisely because there are not very many properly arranged and
\naccessible parking spaces.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
And that is not
\nthe only problem the disabled are faced with, whenever they want to move around
\ntown. Here is Tudor Darvareanu once again: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
First of all, it’s about parking, then there is how you can get access to a
\npublic institution. If we speak about moving around town, we speak about
\ndedicated areas on the sidewalk and again about parking, since many park their
\ncars right on the sidewalk, which means that by default, there’s not room left
\nfor somebody to move in a wheelchair. It’s about accessibility, in general.
\nThen there’s also the problem of adapting the means of public transport.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In Romania, the
\nlegislative act stipulating terms of accessibility to public buildings
\nstipulates that 4% of the existing parking spaces are for people with
\ndisabilities. Also, Law 48 of 2000, promoting and protecting the rights of the
\ndisabled, stipulates fines for those who break the law and abusively park their
\ncars in the areas dedicated to people with disabilities. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Romanian foundation is running a campaign concerning the reserved parking spaces for people with disabilities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":142580,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43671,43669,37245,43670,43672],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-142579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-erika-garnier","tag-motivation-foundation","tag-people-with-disabilities","tag-seriously-campaign","tag-tudor-darvareanu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n