Disturbing TikToks show wheelchair users trapped at Atlanta International Airport after a selfish Porsche driver illegally parked and blocked doors to her modified van in an “ableistic” incident she said left her “alone in the dark” calmly.
- A disabled woman was stranded at the airport when she found her disabled van had been crushed by an illegally parked Porsche
- A frustrating back-and-forth between airport parking attendants and the police prompted Yvette Pegues, 38, to describe the situation as “more than unfair” and “ableist”.
- A spokesman for the Atlanta airport said the driver of the Porsche’s illegal behavior could result in fines and subpoenas
- Pegues’ Tik Tok documenting the incident has garnered 1.4 million views so far
A TikTok posted by a disabled Georgia woman went viral after the clips showed her arriving at the Atlanta airport only to find her disabled van blocked by an illegally parked Porsche.
In a video titled “BLOCK and LOCKED into parking space… (against)!”, Yvette Pegues, 38, documented her arrival at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday night, only to find her disabled van driven by a blue Porsche -SUV was blocked.
“I can’t even get out of the parking lot because my van was blocked by someone who parked illegally,” she said.
“I have a two meter ramp coming out of my car to exit the vehicle. In this case I needed at least two metres,’ she added.
Pegues, who is paralyzed from the waist down, then tried to contact airport parking attendants for help.
“I called the parking lot several times. Parking said, ‘Call the police.’ The police said, “call park,” so I was hesitating between the two,” she said. “I’m out here alone in the dark and I can’t come home.”
Yvette Pegues returned home after a long flight to the Atlanta airport, only to find her handicapped van illegally corralled by a Porsche
A confusing back-and-forth with airport parking attendants and the police didn’t solve Pegues’ problem and her husband had to pick her up
She says this isn’t the first time someone has boxed in her custom van, but it’s the first time she’s decided to tape it and post it on her TikTok, where it has 1.4million views attracted
To make matters worse, Pegues suffers from a cognitive delay.
Hours of back-and-forth with various parking authorities, all to no avail, left her mentally and physically exhausted, in addition to draining her phone’s battery.
Eventually her husband came to pick her up and it wasn’t until the next day that a tow truck came to pick up the Porsche so she could take her van home.
Pegues expressed frustration not only with the airport’s handling of the accessibility issue, but also with the driver ignoring the stickers on her van that read “Extra space required for ramp or elevator.”
“It’s one of the few times I wish I had working legs,” she said. “It feels beyond unfair, it feels intentional, it feels impossible to be honest with you.”
Pegues’ van needs at least six feet of space to get in via the ramp. She has put stickers on her windows explaining the situation
Before becoming disabled from a spinal impact during surgery nearly a decade ago, Pegues was a network systems engineer with a PhD from Harvard
Since becoming paralyzed, Pegues has embarked on a career as a public speaker and advocate for culture change
According to a WSBTV report, a Hartsfield-Jackson Airport spokesman said drivers like the one who boxed in Pegue’s van could face fines and subpoenas.
The spokesman also said of Pegues that she has “a lot of experience at the airport, serving as both the chair of the airport’s ADA committee and as an ADA volunteer.”
“We reached out to them to determine exactly what happened and will make changes in our responses to situations like this,” he added.
Pegues suffers from T-10 SCI from a stroke she suffered nearly a decade ago. Before her illness, Pegues was a network systems engineer and received her PhD from Harvard.
In subsequent Tik Toks posted to her page, Pegues thanked viewers of her first video for the advice, saying that “education, training and disruptive change are needed for airport policing and parking management. Change policies, enforce ADA laws, and hold offenders accountable.’
@yvettepegues
♿️ I appreciate those who have commented with support, compassion, and an amazing understanding of disability human rights and ADA law. I’ll do my best here to help fill in some gaps for those who asked if I’m okay and requested updates👍🏼 1. No fake video or exaggerated situation. It often happens with disabled drivers. This time I documented. 2. There are 2 buttons on the call box: police and parking. Each told me to call the other from the box. I was not given phn directly. 3. No tow signs. Fam called from hm to find two co. ready to tow me or another car from an ATL city prop. Liability prohibited airport staff from operating an ADA van. 4. I have NOT [intentionally] yell at operators. Was asked to comment on previous calls due to loud surround sounds from airport garage roof. 5. The recorded conversation ended amicably. He said he would send an officer and directed me back to the parking lot. I thanked him. Nobody came. 6. I was regularly harassed [again] from strangers in a lot. phone died. Went back inside for health and safety reasons. 7. I ran into a van that helped me off the plane hours ago. He alerted the police SGT who took me back to the parking lot. 8. Sergeant AWESOME spent the next 90 minutes solving the problem. Took both the police and the parking lot. On the phone to get a city-appointed tow truck to agree to come. After it arrived at the parking garage entrance, they said the truck didn’t have any [height] Release to get to the roof. 9. We exited the van because I was medically, mentally or physically unfit to drive um safely. Another car was still there. 10. The next day, the specified car was finally towed…18 hours later. Picked up van. Rtn’d back hm sure…PTL🙏🏽 Education, training and disruptive changes are required for airport police and parking management company. Change policies, enforce ADA laws, and hold offenders accountable!
♬ Don’t let me down – old daddy