UNL lawsuit over handicapped parking on gameday

Bradr

Bradr

Starter
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is being sued for closing off handicapped parking stalls so they can be used by tailgaters during football games....

Norton's attorney, Kathleen Neary of Lincoln, said her client had tried to bring two children to Morrill Hall on Oct. 30, 2011, so they could do research for a school project, when he was barred from parking at two marked handicapped parking stalls outside the museum.

...

Norton was told he needed to pay $15 for a designated handicapped spot. Norton, the lawsuit said, informed the parking attendant that charging for such parking violated the ADA, which prompted the attendant to allow him to park there only on the condition that he could stay only two hours, and would be towed if “even one minute late.”

...

The lawsuit alleges that her client “experienced extreme pain in lower limbs and feet and was required to leave the museum and immediately seek medical attention” after being required to walk a “substantially greater distance.”
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omaha.com article

The 29th of October was NU vs Michigan St. Not sure what was on the 30th that necessitated closing off parking for donors and charging $15 in other spots. Volleyball perhaps???

Irregardless, the fact of the matter is that a major event was happening on campus to require parking attendants, reserved parking, and charging for spots. Anyone claiming a lawsuit over this is full of crap in my book. I fully support the idea of access for persons with disabilities, but to believe that you get some sort of special treatment on a game day is BS.

There are other people - who are handicap - that are going to the game/event that day too. If you happen to decide to use that day for a school research project, then prepare to be inconvenienced with parking just like everyone else.

Anyone out there with any experience on game day handicap parking? I always just drop off my grandfather at the main gate and go park.

 
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What I never understood is why our Wal-Mart has more handicap parking spaces in their lot than we do handicap people in our whole city.
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This isn't just centered around Morrill Hall. UNL has made some decisions on tailgating in the north lot that affects a friend of mine. A big-money donor with perfectly healthy legs has taken over a tailgate spot that friends of the family have used for years. The spot's former owner doesn't have use of his legs.

I get that money greases the wheel at UNL. But that spot doesn't need to go to some guy because he's famous and has loads of cash. He can tailgate 30 feet further down the road and walk to the game. My friend can't walk to the game - he has to us a chair.

 
Anyone claiming a lawsuit over this is full of crap in my book. I fully support the idea of access for persons with disabilities, but to believe that you get some sort of special treatment on a game day is BS.
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So handicapped people have rights everyday of the week except for gamedays? Special treatment? If by special treatment you mean access to the same places that everyone else has then yes, handicapped people should get "special treatment". How do you propose getting a wheelchair out of a car from one of the frat lots with cars parked no more than 3 fee from each other? Have you ever wheeled a wheelchair across a gravel parking lot? Handicapped spots aren't for the handicapped just because they are close. They are also by the ramps that makes it easier for handicapped people to maneuver. Handicapped people can't just not be handicapped for a day. This post is ridiculous.

 
Bradr said:
accountability said:
What I never understood is why our Wal-Mart has more handicap parking spaces in their lot than we do handicap people in our whole city.
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Notice the commonality between all those folks riding motorized wheelchairs?

My office overlooks a sidewalk two blocks away from a hospital, and a short ways away from a store that sells all sorts of wheelchairs and equipment for handicapped people. Every day I see a dozen or so people roll by in wheelchairs. Sometimes the same people. Sometimes people I've never seen before. ALL of them--with only one exception--ride those motorized wheelchairs. And ALL of them--with only one exception--are fat. Some are only overweight by 40 or 50 lbs, but others look like they're carrying an extra 100 lbs or more. The one exception is a Vietnam vet who lost his legs as a 19 year-old soldier fighting for our country. He is the only person I can remember seeing who wheels himself around under his own power--not using a motorized wheelchair. And he is buffed. Arms like fenceposts. No fat. Healthy as a horse, despite missing both his legs above the knees.

I've gotten to know the Vietnam vet over the past couple of years. He wheels by my office twice a day. He parks his car about 10 blocks from the little cafe near the hospital where he eats breakfast each morning. Says he likes the exercise, rain or shine. During the winter months I've seen him wheeling through 4 inches of slushy snow in the morning before the sidewalks get scooped. He never complains. One the one hand I feel bad for him--getting screwed out of so much life due to his injury. On the other hand I admire the hell out of the guy. He doesn't ask for any sympathy, never complains or mentions his severe disability, and wouldn't be caught dead parking in a handicapped spot. He is more of a man than 99% of the rest of us. If anything like that happened to me I hope I could be even half as determined and independent as the Vietnam vet Mark.

It seems to me that my friend Mark, the Vietnam vet with no legs, is better off physically and mentally than any of the handicapped people who sit around feeling sorry for themselves and expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter for the rest of their lives. I don't know the full situation leading up to the lawsuit at UNL. But I'd bet dollars to donuts the guy suing is more like the people in the photos above than Mark the Vietnam vet.

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STL Husker said:
Anyone claiming a lawsuit over this is full of crap in my book. I fully support the idea of access for persons with disabilities, but to believe that you get some sort of special treatment on a game day is BS.
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So handicapped people have rights everyday of the week except for gamedays? Special treatment? If by special treatment you mean access to the same places that everyone else has then yes, handicapped people should get "special treatment". How do you propose getting a wheelchair out of a car from one of the frat lots with cars parked no more than 3 fee from each other? Have you ever wheeled a wheelchair across a gravel parking lot? Handicapped spots aren't for the handicapped just because they are close. They are also by the ramps that makes it easier for handicapped people to maneuver. Handicapped people can't just not be handicapped for a day. This post is ridiculous.
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I believe he meant not having to pay $15 for event fee parking. I agree with him. Handicap or not, event fees apply.

The ADA doesn't prohibit parking fees/permits, it prohits additional "surcharges". Like Parking is $20 in Lot A, and $25 for a handicap stall in Lot A. ($5 surcharge)

--I believe this is the case anyway...ADA changes and I could be wrong.

Without knowing this person, their disability, or the situation... I have a hard time believing UNL hasn't spent 100's hours and thousands of $$ figuring out how to comply with ADA standards like everyone else does.

Instead, it seems much more likely a person is out to win the lawsuit lottery with a settlement.

 
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Conga3 said:
STL Husker said:
Anyone claiming a lawsuit over this is full of crap in my book. I fully support the idea of access for persons with disabilities, but to believe that you get some sort of special treatment on a game day is BS.
Click to expand...
So handicapped people have rights everyday of the week except for gamedays? Special treatment? If by special treatment you mean access to the same places that everyone else has then yes, handicapped people should get "special treatment". How do you propose getting a wheelchair out of a car from one of the frat lots with cars parked no more than 3 fee from each other? Have you ever wheeled a wheelchair across a gravel parking lot? Handicapped spots aren't for the handicapped just because they are close. They are also by the ramps that makes it easier for handicapped people to maneuver. Handicapped people can't just not be handicapped for a day. This post is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
I believe he meant not having to pay $15 for event fee parking. I agree with him. Handicap or not, event fees apply.

The ADA doesn't prohibit parking fees/permits, it prohits additional "surcharges". Like Parking is $20 in Lot A, and $25 for a handicap stall in Lot A. ($5 surcharge)

--I believe this is the case anyway...ADA changes and I could be wrong.

Without knowing this person, their disability, or the situation... I have a hard time believing UNL hasn't spent 100's hours and thousands of $$ figuring out how to comply with ADA standards like everyone else does.

Instead, it seems much more likely a person is out to win the lawsuit lottery with a settlement.
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Event parking for Morrill Hall? They weren't attending the game.

 
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