California Cracks Down on Disabled Parking Cheaters (Finally!)

California laws changed the first of the year to make it more difficult to obtain and renew disabled parking placards.

Hallelujah.

I wish I could jump for joy. But I can’t because I’m disabled. And I don’t have the time to even try. I’m too busy looking for a handicapped parking space while sneering at able-bodied folks using the spots.

Often they are just shoppers or restaurant patrons, but these dastardly motorists include Uber drivers, construction workers, delivery people and armored truck drivers (all of whom have blocked some of the handicapped spots where I have tried to park).

Since cancer left me disabled nearly 13 years ago, I’ve been growling at cheaters and ranting about them in my blog and social media. I’ve appealed directly to my local law enforcement officers, praised the occasional sting operation and investigated ways to report the crimes (There's nothing really effective. Parking Mobility has hopeful merits but it's not for me, when I'm driving alone.)

And now, on the heels of a scathing state audit that showed California’s administration of the disabled plates and placard system embarrassingly sloppy, the state implemented a law January 1 that begins to address the problem.

I think the law should have been harsher (given the magnitude of disabled parking fraud), but it’s a start.

Consider some horrifying statistics from the audit:

— As of June 30, 2016, DMV records showed there were 26,000 drivers aged 100 and above with active placards or plates. That same year, there were 8,000 centenarians in the state. 

— Additionally, some 35,000 dead people still had active placards/plates. 

— Of 2.9 million placard/plate owners in the state (about one in 10 drivers), auditors estimate that in a three -year-period, 1.1 million placards/plates were issued without proper medical documentation (required to obtain a card).

— During that same time, 260,000 applications were approved with questionable medical signatures.

The problem, the audit concluded, was multifold, but boiled down  to improper tracking and enforcement and lax rules that let cheaters get away with using placards they shouldn’t have.

The new law will put some tighter rules in place: making changes to the application process to require more detailed verification about what qualifies the person for a placard, a change in the automatic renewal process for permanent placard holders, and a limit on the number of replacement cards a holder can receive.

Previously, if you get the blue permanent placard, it would be good for two years. At the end of that period, a new one just appears in your mailbox, free of charge. As I wrote in a previous blog post, this just invites misuse. 

The new law mandates a renewal process requiring applicants to fill out a notice every six years, beginning with the placards expiring in 2023.

It's a step in the right direction, but not strict (or quick) enough. Why not require an occasional recertification by a doctor?  Some might find that burdensome, but I’m pretty sure disabled people see a medical professional fairly often, so it would be no big deal to get another signature every four or six years.

Another aspect of the new law is a limit on how many replacement placards a person could get. Before, you could get a replacement if yours was lost, stolen or damaged by filling out a form and giving it to the DMV. In nearly 14 years of using disabled placards, I only remember one time when I had to get a replacement (and I am constantly dropping and losing things). But the audit found with no limitations, people abused that option. Big surprise.

Nine people had requested and received 16 or more placards over a three-year-period and two had applied for and received 20 or more.

Now, the new law limits you to four replacement placards in a two-year period, without having to get a medical certification. Again, I don’t think this strict enough, but at least it’s something.

Other audit recommendations the DMV is adopting are improving record-keeping, matching its files with death records, working toward a system where a traffic enforcement officer can check a database of registered placard owners, and scheduling, monitoring and publicizing more stings.

All good ideas. 

And there’s another one that the DMV pledged to implement: a public awareness campaign (similar to the seat belt and texting ones) alerting the public that it’s NOT OK to park in a disabled spot or to use a placard illegally.

Seems like common sense, I know. But unfortunately, there are lots of folks out there who use someone else’s card, use them after their loved ones die, sell them on the internet or visit doctors who promise to sign a disabled plate certification for a fee. And that doesn’t include the flagrant violators who think it’s OK to park in the spots “just for a minute” (like to use an outdoor Redbox movie dispenser or pick up take-out food) or think their work (construction, Uber driving or delivery) trumps the law. 

While the enhanced rules and plans won’t solve all the violations I see on a regular basis, it has to help. With better scrutiny of the application process, an emphasis on improving enforcement and a public awareness campaign, maybe — just maybe — people who regularly break the disabled parking laws will curb their inconsiderate, illegal behavior.

That would be great news to those of us who depend on those spaces. 

What if the Driver Blocking your Disabled Parking Spot is a Member of Law Enforcement?

A regular topic of my blog posts is abuse or disregard of disabled parking spots. Some people just are uncaring and flagrant about breaking the law.

But what if the people blocking your spot are members of law enforcement? 

