What will it take to get nondisabled drivers to stop parking in accessible spots? Here are seven hard-core parking abuse strategies wheelchair users have employed to try to answer this question.

7. Explain it to them nicely.

Maybe that person parking in that accessible spot doesn’t realize it’s against the law? And rude? And ruining the day of someone who actually needs it? Assuming the best of their fellow citizens, the Colorado Advisory Council for People with Disabilities put photos of disabled placard holders on parking signs with the saying, “Think of Me.” During the campaign, the town of Arvada says it saw a 50 percent decrease in people parking illegally in accessible spaces.

6. Make them see ghosts.

In a Russian mall if a nondisabled person slides into an accessible space, a ghost appears! OK, it’s a hologram, not a ghost, but it’s still spooky. The nonprofit Dislife worked with Y&R, an advertising agency, to pull off this neat little programming trick. Cameras pick up whether a vehicle has a placard and, if not, a hologram of a wheelchair user pops up to shame the nondisabled driver. Or, more likely, give them a good scare.

5. Create your own parking space.

Last September British mum Claire Lomas asked her local council very nicely more than once for an accessible spot at her daughter’s school, but the council dragged its heels. So she bought a can of spray paint and made her own. When asked about her actions by the local media, she said, “Tomorrow I can take my daughter Maisie into school.”

4. Take their spots and see how they like it.

Leaving notes that said things like, “we’ll only be a minute,” and, “I’m just grabbing a cup of coffee,” two cities in Portugal and one in Brazil parked empty wheelchairs in prime parking spaces. Lisbon and Vila Real in Portugal and Avenida Jaime, Brazil, participated as part of the “National Day of Struggle for the Disabled” held on Nov. 27, 2014.

3. Guilt trip them.

The short film “Just 2 Minutes” shows the worst that could happen if a nondisabled driver sneaks into an accessible spot to just run in and grab something from the store. The ending of this well-done video will stay with viewers for a very long time.

2. Leave your own note … thousands and thousands of them.

Brazil television show Boom pranked a nondisabled driver illegally parked in an accessible spot by covering his entire car in blue post-it notes, with the universal access symbol picked out in white post-it notes. The driver’s response? Not that different than a frustrated placard-holder’s who has just circled the block about 10 times.

1. Park there anyway.

We don’t know who this van driver is or where this photo originated from, and we don’t suggest readers try this at home. But we all know how the driver feels. And now the motorcyclist knows, too.

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