Disabled Placard Abuse

Lend your DP placard to another person. Per the California Vehicle Code, abuse of a DP placard may result in cancellation and revocation of the placard, including loss of all privileges it provides. California Vehicle Code §§ 1825, 4461, 4463, 21458, 22511.5, 22511.6, 22511.7, 22511.55, and 22511.59. Business and Professions Code §13660. The City of Sacramento Parking Enforcement Division is authorized by California Vehicle Code § 22511.56 enforce the misuse of disabled person placards. The Department of Motor Vehicles conducts periodic operations throughout the state each month in an effort to reduce the impact disabled person parking placard fraud has on those who need accessible parking. Results are posted on the California DMV News page. Abusers of DP placards prevent disabled persons with valid DP placards from finding accessible parking, which causes a hardship for many who rely on DP parking spaces when they need to shop or conduct business. In addition, DP placard abusers also prevent non-disabled patrons from parking at non-disabled spaces by using the DP placard to park for free or for long stretches of time. The efforts of STOP ABUSE will allow more parking spaces to free up and facilitate a better flow of traffic in and around the city of Sacramento.

They primarily investigate when local authorities and citizens request assistance. They make exceptions in specific cases, such as when the Collegian provided disabled placard numbers and corresponding license plates for the sting operations earlier this semester. At 12:23 p.m. DOT made their way around the surrounding streets of City College campus. Pamela Crenshaw, an addiction counselor and legally disabled driver parked her car. She put up her disabled parking placard and walked towards the campus. She says, “I have a brace on my leg, I have spinal arthritis. According to an email from Jessica Gonzalez of DMV Media Relations, “Individuals must keep their DMV application receipt in their vehicle with their name on it, as well as the placard. This verifies who is either operating or riding in the vehicle is in fact, the same person using the placard. This is an enforcement issue at the local level, and placard abuse is more appropriately handled by local police and parking enforcement authorities.

They’re in the best position to actually witness the offense and are the citing authority.“ In short, the DMV is involved in issuing placards, not enforcing them. The DMV asked Collegian reporters to place all questions to other enforcement agencies that are better equipped to solve the situation. Agencies like, the Department of Transportation, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the City Council of Los Angeles are said to have more effective methods to stop disabled placard abuse. In order for enforcement, a citation needs to be written. There also needs to be “on-site evidence” of an infraction witnessed by a law enforcement or parking enforcement officer. Cadet Flores of the LACC Sheriff Department researched how easy it is to get a disabled placard through illegal means. He explained, “People don’t even need to go to the DMV to renew their placards, it happens automatically. This creates an opportunity that further perpetuates the problem. If a disabled driver doesn’t change their address, a placard is sent to their previous address and lands in the hands of someone who is not disabled.

It is up to the person receiving the placard to decide whether or not to return it to the DMV. City Councilman Dennis Zines, former LAPD officer, is still working on legislative changes. Chief Legislative Deputy, Brian Perry said, “State administered programs such as these would have to go through state legislation. This takes a lot of time, because the state must provide the mechanisms for it. We need to make it convenient for law officers and authorities to identify the abuse easier. We could designate parking meters for disabled, although that would be protested widely by people who are actually disabled. They wouldn’t be able to access the buildings as quickly as they need to. This is a hard legislative change, because we have to be sympathetic to both sides. Chief Legislative Deputy Perry was included in some of the sting operations performed in Downtown, Los Angeles. He explains, “I was on a sting operation with DOT and we were picking off people left and right.

The parking problems are affecting several other community colleges, including ELAC, Pierce and Glendale Colleges. Professor Tory Topjian from Glendale College said, “I have a placard because of my walking disability, but most of the time I don’t use it, and try to walk the extra distance. I only use it when I absolutely have to. I teach too. A lot of times, I have to go to the parking structure on top of the hill to park and it’s a sad thing. After months of intense investigation and sting operations, the Department of Transportation has successfully reduced the amount of misused disabled parking placards in the metered parking around City College, but what can help curb the problem completely? For the past few years, some students have been using the metered parking as their own personal reserved parking, free of tickets and free of charge, but DOT has gone to great lengths to cut down on the problem. Monday for a sting. Using data collected over the past year, the amount of disabled placards has decreased from 45 to around 12 daily.