This happened to me recently when some LA County Sheriff’s Deputies blocked the only handicapped spot at my post office. It happened on the same day the local head of the district office was introduced in our local paper.

I sent him this letter in the mail the following day:

On Thursday, March 6, the same day the Signal ran an article about you becoming the top deputy in the Santa Clarita area, I was disappointed by actions of some deputies and annoyed enough to alert you to the incident.

I have lived in Castaic for the last 11 years and have been disabled for nearly nine of those years after a cancer battle. A former journalist, I write a blog about what I’ve learned and what I think needs to be brought to the public’s attention as I go through life on this different path. My blog is called View from the Handicapped Space.

A common topic is disabled parking and how frustrating it is to see so many insensitive people making my life worse by disregarding the law, either due to insensitivity or ignorance.

I’ve enclosed two of my posts regarding this issue, one which highlights the problems with only one disabled spot at the Castaic Post Office on Franklin Parkway and the other which points out how often careless motorists block such spaces.

Imagine my chagrin yesterday afternoon when I arrived at the post office around 2 p.m. to find the insensitive people blocking the only handicapped space there were three sheriff’s deputies.

Their vehicle was parked perpendicular at the end of the only disabled spot. There were plenty of other empty spaces around. I could have parked in one of those a distance away, but if you look at my post that is titled “Grrrr” it’s really a chore for me to walk all the way around to the slanted sidewalk so I can go up the handicapped ramp.

They did not appear to be responding to an urgent matter. The lights on the car were not on and they were walking slowly on the sidewalk, meeting up with a woman who they then accompanied into the office. At that time, I rolled down my passenger window and hollered at them to get their attention, waving my disabled placard. A female deputy approached and I asked her to please move the car, explaining it was blocking the only spot.

She did, without apology.

When I got into the post office, the deputies were in the area of the postal boxes, discussing something with the woman.

I would hope you would take a note of this incident. And emphasize to all your deputies that blocking a handicapped spot -- even for just a short time -- is rude and insensitive to citizens who they are supposed to be working to protect. 

I did not get a response.

In the big law enforcement scheme of things, disabled parking problems probably rate near the bottom. But from the perspective of all those who rely on those spaces to get to where they want to be, this is a huge deal. How many of us will have brushes with crime in their everyday life? For me, I have a few times been the victim of a thief. And, thankfully, I have never been the victim of a more serious crime.

But I routinely deal with disabled parking lawbreakers: people who are not handicapped but use the spots anyway, drivers who have borrowed disabled parking placards and think it’s OK to take the spaces from the disabled, drivers and passengers who literally jump out of the cars to go to a restaurant or shop. I feel powerless to do anything about them, except give them dirty looks.

My former hometown of Phoenix has a hotline for reporting illegal disabled parkers. No such thing exists in Southern California. One guy, an advocate for wheelchair users, recently made the news in Phoenix when he spotted and photographed an able-bodied Glendale Police officer in a disabled spot and requested that the officer be ticketed.

In that case, the Glendale Police Department chief and others responded right away, apologizing in an email. A police spokesman said such behavior is unacceptable and said the department was handling the incident internally.

Three weeks after I sent my letter, the sheriff’s office has not replied to me.

The disabled man in Arizona suggested that if the officer in question was not ticketed, the department should make him undergo disability sensitivity training.

"It's an issue everywhere," Timm Aguirre said. "This officer's actions show that he's saying maybe it's OK to just park somewhere just for a little while. It's just one spot.
But it's not OK."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Disabled Parking Placards II: More You Should Know About Cards, Parking Spaces and the Law

Here’s a scenario that’s becoming more and more common. I pull into a parking lot at one of my favorite (insert type of establishment). The (insert small number) disabled parking spots are taken.

I shake my fist.

“Darn you, handicapped people! Why is everyone out today?”

In the old days, maybe there were enough handicapped parking spaces to go around. Maybe handicapped people just stayed home. Since I joined the disabled community more than seven years ago, this much has become apparent: There aren’t enough spaces and there are way too many cheaters.

As I’ve stated in another blog post, the number of disabled people is going to escalate in record numbers. Nearly 80 million baby boomers began turning 65 two years ago. They will be joined in disability by a large number of injured war veterans.  Not content to stay at home as they decline in their physical abilities, these folks will use mobility aids to shop, dine, meet friends and go to appointments. They are going to be needing those parking spots.

Here’s how to improve things:

Don’t park in the handicapped spaces unless you or your passenger is disabled.

