OLD_GOAT

Yes, there is more than one type of Vette tax and tonight I almost got 'taxed'.

The wife and I took the new Vette (still has paper tags) down to the local supermarket in order to do some banking.

After leaving the store, before I even left the parking lot, I noticed all sorts of red and blue lights coming on behind me. So, it looks like I'm getting pulled over by a local cop, but I couldn't have broken any laws.

I get out of the car (not nervous or anything, just wonder what's going on) and I ask the cop what I did wrong. He asked me what I was doing parking in a handicapped parking spot, and I tell him that we have a handicapped hanger for the mirror. He then asked me if we had the hanger on the mirror. My answer was yes we did.

He told me that someone called the local office and reported a new blue Vette parking in a handicapped spot without a handicapped license plate or hanger. I told him that my wife was legally handicapped and it was legal to park where we parked. I then showed him the hanger and he said that everything was cool. My wife is a >40 year type one diabetic with neuropathy and heart disease. Outside she looks healthy, but inside she isn't healthy at all. I told him that whoever called in on us could kiss my *** and he laughed.

By now everything was OK so I told him I figured he was pulling me over to check out the car. Well, he then asked if I minded him checking out the car, which I said OK. So he looked around and admired the car, plus he asked me a couple of questions.

My opinion is that someone was jealous as hell, then tried to sic the cops on us..............epic fail on their parts.

Just another Vette 'tax' for those of us who own one.

steve8

I look at anyone who is parking in a HP spot regardless of car and physical appearances.
My Wife at 52 has been disabled for three years now and at times looks ok (although wearing oxygen at a relatively young age should be a clue).
If you have a placard, you're fine by me.
If you don't, watch out!

4thC4at60

Jealousy likely did not play a part.

Most Vette owners don't require a handicap parking sticker or tag... someone saw a Corvette pull into a handicapped spot and made a call....

One cannot, of course, determine the health of someone simply by the kind of car they drive, but the myths and stereotypes are difficult to overcome.... the stereotype of someone with enough money to buy a luxury car is that of one in good health.

Glen e

Cross country MC accident when I was 36-->artificial hip...I have a handicapped sticker, yeah i get looks every time I park.

Karanx7

The officer shouldn't have pulled you over for that. It's illegal to pull you over just because someone called in a handicapped parking violation.

WelderGuy

Since the majority of Vette owners are older people, seems like the a fair number might have some sort of physical disability. Yahoo had an article a while back that reported the median age as 61.

Supermassive

I am 34 and my wife is 25 (yeah i know...I'm a dirty old cradle robber) and the looks we got when I would park the car in the expectant mothers parking at work had me laughing on more than a few occasions. My wife and i work at the same place and we carpooled in the C7 so parking in the completely empty expectant mothers parking area afforded me a brief reprieve from having to park my Corvette among the sea of beat up Priuses and Volkwagens that litter my work's parking lots. Now that she is too pregnant to come to work I have to park in BFE to keep people from parking on top of my car.

Jontall

Never get out of the car... Just sit there with your hands on the wheel in plain sight. There are a lot of accidental shootings because of this-- rant over. I'm glad they didn't ticket you.

grandpawmoses

What a great idea.

davidtcpa

Admittedly I also look at whose parking in a handicap spot without a permit. I have a 15 year old son who is totally handicapped in a wheelchair I never got a handicap permit because I always felt as long as I can walk the distance and still fit him in the wheelchair without needing the extra space I'm ok (stupid on my part).

Anyway, I get really frustrated when I see that parking space abused by people using someone else's permit. (Happens all the time).

mksz51

Don't forget mental disability - based on select posts I read on this forum I suspect that is an issue also.

theanswriz42

Show me any law (in the USA) that says it's illegal for police to pull you over for that...

jedblanks

It is illegal to ask them what their handicap is. Unclear if the officer did that or not, but definitely sounds like he wanted an explanation. Pulling a suspect over with suspicion of "non-handicap" thus requiring them to prove they are handicap, would most likely fall into that category in front of a judge.


Per American Disabilities Act.

LDYSTIG

My SO had hip surgery at the ripe age of 27 so the doctor had authorized a temporary handicapped pass because his mobility was so limited. I have a hard enough time being a 25 YO female (I look like I'm 16) and getting out of my Vette, but if looks could kill, I would have been dead over a dozen times from carting my guy around and parking in the handicapped spots for a couple of weeks.

Kracka

Same with my dad and his C6. People need to worry about their own crappy lives instead of getting in the middle of other peoples' business.

jedblanks

Good luck with that. Seems people spend way more time these days worrying about others' problems than tending to their own affairs. I guess it makes them feel better about their crappy situation to belittle others. Some people take it to the extreme and try to destroy nice things others have. This country is filled with bitter a-holes.

11B250

lol at all of this. Corvette criminal lawyers at work

10mm_

Everyone knows only old people drive Corvettes so they should expect parking in the handicapped spot

bapd77

As an LEO myself, I can tell you he has no "tax" for you. Maybe the reporting party did, but not the officer. We respond to the calls we receive. We also don't "target" Corvettes. I've never stopped a car that wasn't breaking a law.

bapd77

Where'd you get your law degree?