Parking sweep causes hardship for special-needs driver

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. — Village board and staff here have recently initiated a crackdown on vehicles over a certain weight parking in residential areas, impacting a local special-needs school bus driver.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Marie Taillon has parked a small school bus in her driveway for more than 23 years. She transports her son, who has cerebral palsy, to his job at a daytime workshop before she begins her route each morning.

Village inspectors recently began enforcing a rule that prohibits parking vehicles over 10,000 pounds in driveways. Complaints from residents about commercial vehicles led the village to recommit to the rule’s enforcement.

In order to avoid $150 tickets and fines up to $1,000, Taillon now drives to the Barrington Transportation Co. before dawn to pick up her bus. She has appealed to the village, arguing the rule is causing a hardship for her and her son, but officials are reluctant to start making exceptions, according to the Tribune.