‘Empathy signs’ discourage people from parking in spaces for the disabled

Mike Perel with an “empathy sign.”

Approximately 75,000 Fairfax County residents have a disability and need access to parking spaces set aside for them. Yet, many people ignore the signs designating parking for the disabled. The  county police department issues about 200 to 300 tickets a year to people who illegal park in spaces for the disabled.

Mike Perel, an Annandale resident who is serves as vice chair and Braddock District representative on the Fairfax Area Commission on Aging, has come up with a novel idea to address the problem.

Perel’s solution is “empathy parking.” This involves placing empathy signs under the “DMV permit required” signs in accessible parking spaces. The signs feature a man in a wheelchair, accompanied by the phrase, “Think of me, keep it free” or “Think of me, park legally.”

The Commission on Aging and the Fairfax Area Disability Services Board are trying out this approach.

According to Perel, the goal is to dissuade drivers from illegally parking in accessible parking spots by motivating them through empathy instead of the fear of a fine.

Perel encourages the owners of condos apartments, shopping centers, and other parking lot operators to install the signs under the required “DMV permit required signs.”

Parking in a handicapped space or in the striped access aisles next to the space, even for a couple of minutes, is illegal and can result in fines up to $500. The striped aisles next to the accessible parking spaces enable older adults and people with disabilities who use canes, walkers, scooters, or wheelchairs to safely get in and out of their vehicles.

Perel reminds the public that many people who have license tags or dashboard signs indicating they are disabled have “invisible disabilities.” They may not be wheelchair-bound but have conditions that limit their ability to walk and are thus eligible to request a special license plate or placard from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

In a study, with the help of George Mason University student volunteers, the Commission on Aging found empathy signs made a difference in driver behavior, WDVM News reports.

Those signs were more effective than raising the fine. When the fine was raised recently from $250 to $500, it didn’t reduce the number of parking citations, Perel notes.

The study took two observations into account: violations and hesitations (when a driver pulls into an accessible parking space, sees the sign, and pulls out). The commission observed a small parking lot for two weeks without the signs, two weeks with the signs, and two weeks following the removal of the signs.

“What they found, even in a small study, was a reduction in violations by about 40 percent and an increase in hesitations by about 30 percent,” Perel says.

The change is relatively inexpensive, he says, and it’s a good option for owners of parking lots who regularly receive complaints about drivers parking illegally.

The commission is spreading the word about the signs. Perel is working with the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia to install the signs in its parking lot in the near future.