Boise State Group Wants City Parking Laws Enforced To Protect Disabled People

Nearly 600 people were cited in Boise last year for parking in spaces reserved for disabled people.

A Boise State University group says that isn’t enough and there’s a lack of consistent enforcement that deprives disabled people from parking facilities.

Five senior nursing students have been conducting interviews and doing their own surveying. They will present a report, with recommended changes, to the Boise City Parking Commission on May 18.

“The disabled citizens of Boise are being denied access to mandated disabled parking,” the group said, in a preliminary report sent to City Council member Jerome Mapp. “In effect, their lives are being restricted due to the insensitivity of others and the lack of consistent law enforcement.”

The students said their survey said that although the city does a good job of enforcing parking restrictions in public areas, private parking areas such as medical centers, physicians’ offices, pharmacies and grocery stores are “sorely neglected.”

“The same priority that is given to city parking is not given to privately owned parking areas,” the group said.

The students recommended that security personnel at health-care facilities be authorized to issue tickets to drivers who violate the code. If that is successful, the practice could be expanded to (grocery and retail) managers.

The study notes that of the 23,480 disabled people in Idaho, 4,383 live in Boise.

People who park in spaces reserved for disabled people can be fined $50. The study recommends that the fine be increased to $100, with the additional revenue used to promote public education on the misuse of disabled parking spaces.