You may have noticed these signs are replacing the old handicap ones. I read an interview with the designer, and she said she didn't like the image of a person in a wheelchair sitting upright and static; she wanted to project movement so that it gives the subliminal message that handicapped people aren't dead weights. I suppose that's a noble cause and all, but to be honest whenever I see it the image that comes to mind is either the person is suffering from severe constipation or their scoliosis got out of control.

Ken White at Popehat explained much more articulately the point I made last month.