Getting Answers : Drivers Abuse Disabled Spaces

ROBERTA BERENS, Encino

I find it upsetting to see perfectly able-bodied people taking handicapped parking spaces.

Physicians are being pressured to sign the necessary forms for patients who, when the illness is over, continue to use the placards. Sometimes relatives use the placard and park in handicapped spaces and at meters without paying. Some people park in the marked spaces when they don’t even have the proper placard.

Is there any way to discourage this behavior?

FRANK S. ZOLIN, Director, California Dept. of Motor Vehicles

Investigators from the DMV have been working with local law enforcement agencies in California’s major cities the last two years to conduct surveillance of areas where placard abuse is suspected. They’ve swept through those areas and ticketed those who were using the placards illegally.

Most of these “sweeps” were highly publicized; many of the drivers were caught on-camera and embarrassed. Those cited were usually heavily fined by the courts, with a minimum fine of $250. Most placard abusers are friends or relatives of those to whom the placards are issued. If owners keep tighter controls on their placards and follow the rules under which they are issued, we’ll see a lot fewer cases of illegal use. We’ve also found only a small percentage of physicians are lax in their responsibility of confirming a person’s eligibility for disabled parking.

The department recently conducted a records check, matching a random group of state death records with our parking placard files. We discovered more than 1,700 placards still out there, issued in the names of people who had died. We have demanded their return, and will conduct similar random spot checks.