The Quad

Issue date: 10/29/07 Section: News

The observant student looking for a place to park at West Chester University may notice a parking violation problem on campus. This includes a wide variety of violations, such as parking in spaces that are designated for members of the WCU community who have disabilities.

According to the university's web site, only two people are employed with the responsibility of checking the parking lots for violations. At a college that has quite a bit of ground to cover by only two people, it is difficult to catch every parking violation.

The college years prepare people for real world situations, including ways to deal with diverse groups of people. As one such real world issue, disabilities are addressed by companies working to give the disabled community an equally safe work environment.

WCU has a diverse community consisting of those who require various degrees of accommodation for disabilities. In accordance with the American Disabilities Act, the University's buildings are equipped with elevators and wheelchair accessible doors to help everyone get around with ease.

Dr. Martin Patwell, the Director of Disability Services, believes that fines for handicapped spots are closer to those in Philadelphia, charging violators a hefty $200. Such an out-of-pocket expense is one that anyone, especially a college student on a tight budget, would want to avoid by adhering to the law.

According to Patwell, there has been some debate over requiring everyone to obtain both a WCU handicapped pass and an MV placard. This comes in response to the belief that people with ADA placards may also abuse the use of such placards on campus.

How much that version of ADA accessible parking abuse happens is unknown, yet some disabilities are not as visibly noticeable as others are. An MV placard, according to www.dmv.org, requires application forms to be notarized before being sent out to the Department of Transportation.

Those who do not have an ADA placard hanging from the rear-view mirror, or an ADA sticker on the license plate, are subject to fines and towing. According to the WCU Parking Regulations brochure, the fines for parking violations range from $10 to $40, which adds up fast on a student budget.

Obtaining an ADA hanging placard or license plate sticker requires getting a doctor's approval, and then a stop at a local auto tag store. The web site www.dmv.org also provides another way to get the forms required by the state of Pennsylvania to get a placard or sticker.

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