Blatant violations of these are common. In the recent past, I’ve seen an Edible Arrangement deliveryman using one of the spots to unload and distribute his fruit goodies at a dental office complex. One of my disabled friends spotted an armored car parked sideways in front of a Wells Fargo bank, making disabled spaces unusable -- a regular occurrence there, she says.  One LA resident took a photo on Memorial Day of a pickup towing a boat parked across all the disabled spots at a Burger King.

Memorial Day cheater

When a disabled Arizona woman with her family tried to park in a handicapped

spot at an A’s/Dodgers spring training game this year in Phoenix, the security guard told her the area was being saved for a team bus. Her husband let her out in her wheelchair and parked in another spot far away. At the end of the game, she noticed cars parked in the restricted area without disabled placards or plates. She snapped a photo as a Dodger player, surrounded by fans, got in one of the cars and drove away. The woman complained to the supervisor at the lot, then the city, who blamed a misinformed security guard. She got swift replies and apologies from the city, the mayor’s office and the facility manager who told her “the A’s policy is to hold all marked spots for patrons with disabled placards.” He assured her that before next year’s spring training, he would make sure the stadium staff knew not to let this happen again. 

Perhaps we could sign the rest of the world up for training in attitude adjustment.  Because, security guard or not, the Dodger did not think it was wrong to park in those spots. And clearly, lots of other people agree.

I see them not only parking in the spots, but in the crosshatched spaces in between the blue spots. These are not “free” areas: they are areas required by disabled people in order to use their wheelchairs or walkers.

Despite disabled only blue signs and the crosshatched spaces often stating NO PARKING, many motorists who are not disabled brazenly violate the rules. In their minds, parking for a couple of minutes in one of those areas is OK.

IT’S NOT.

A few months ago, my husband and I were meeting family at a restaurant. It was in a strip mall and there were two disabled places in front of the establishment. A female driver with no disabled placard had parked her wide Ford Excusion in the crosshatches, so the vehicle was spilling into both blue spaces and we couldn’t park in either one. She was sitting in her car, the motor running and the windows rolled up while someone went to get takeout at a different restaurant. We drove slowly around the parking lot, giving her ample time to leave. After several minutes, my husband stopped our car, got out and asked her to please leave as she was blocking all the spaces.

She politely moved the car. Into a disabled space. We took the other one.

Crosshatched lines clearly state "No Parking"

Had I been driving myself, I could not have done what my husband did BECAUSE I AM DISABLED. I would have had to park far away in a regular space, cursing her under my breath, or drove around until the woman and her family finally got their food.

Don’t use a placard unless it’s yours. 

This, too, is a growing problem. A Los Angeles Times article in May 2011 said  abuse of handicapped placards is increasingly common in California. When law enforcement conduct sting operations, one DMV official estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the placards are being used illegally.

There are consequences. In California, misusing a disabled placard is a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of up to $4,200, imprisonment in county jail for up to six months, or both.

Examples of placard abuse include: loaning your placard to friends or family members (disabled or not), using a placard when the person it was issued to is not in your vehicle, and using a dead person's placard.

Why do these cheaters abuse placards? Sometimes it's to get a closer parking spot. Other times -- and this is a common problem in certain areas of Los Angeles -- it's to score free metered parking. (Yes, that is one benefit of disabled placard here: you don't have to pay for public parking meters.)

Change the requirement for the distribution of placards.

In California, a disabled person must have a medical professional's signature to qualify for a temporary (six months) red or a permanent blue disabled placard.

In the eyes of the state, permanent means two years. A few months before your placard expires, a new one (free of charge) with an expiration date in two years will show up in your mailbox. No questions asked.

It's an invitation for abuse.

Dodger pulling out of a spring training spot
Photo by Stefany Scovell

If the disabled person gets better or dies, the new placard still arrives. I have a permanent placard and while I enjoy the simplicity of this system, I think it is partially responsible for all the cheaters using disabled placards. The state should require another medical signature verifying a permanent disability every few years.

A note that arrived with my placard this year said: "If the placard owner is no longer at this address or the placard owner is deceased, the placard must be returned to your local DMV office or mailed to the Department of Motor Vehicles."

Yeah, right. I wonder how many placards the DMV receives each year. With all the stuff survivors have to do after the death of a loved one, heading to the nearest DMV office or post office to return the placard cannot rank high on anyone's list. The natural thing to do, if you are an honest person, would be to throw it away.

Or, if you are someone who think's it's OK to screw over disabled people, keep using it until it expires. A new one will magically appear in your mailbox every two years.

