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underpants

(182,279 posts)
Tue May 13, 2014, 09:20 AM May 2014

Designated parking for low-emitting and high-mileage vehicles

So I pull into work today and see a co-worker's fully loaded Dodge pick-up in one of the 3 designated (with signage) parking spots.

I email my supervisor who in charge of administration. Her response was, " at my old job I parked in the hybrid spots and no one said anything. Plus, my vehicle was designed in Japan but built in the US so it is a hybrid."



I could see this was going nowhere so I didn't reply. I will do so one-to-one.

15 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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seveneyes

(4,631 posts)
1. I makes environmental sense to make easier parking for lower mileage vehicles
Tue May 13, 2014, 09:25 AM
May 2014

Since driving them farther to find parking pollutes more than high mileage vehicles.

upaloopa

(11,417 posts)
2. Why are there spaces for low mileage cars?
Tue May 13, 2014, 10:40 AM
May 2014

I don't understand. We have spaces with electric hookups for electric cars. That makes sense to me. But designated spaces for low mileage cars doesn't.
My wife has a car that gets about 30mpg which isn't fabulous these days but she drives only 10 miles a day on weekdays. So in terms of who is polluting she is low on the scale. Should she get a special parking space if low polluting is the standard?

Orsino

(37,428 posts)
4. Over time, the steps one saves make getting a hybrid attractive.
Tue May 13, 2014, 11:53 AM
May 2014

I have benefited from this at my job for eight or more years. That's a lot of minutes not spent walking out to less-convenient parking space. Over the years I've seen more spits designated around the office,band that program expanded to include carpoolers as well. This pleases me.

FSogol

(45,360 posts)
6. Those spots exist because the building was trying to get LEED certification as
Tue May 13, 2014, 12:11 PM
May 2014

an energy saving building. It is an inventive for people to drive hybrids.

Info on LEED:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_in_Energy_and_Environmental_Design

frazzled

(18,402 posts)
11. Smug?
Tue May 13, 2014, 12:25 PM
May 2014

What's wrong with doing your part in trying to reduce emissions and help contain the spread of pollution and fossil-fuel use? What's wrong with trying to do your own small part in reversing climate change?

We've driven a Prius for eight years, and I've never once felt smug about it. I've never talked to anyone about it who didn't ask how we like it or what kind of mileage we get. It's just a choice we made when we had to get a new car, and it seemed like the only logical choice on the market eight years ago.

chrisa

(4,524 posts)
14. When you pull into such a spot, you poop gold nuggets for the rest of the day.
Tue May 13, 2014, 02:17 PM
May 2014

I kid - OP has a legitimate complaint. If they aren't going to enforce the rules, why have special parking?

frazzled

(18,402 posts)
9. All the supermarkets here have those low-emission, alternative fuel spots
Tue May 13, 2014, 12:17 PM
May 2014

And every time we go to the Jewel or Mariano's or Whole Foods, those spots are filled with giant (non-hybrid) SUVs and Jeeps and other ridiculously inefficient vehicles.

We circle around until we find a spot for our 8-year-old Prius that is at the far end of the lot. I wish they'd just take down the signs if they're not going to enforce them.

PS: We had a stack of leftover fake orange cards that a friend had given us years ago. They were notices that look just like traffic tickets that inform people that they have a gas-guzzling SUV (with a lot of further explanation in fine print), and the address to mail back the "ticket" was to George W. Bush at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Pretty out of date, but my husband would occasionally jump out and put one of those tickets on a low-emission parking spot violator's vehicle. Fortunately, we ran out of them ... because I was worried he was going to get beaten up or worse if a driver caught him putting it under their wiper blade.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
10. Lol. I used to work with a guy....
Tue May 13, 2014, 12:25 PM
May 2014

...at an office that had those spaces. He mounted a large solar panel on top of his car and demanded that he be permitted to park his "environmentally friendly" vehicle in the spots. Management relented, even though the panel only powered a lighter socket. He reasoned that his laptop was always running when he was driving, which added load to his engine and decreased fuel efficiency. By moving that load to the solar panel, he improved his mileage and helped the environment. Management didn't want to get into it with him, and figured that if he was willing to go to that extreme to get into the spot, he could have it.

The rest of us were pretty sure that the added drag from the three foot wide mounting box bolted to his roof more than negated any fuel efficiency gains the solar panel might have provided. We also suspected that the thing wasn't actually hooked up, but there wasn't much anyone could do.

jwirr

(39,215 posts)
12. I can see the value of these parking regulations but our county built a new welfare office which
Tue May 13, 2014, 01:33 PM
May 2014

serves the elderly and disabled. They put the special parking directly in front of the entrance and there is not enough parking for any of the rest of us. Not to mention their clients are too poor to have the kinds of cars they want parked in these spots. I hate going there. Plus the spots for special cars are almost always empty.

Nye Bevan

(25,406 posts)
13. I'm pretty sure that more rich people than poor own this kind of car.
Tue May 13, 2014, 02:14 PM
May 2014

One-percenters in Teslas get reserved spots while poor people in used Chevys do not.

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