My mother (who was dropping me off at CVS), had gotten something in her eye and couldn't drive. We were by the handicapped parking area and she knows very well that she cannot park there, so she parked in an area in between two handicapped lanes. This area has no handicap signs in the front of her car, nor did it have the handicapped symbol painted on the floor. What it did have were these yellow diagonal lines. She knew that she couldn't parked there, but she only had the intention of clearing her eyes, and she wasn't in a handicapped lane. However, the commotion, as she was about to leave an officer came up and gave her a ticket of $250 for "Handicapped Parking."

My mother could had easily parked in a handicapped lane to fix her eyes, but she had made sure that the lane she parked in did NOT have the handicapped symbol or sign in front.

Is this justified, even though my mother wasn't in a handicapped lane? I know that she should get a ticket; for she parked in a non-parking area. However, I feel that at most, she should a ticket for a restricted parking zone or something, since she was NOT in a handicapped lane. Any ideas or suggestions?

Diagonal lines indicate a no parking zone. However, a handicapped area would generally be blue, not yellow.

Your mom can try to fight this in traffic court (not small claims) on the grounds that a) she was not in a handicapped area and b) she was not "parked since she didn't leave the car.

Unfortunately for your mom the judge will have heard many other excuses of equal need and will likely still uphold the ticket. His logic may be that if she could see well enough to pull into that spot she could have taken one of the non-handicapped parking spots. Pleading innocent and stating her case may make her feel better and, who knows, she may prevail.

Of course this will likely vary from state to state, but in my state (MD), the area you are talking about is considered the "van access" area, and is provided so that there is room for a vehicle parked in the adjacent handicap space to load and unload wheelchairs and other similar devices. I was a court bailiff and heard this matter argued a few times, the defendant always lost. Its considered part of the handicap space.