The 2012 Handi Awards: Places That Make Life Easier for the Disabled

I’m quick to whine when I have trouble finding accessible accommodations in my daily life. But sometimes I am blown away by how accommodating a particular establishment or staff is.

So in the spirit of the Southern California obsession with awards, I hereby announce my 2012 Handi Awards: places that have made my life as a handicapped person easier.

First, a word about the methodology: It’s entirely unscientific, comes from a female perspective and is geographically limited to places within easy driving distance of my home. It’s a compilation of particularly accommodating places I’ve visited the last seven years in my wheelchair or walker. 

And while you may not be in my neck of the woods to visit these spots, you can be heartened knowing some people do take care to make disabled lives a little better.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the winners of my 2012 Handi Awards.

AHMANSON THEATRE 135 N. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles

After an unpleasant experience in the nosebleed wheelchair section of a show here, I was assured by a season ticket seller things would be different for me if I returned as a regular customer.

Boy are they.

Not only is handicapped parking a breeze via their discounted valet service, but the seats are perfect (not in anyone’s way or blocked in by other patrons) and the attendants are always courteous and efficient. They wheeled me in when I was in a wheelchair and remove and retrieve my walker as needed during other shows. The women’s handicapped restroom is fantastic -- a room in itself including sink -- and separated from all the other stalls. I can bypass the line of patrons at intermission waiting for a stall. 

Carpinteria State Beach, Carpinteria

Free, convenient disabled parking right on the beach makes this a nice spot if I want to see some surf or breathe ocean air. Or visit some of fabulous restaurants nearby. But first I’ll hit the clean, easily accessible public restroom on Linden Street in the free parking lot.

COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road,  Santa Clarita

While this venue could use a spot to drop off disabled ticket holders, it always provides a top rate experience once I get into the theater, whether I am in a wheelchair or walker. 

Volunteer attendants kindly escort me to my seat, bring me my walker at intermission and, when I am on the lower level, lead me to an easily accessible handicapped restroom that is not for general public use.

GAVIOTA REST STOP, HIGHWAY 101, SOUTH END OF THE GAVIOTA TUNNEL

I’ve been in plenty of rest stops I shudder to recall, but this one near Santa Barbara brings a smile to my face. It’s clean, it’s been open every time I need it and it has a friendly attendant there to point out the handicapped-accessible stalls.

Nestled in a beautiful setting and well-maintained, this is a rare rest stop where I would actually consider “resting” and maybe using a picnic table. 

JACK-IN-THE-BOX, 26547 Bouquet Canyon Road, Santa Clarita 

Located in a busy shopping complex, this Jack’s goes out of its way to make a visit enjoyable for the disabled. Parking is convenient, restrooms are lovely and accessible and the seating area inside has at least one designated table for a wheelchair.

When I ordered my curly fries (I had a craving, OK?), I asked for a cup for water. The server set down an empty tray and my cup and then I remembered I was disabled and couldn’t carry these to my table.

 (I do forget sometimes -- like when I recently bought a twin-pack of cute umbrellas at Costco and then, when I got home, remembered I can’t actually hold an umbrella and walk with my walker.)

I took the cup from the tray, went over and filled my water, then stuffed a napkin and straw in my pocket and managed to sit down without spilling. When my made-to-order fries were ready, the counter guy called out my number. I looked at him and when he realized it was me, he walked around the counter and delivered my fries on a tray right to my table. So kind.

THE GREEK THEATER, 2700 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles

The disabled parking in this venue needs major improvements, but the Greek gets high praise for its accessible restrooms. Built along the lines of its bowl layout, bathrooms are easy to get to no matter where you are sitting.  The stalls are plentiful and, during intermission at the concert I attended, the handicapped-equipped were  guarded by an attendant who saves them for those who are truly disabled. Yay!

 THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON, Hollywood

My treatment at my favorite late-night talk show couldn’t have been better. When I called to see how accessible it was before I brought two friends down to the CBS studios, a guy at 1Iota (the agency who handles tickets) called back to answer my questions and assure me it was worth the trip.

I got primo parking, sat on my seated walker in the shade and chatted with a security guard while others lined up elsewhere on the sidewalk. Restrooms were quite accessible and convenient. My friends and I and other less-abled folks were given a separate elevator ride from the rest of the throng. And while other fans descended via stairs to their seats, I was led backstage and escorted to mine on the stage level. Two courteous staffers helped me climb a few steps to my front row seat. It was just as easy getting out of there after the show was over. 

MASSAGE ENVY, 25636 The Old Road, Stevenson Ranch

My regular massage site makes my day without the added stress of getting in the door and up on the massage table comfortably. When a front desk attendant or sometimes my therapist sees me approaching the glass door, he or she will open it so I don’t have to struggle just to get in. Ditto for exiting.

