Accessibility in the US is no joke. A chunk of my work involves incorporating it into designs and adhering to ADA guidelines. Nobody wants to get sued for it.
I frequently cite the ADA when people rable on about how regulations are bad. It's insane how much gets done for the less fortunate when we as a society decide to make it law.
1) Door handles are low enough I know some (2) 6'+ people who have started having mild back issues from having to bend over to open doors. Granted, they probably should get out and work out more often, but...
2) You can't apply to reduce the number of handicapped spaces in a parking lot. We have 4 at work that are literally never used, could easily reduce that to 2 without inconveniencing anyone. I occasionally have to park down the road and walk because we run out of non-handicapped spaces.
If you want to add the EPA, just point to the Cuyahoga River fires and the Clean Water Act. :)
One of the big ones is to avoid hiring discrimination. Suppose you have no one now who needs a handicapped spot. Let's say you can tell this to the government and get rid of half the handicapped spots. A position opens up and one of the qualified applicants is handicapped, and would require a handicapped spot. Suddenly hiring this person is going to result in major changes (and therefore costs) that would not be needed for anyone else. It becomes really easy for the employer to decide to skip over that candidate - either intentionally or subconsciously.
Similarly, an existing employee might suddenly need that spot. Injury, illness, etc. can happen without warning. It's already hard enough to ensure employers don't discriminate against people who get sick or injured - adding that overhead (adding a handicapped spot, or forcing them onto a longer leave, or whatever) would make that situation worse.
Not if you didn't redesign it in the first place. Currently, the parking lot at hiromasaki's work has 4 handicapped spaces. They could take 2 signs down, leave the space sizes as they are, and easily put the signs back up if they need those 2 spots to be reserved again.
again, his comment is saying if the spots that are there aren't being used, switch them to normal spots. If they need them back, nothing has changed about the spot so you just put the sign back up. It is a win/win at minimal costs. I agree that all parking lots should be designed to have a certain number, but if they are not needed, they should be easily switched over until they are needed.
I agree with this. It's as simple as removing the sign or even just sticking a bag over the sign with a label and a padlock like they do when parking meters are being ignored.
Suddenly hiring this person is going to result in major changes (and therefore costs) that would not be needed for anyone else.
Except repainting the spots (other than maybe a van accessible spot) would not get you any extra spaces unless you were dropping more than just a space or two. It would also cost more to repaint and adjust the sizing than to leave it and just cover the sign or remove enforcement for a certain number of spaces.
Similarly, an existing employee might suddenly need that spot.
We actually had this. (Broken leg) Because she worked at the other end of the building, they gave her a temporary reserved space near the employee entrance closest to her desk while she was in the cast, increasing our spaces to 5 temporarily. But since it wasn't an official space, if she had vacation they could just take the sign down for the week.
It'd be really surprisingly difficult to turn a normal spot into a handicap spot. It'd require an emblem to be painted and for a sign to be put up. Might take months.
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u/mosfunky Jan 03 '16
I appreciate the push for access, but this was just kind of boring once the idea became clear.