Question: I see all these van emblems in the handicapped stalls more and more, and am wondering if we can still park in these handicap stalls or not. … I have seen these same emblems in Vegas and was told by a sheriff there that I could get a ticket for parking in those stalls, which are for vans transporting handicapped people.

Answer: As long as you have a disability parking placard or license plate visible in or on your car, you can park as usual in a handicapped-accessible space marked as “van accessible.”

These larger spaces “are designed to be accessible for vans but are not limited to vans. The difference is in the size of the access aisle, which is wider to allow for a lift to be deployed,” said Francine Wai, executive director of Hawaii’s Disability and Communication Board.

If more than one accessible stall is available — one for a car and one for a van, for example — DCAB asks that car drivers be courteous and park in the smaller space, leaving the larger one for a van transporting multiple passengers. That’s a request, though, not a requirement.

“In many locations there is only one stall due to the size of the lot, so the stall is designed to be larger but is available to anyone with a placard,” Wai said.

Reader feedback

Tuesday’s Kokua Line column about the law that says when to put garbage bins at the curb for pickup (808ne.ws/523kline) generated reader feedback. Here’s a glimpse:

“Although you answered the writer’s question (“Law regulates times, places bins can be put out on curb,” May 23), it was incomplete, and it encourages people parking their cars to park directly in front of bins that have not yet been emptied by the city’s refuse/recycling trucks. When that happens the bins remain full, sitting on the part of the sidewalk strip that neither impedes vehicular nor pedestrian traffic, but we forfeit collection because the bin is inaccessible. Here’s the important missed fact: The truck collecting trash or recycling cannot control the arm holding the bin, sufficient enough to place it back on the narrow strip between the street and the sidewalk; therefore, he places it down on the street. Many residents cannot place their bins back onto their property until they return home from work in the evening. I strongly suspect the people desperately looking for parking on the street near the University of Hawaii wrote to you in an effort to intimidate homeowners who abide by the law. Warning: You block my legally placed bin on trash/recycling pickup day, we will be certain you are ticketed and towed. My neighbors who, like me, don’t need street parking have had to tape warning notices to their bins.”

(The question came from a Waipahu resident trying to park on her own street, not a university-­area scofflaw, but we get your point.)

“The reader complaining about neighbors blocking street parking … is assuming they do it on purpose. … Talk to them … and maybe work things out in a friendly way.”

“The bins would not be emptied if a car is blocking access to the bin. This means the owner of the bin would have to wait for the next pickup day. … That is the reason the bin was on the road. … The person wanting to park there could check the bin to see that it was emptied, then move the bin off the road and park their car.”

“The rules should also apply to the ones making the pickups. We always place our bins at curbside, off the street; however, perhaps in their haste to finish their rounds, most would constantly leave the empties on the street, impeding vehicular flow. Pity our dedicated mail carriers!”

“People do use bins to mark their territory. Thanks for reminding them they don’t own the road.”

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.