Best of all, the heated massage tables can be electrically lowered to where I can easily get on them (not the case with fancier spas I’ve been to), then elevated to where the therapist can work. 

When I visited a site in Northern California, I realized not all Massage Envy locations have such accommodating tables. The perk  -- and the wonderful massage therapists -- make me a regular at this location.

(P.S. Take heed, doctors: Is it possible to get examining tables that you can lower? I don’t think I’m the only person who can’t “hop up” on them.) 

Disabled Parking Placards: Everything You Want to Know. Or Should.

We’ve all seen them: the blue or red parking placards for the disabled hanging from interior mirrors of vehicles.

But we can all stand to learn more about them. 

I can only speak for laws in California, because that’s where I live. Everyone should check out their own state’s laws regarding obtaining and using a parking placard for the handicapped. I’m sure the information is available online.

How to qualify

Here’s the description copied from the California Department of Motor Vehicles website:

You may qualify for a DP(Disabled Person) placard or DPplates if you have impaired mobility due to having lost use of one or more lower extremities, or both hands, or have a diagnosed disease that substantially impairs or interferes with mobility, or one who is severely disabled to be unable to move without the aid of an assistive devise. You may also qualify if you have specific, documented visual problems, including lower-vision or partial-sightedness.

I know, it reads like a partially-sighted person composed that, but you get the idea.

How to apply for one

Start with your doctor, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant. They must sign off on the paperwork and many have forms in the office.  Alternatively, you can print the form online and bring it in with you. 


Don’t be afraid to request one from your health provider. It may not be on his or her priority list but it may be on yours. I needed one almost immediately when cancer struck, but even if you have a temporary affliction, it might be worth getting a temporary placard.

You can either mail in the form or bring it to the DMV and they’ll issue you a placard over the counter.

Types of placards

In California there are three basic types you can apply for: the red temporary placard, the blue permanent placard or the disabled person license plates. The red one is good for six months (and costs $6) and then you have to reapply with another form signed by a doctor.

The permanent placard is free and is good for two years. You do not have to reapply. One will be sent to you before your other one expires.

If you get the disabled license plates (also free), you need to surrender your current plates. The downside of that is that you give up the portability of the placard: You can put it in any car in which you are traveling, not only the one with the plates on it.

What they allow you to do

Everyone knows the disabled placards let you park in a space, usually blue, with the wheelchair symbol designating it as a handicapped spot.

You can also park in any metered street spot without paying at all. (Yippee. One teeny tiny thing that’s good about being handicapped.)

You can also park in any green zone without regard to time.

You CANNOT park where the curbs are white, yellow or red. A security guard I was talking to recently asked me if I realized I could park in any red zone. No, I said. He said his mom has a handicapped placard and that it is indeed true. Actually, he said, you can park anywhere.

No, you can't.

The paperwork that comes with the placard specifically spells out where you can and cannot park. Red, yellow and white curbs are forbidden.

Other benefits

If you have a disabled placard, a service station attendant must, on request, refuel your gas at the self-serve rate except if that station has only one employee on duty at the moment.

This law is pretty much useless to me.

I usually see only one employee at a station but can’t really tell from my driver’s seat how many people are on duty.

To inquire how many folks are on duty or to ask for help filling your tank you need to push a button that it is on the pump.

If I get all the way out of my car, collapse my walker so I can fit between the pump and my vehicle, and am positioned to reach the help button, I may as well fill‘er up myself. If I have trouble, which I do sometimes, there is usually a kind stranger  I can ask for help.

Another benefit, at least here in Los Angeles: valet parking companies will usually give you a discount or waive the rate if you hang your placard while you pull in. You still need to tip them, of course. 

What not to do

Do NOT hang a placard from your rearview mirror while you are driving around. It's to be used only when you are parking. Mine says right on it “Parking Placard”. It also says across the top: REMOVE FROM MIRROR BEFORE DRIVING VEHICLE.

But apparently many people don’t notice that. Every day I see motorists who are driving with their blue or red placard hanging in the middle of the window.

Do you realize it then becomes more of a handicap because it limits your field of vision?

It reminds me of my sons, who leave their Coachella concert parking hangers on their mirrors because it shows other drivers they are Coachella alums. But disabled folks don’t need to brag about their limitations. And we certainly don’t need to give each other mobile high fives because we are all in the same club.

Last, do not loan out your placard to others. Or use one if you are not disabled. It's illegal, immoral and inexcusable.