Citizen’s Arrest! Breaking down barriers, one parking spot at a time.

This year’s theme for World MS Day is “access” and it is a great opportunity for all of us to think about the key pillar of the theme: breaking down barriers and providing MSers with access to the same tools, services and facilities as those who do not live with Multiple Sclerosis. Seems easy enough, right?

You’d be surprised.

Sophie Paterson, over at worldmsday.org, jotted up some examples of access issues from around the world. Have a read below. MS is complicated enough and when compounded with accessibility issues, our lives can grow very frustrating and disheartening.

Examples of Access Issues

Courtesy of worldmsday.org (click here)

I recently came across an App that makes an attempt to improve accessibility with a dose of citizen’s vigilantism, one parking spot at a time. I read about it in Fast Company’s article, “Become A Vigilante With This App That Lets You Report Cars In Handicapped Spaces” by Ben Schiller, staff writer for Co.Exist (click here).

Photo courtesy of Parking Mobility app

Disabled parking is so very important and when we notice someone illegally parked in one of our spots, we fill up with feelings of frustration, anger, pain and fear. Mack Marsh, head of “Parking Mobility”, created an app that allows you photograph these offenders and report them to authorities (click here). Over 150,000 images have already been downloaded, in one county alone, and he hopes to spread this to more cities across America.

Hear the crowd roar!

After all, accessible parking does indeed give us access to the important services we all deserve: employment, medical treatment, entertainment and even shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Proost!

Christie