Half the wheelchairs are motorized now and can run me off the sidewalk. Why would a motorized wheelchair need a parking space in front? It seems like technology is a cheaper and more cost efficient solution to much of this.
10 percent of the people that work in San Francisco are handicapped and need these placards, and get free downtown parking in the best spots. It's pretty amazing.
The fine for parking in a red zone is usually much less than a blue zone so if you need to cheat drive right up on the sidewalk to the front door and park there.
Simple - for the additional room on either side of the vehicle to get the chair/person in and out.
Not everyone has a motorized chair. We had a family friend we visited often. She was in a nursing home and wheelchair bound due to age (90s) and arthritis. We would pick her up there and all go out to dinner. Her movement into and out of the car (front seat of a large sedan) was difficult, requiring the front door to be completely open and the help of extra hands.
Because of the extra area afforded by HC spaces we never had to get her in and out w/ the door raking up and down against the side of the car next to us, but if she was still alive I would be glad to pull in next to yours to see how well it would all work out.
Why yes, I did see that you mentioned a motorized wheelchair... Well now, that's different! Tell me, what happens when the van with the lift out of the side parks in the far corner of the lot as you propose and when they come back out there is a car parked in the space right next to them? Or how about when they try to keep that from happening and someone keys their van (again) because they were so inconsiderate as to park using two spaces?