To many Iowa State students, the parking regulations enforced by the Department of Public Safety may seem quite clear.

But there is a flaw.

It may come as a surprise to many, but not all handicapped parking spaces on ISU’s campus meet state requirements.

Doug Houghton, program coordinator of the DPS parking division, said DPS is constantly working to improve parking lot accessibility.

He said DPS tries to help individual handicapped students figure out the best possible places to park, based on the student’s schedule.

“We don’t manage accessible parking on a lot-by-lot basis. We look at our system as a whole,” Houghton said. “We manage our system as a whole.”

According to the Iowa Public Safety Department’s Web page, an amendment adopted on Dec. 28, 1995, established new guidelines for handicapped parking.

The amendments states, “The first handicapped parking space in a parking lot or parking structure, and every eighth handicapped parking space provided thereafter, shall be a van accessible space. A ‘van accessible’ space shall be 96 inches wide with an adjacent access aisle at least 96 inches wide.”

It also mandates that universally accessible parking spaces, or standard handicapped spaces, be 132 inches wide with a 60-inch-wide access aisle.

“I can’t guarantee that each space [on campus] meets the criteria,” Houghton said.

In order to serve the needs of all handicapped students on campus, handicapped spaces are constantly moved around, Houghton said.

New handicapped spaces sometimes must be added where non-handicapped spaces previously existed. This results in some spaces that do not meet the state guidelines, he said.

Houghton said a handicapped accessibility study was recently done on campus, but since then, both state and federal laws have changed.

He explained that some signs on campus show the fine for parking illegally in a handicapped space as $50, while other signs say the fine is $100.

According to Iowa law, the fine is $100, but some of the signs have not been changed yet. Houghton said that change is an ongoing process for DPS.

“We’re all in a position of making changes. I’d like to think that by summer, we’ll be where we’d like to be … I’m not sure we will reach the point where each spot [on campus] will meet criteria,” Houghton said.

Houghton said he has received some complaints from non-handicapped students and faculty about the inadequate balance of handicapped spaces in parking lots.

Some parking lots have more handicapped spaces than others, because the location of handicapped spaces is configured to meet students’ needs, Houghton said. However, he added most handicapped students are pleased with the system.

“I’ve had no complaints from [handicapped] students using the service,” he said. “We seem to be serving that community well. We are always looking for suggestions.”

DPS invites all handicapped students to ask them for assistance in developing a plan for getting around campus.