Combating Handicap Parking Permit Abuse

COMBATING HANDICAP PARKING PERMIT ABUSE

By Allan Appel

The illegal use of handicap parking permits has become more commonplace. Fraud and abuse have become so prevalent that many state and local jurisdictions have begun crackdowns that involve both the police and citizen action groups.

Some of the more common abuses of these permits include using other people’s placards, using the placard of a deceased person, or using altered or counterfeit placards.

In Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe, the Registry of Motor Vehicles will begin cross-checking death records with the Social Security Administration. This procedure should ensure those placards are taken out of circulation when the driver dies.

Proposals to increase the fine for the fraudulent use of placards are also surfacing, with amounts reaching up to $1,000. And that’s for only the first offense. Driver license suspensions are also proposed for one year.

One proposal goes so far as to make it a felony to use an altered or counterfeit placard, punishable by up to five years in prison.

The Massachusetts registry has also created a complaint form available on its Web site at mass.gov/rmv.

Local police are strained in enforcing placard abuses because of its labor-intensive nature. Budget limitations prevent raising the priority level of these kinds of violations.

That is one reason citizen patrols have been popping up around the country. Local groups are being authorized to issue citations to violators on the spot. They operate in cars or on bicycles and tricycles, and even on foot. The police provide them with all the training and materials, as well as uniforms.

Some of the states with citizen patrols include Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, Nebraska, Ohio, California, Washington and Tennessee. These patrols are writing citations generating millions of dollars in fines annually, in addition to significant cost savings of not using regular on-duty police personnel. And that also frees up the police to pursue their other duties and responsibilities.

And these violations are not victimless, as some people may think. Those of us who use accessible vans for our wheelchairs have a compelling need to use those specially designated spaces. Without them, we feel trapped. And when a van-accessible space is unlawfully occupied, we feel nothing less than a personal violation of our freedom.

The lawful use of those spaces is an absolute right.

It’s just that simple.

Allan Appel writes a biweekly column about disabilities. He can be reached c/o Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, 1939 S. Federal Highway, P.O. Box 9009, Stuart, FL 34994, or e-mail at aappel223@yahoo.com.