Mickey Jetpur Loc: California

True, I’m looking for a camera bag with lots of padding to hang around the handlebars. Haven’t found one yet! I think I’ll have to make one. There’s a gizmo called klick Fix that can turn any bag into a handlebar bag and one can buy the spungy foam container on Amazon. I have to find a bag big enough for my R6 Mkll ! Anyway as Spring approaches this is my next project. I did buy a Cotton Carrier Skout.

dwmoar Loc: Oregon, Willamette Valley

I got a eBike to. Use it to get to places, since I have a hard time walking for any distance. It is a great way to haul my equipment and in the meantime even get more exercise.

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Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

My wife and I bought a pair of E-bikes for getting off the road and onto the walking trails at the wildlife drives that we
go to for photography. Schwinn's, and really nice bikes. But at $1800 a pop!! We are still trying to get things configured with padding for the cameras. The big thing is getting the recue puppy Coco comfortable riding in one of them. So far, she is not convinced that any of that stuff is a good idea!!
The other concern is Alligators!! No concern at all in the car or truck, but there are some BIG Gators along the Florida wildlife drives!

Indiana Loc: Huntington, Indiana

You have a nice set-up for yourself and your equipment. With your difficulty walking, I would recommend you contact your doctor, explain your mobility problem, and ask for a handicap placard that you can put on a lanyard and wear around your neck while riding. This will avoid any issues of traveling on trails or bike trails where issues may arise concerning your e-Bike. I do this...it works...no one gives me any grief...and everything is good. Even law enforcement is reluctant to deny access to an identified handicapped person.

Effate Loc: El Dorado Hills, Ca.

I know I am going to piss a lot of people off but it is just my thought on misuse of handicap placards. I personally wouldn’t encourage someone who could and should be walking to better their situation (health and mobility) to exploit/abuse the original purpose of handicap placards. I know they are issued to many who have or claim medical limitations that may not be visible to me but I am amazed how most who use them seem quite ambulatory when they are exiting their cars. Seems like most who use them could use a few extra steps in their life’s. I feel the same way about the abuse of bringing any animal in a restaurant or grocery store that isn’t a guide dog or a dog for military PTSD or a dog in training for these tasks. Seriously, I believe these accommodations are very important for those with special needs; the operative word is NEEDS.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I think you are right. You will piss a lot of people off with this post!
I have diabetic neuropathy in my feet that makes it very painful to walk. And I'm not a huge slug. Six feet, 235 lb. Totally invisible but very REAL, you should give it a try sometime!..
But, I don't have a placard. My wife says I should get one, but I have a very hard time considering myself dis-abled. In a store I use a shopping cart to keep some of the weight off my feet, but even so, I pay for it when I get home with agonizing pain until a double or triple dose of pain-killer finally kicks in. And, yes I know that I'm slowly killing myself.
I also have a rescue puppy that I bring into stores/restaurants. Not for my support, for her's. She would lose all the ground we have gained over the last year if we abandoned her, even for an hour or so to sit down for a meal. She is not a Military PTSD dog though I do have PTSD resulting from Military service. I try to find a restaurant with outdoor seating and always ask before I bring her inside a restaurant.
So far, you are batting 1000. I don't think it will get any better with more responses!!

IreneAC Loc: San Diego

Absolutely agree!

Indiana Loc: Huntington, Indiana

Doctors determine handicap needs, not the individuals. I go to the gym every day and look very healthy. Having said that, I have chronic heart failure and pulmonary fibrosis. I have a placard for 12 years. Even healthy looking people have serious health issues. I can't do inclines, hills, or stairways. So, the placard identifies the user as handicapped. In order to identify myself as such, outside of the vehicle, the placard serves this purpose. I have no other identification that serves that purpose. It is not a misuse of the placard, but rather a creative and functional use of it. I only encourage people to obtain a placard if there is a health issue. Handicap placards are issued to the individual, not the driver of the car. The restriction is that the handicapped individual needs to be in the vehicle, even though the driver may not be handicapped. This provision is self enforced, with violations frequently noted, as you have. What I have described are ideas and comments on this issue. What works for me may not for you or others. Well, keep shooting until you run out of film. Indiana

dwmoar Loc: Oregon, Willamette Valley

thanks for the information

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I will confess that I was once a member of the "just suck it up and go" crowd. That changed when severe arthritis in my knee put real limits on the distance I could walk and the sorts of obstacles I could negotiate. My ability to maintain balance was also severely affected. Knee replacement last November and the ensuing therapy and rehab have eliminated many of my limitations, and if you watch me, I walk pretty normally. But I still can't do stairs, and going up and down at a curb can be daunting, even following the standard issue "bad leg up, good leg down" instruction that is pretty much universal. So for now, I am still using my parking placard most of the time.

So for me, and in keeping with other examples already given, the best guidance seems to be for the doers to do what they need to do and for the watchers to withhold judgement. Sometimes our eyes don't tell us everything we might need to know about a situation.