Disability Van Driver Gets Payback On Woman Illegally Parked In Restaurant's Handicap Space

Sep 17, 2021 by apost team

Let’s be honest: Sometimes it’s difficult to drive past an accessible parking spot and not feel a slight temptation to simply park there illegally! While the temptation may be present, most of us realize that these spots are reserved for those who need them and we are happy to park farther away from our destination.

However, in a video from 2014 one woman was caught opting to take up an accessible spot despite the fact that she was not disabled. Before you feel too offended at this act of injustice, be prepared for a funny ending!

The video from National Geographic begins with a host explaining that the aim of the video is to "try a little experiment," wherein a bus will drive around and find people who are illegally parked in disabled spaces. Once they find one, they're going to block it in and then very slowly exit the vehicle, giving the culprit a taste of their own medicine.

Soon enough, the van spots a violator and it's game on. When the crew found the woman illegally parked in front of the restaurant, he was ready for a little fun. So without missing a moment, the bus driver parked directly behind the offender’s car and then waited on her to make an appearance.

When the woman whose car the violation belonged to emerged from the restaurant, the driver began to unload his passengers with disabilities as slowly as possible. Since the bus had the woman blocked into her parking space, she was unable to move her vehicle until the van was finished unloading. 

As the camera focuses on the woman, who by now realizes what is going on, it's clear she is regretting her actions. She simply stands by and raises her hand to her lips, as if to say, "What have I done." She looks extremely uncomfortable as the bus begins to slowly unload its passengers, with one of the video team describing her look as "sheepish." When a man in a wheelchair is transported past her, she lets out a bashful “I’m so sorry.” As one person pointed out in the comments, clearly the woman is not actually sorry for parking in the space otherwise she wouldn't have done it.

Instead of moving or hurrying up, the van and its occupants force the disrespectful driver to simply stand in the sun and watch on. At one point, she suggests that she could “move her car now,” but the bus driver unloading the disabled passengers insists that they are parked too close for her to even try. Someone even described him in the comments as a "hero."

As the host says at one point, it's "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, bumper for a bumper." He adds that "it's payback time." While a very simple experiment, the actions of the crew were very effective — now that the woman has experienced exactly what happens to drivers who can only park in disabled spaces but end up having to wait while some person is illegally parked there, she has truly gotten a taste of her own medicine. Maybe now she'll rethink the next time she wants to pull the same move.  

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The video's caption says it all, explaining:

"It is time to make a statement to all of those people who park illegally in handicap spaces."  

Now viewed over 5.7 million times, hopefully, the entertaining experiment will reach more than just the woman in the video, but instead have a knock-on effect around the internet and subsequently, out on the streets. People in the comments loved the idea, with one person writing:

"This is brilliant almost beats the post it note one," referring to when people leave post-it notes on other cars when they've done something illegal.

Another person shared their experience and suggested how little things can really change the world:

"Nice. Please continue and start chapters all over the nation. Though I am not disabled, my father was, and I respectfully volunteer to pretend to be! I even used to yell at my mom when she would park in the handicap even though we were driving dads car with the proper permits. These are the little things that make the world the way it is. If people would just stop being so selfish and consider how their actions and words will affect others, we'd all be getting along a lot better. Just a theory."

For people like the woman, it might seem like they can simply park quickly and get away with it but more often than not, someone else will lose out. In this instance, the woman might have saved a few steps by choosing the accessible spot, but she certainly didn’t save time once the bus arrived and began to slowly unload! 

Have you ever taken an accessible spot when you didn’t need it? Do you know of any similar stories happening? The next time that you’re tempted to choose to illegally park in an accessible spot, be sure to consider the possible consequences. Watch the video for yourself and get a chuckle out of the justice the woman receives after stealing an accessible spot from those who truly need it, then pass it on to those you know.