I just mailed a check to the Bismarck Municipal Court in the amount of $45 after a fine was levied on me because - - as I learned after the fact -- I displayed my handicap parking permit on the dash beneath the rearview mirror rather than hanging it on the rearview mirror.
It has been my understanding that the intent of a handicap parking permit is to give the owner of the permit clearance to park in a space designated for the mobility-impaired. My permit was clearly visible on the dash, so there should have been no question about whether or not I was legally parked there, yet I was found to be in violation of a city ordinance and was fined.
I am disappointed to think that any citizen should be on the receiving end of an excessive and heavy-handed fine such as this. I am a law-abiding citizen and I followed all of the proper and legal procedures to acquire my handicap parking permit, only to be fined because it was clearly displayed a few inches in the wrong direction. As far as I can see, the placement of my handicap permit caused no harm and posed no danger to anyone.
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In my opinion, it would better serve the fine city of Bismarck to spend energy and resources on issues such as creating safer streets and enforcing traffic laws (like stopping at red lights) rather than handing out parking citations to elderly, mobility-impaired individuals who are clearly displaying state-issued handicap parking permits on the wrong part of the dash.
I do wonder if the "powers that be" feel that they have done their best to work for the betterment of the elderly mobility-impaired population through these actions?
Alice Damschen, Hampden