News
Mayor seeks to curb fraudulent use of disabled parking placards
Illegal use of a blue or red disabled parking placard hangtag will result in a $250 parking ticket under new legislation Mayor Greg Nickels announced on June 11.
The proposal aims to end the unlawful use of placards that denies disabled individuals accessible parking and hurts patrons’ access to local businesses and activities.
“Abuse of disabled parking placards has real consequences for the disabled, denying them accessible parking for their daily work, shopping and medical appointments,” Nickels said in a statement. “This proposal will give our officers more tools to ensure disabled drivers, residents and visitors can more easily park on our city’s streets.”
The Seattle Police Department recently reviewed disabled parking hangtags used citywide and uncovered significant problems. Abuses found were placards that were expired, issued to people since deceased, or reported “lost” to the Department of Licensing but still in use.
When contacted about possible misuse, 85 percent of drivers were found to be inappropriately using placards.
Under current law, parking enforcement officers can issue tickets only directly to a driver, even in cases where an officer can verify that the placard is invalid, (i.e., expired, reported lost or stolen or permit holder listed as deceased).
Officers cannot simply leave a ticket on the vehicle. Under the new legislation the mayor has sent to the council, officers will be able to cite the vehicle. By providing better enforcement tools, the legislation will ensure more parking spaces are available for disabled patrons with legitimate placards and other parking customers.
The city expects this legislation will create incentives for voluntary compliance with current parking regulations.
Disabled parking privileges are issued by the Washington State Department of Licensing, provided drivers meet criteria as certified by a physician. A disabled license plate goes with the car registered to the disabled person; the placard is portable and may be used on multiple vehicles as long as the disabled person is in the vehicle while it’s being used.
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Comments
handicap parking placard
For those who use their disabled parking placards legally, check out this device at www.visortag.com. It protects the placard, clips to visor, and all you do is swing it down to park, and fold it back to drive. No hanging and removing the placard is required, and makes life a lot easier.
"Under the new legislation
"Under the new legislation the mayor has sent to the council, officers will be able to cite the vehicle. By providing better enforcement tools, the legislation will ensure more parking spaces are available"
well, at least the new law will ensure more TICKET REVENUE is available... citing the vehicle isn't a better enforcement tool, it's just another way for McCheese to get more cash for city coffers without having to wait for a person to cite.
Another Act of the Tyrant
Once again Nickels shows his true colors, and this is what in part motivates me to run for Seattle mayor - the mayor is a bully, and he is saving no one from anything. It's more of his administration's ongoing effort to control and dictate to citizens, and to use the power he has amassed to spin what really is an aggressive police action against a vulnerable population, into some story about how he is saving the population in question against would-be bad guys.
The dearth of parking for the disabled is not due to misusers and abusers of the disability placard. The shortage of parking for anyone, disabled or not, is due to the dedicated efforts of SDOT, following the City policy set by a City executive and rubber stamp city council, that are intent upon bringing about their vision of Seattle as the New Urbanism City of Tomorrow - regardless of who they have to shove out of the way, who they have to disenfranchise, and what group of people they have to civically dispossess. On-street parking is only the latest casualty in the let's remake the city in our vision contest known as "urban planning".
We went through this whole routine about the disabled placards a couple of years ago with the City going on their disabled placard witch hunt. I said it then and I say it now, this is an affront to the disabled, there is "abuse" of the placards, but the greater abuse is the City subjecting the legitimate holders of those placards, which I am one of those holders, to indignity, to harassment, scrutiny, inquiries, and general ridicule.
The few scofflaws outed have hardly made up for the hundreds of parking spaces eliminated by the City, nor has it resulted in any better access to what parking spaces remain. Not to mention, the City is also turning the screws on disabled parking by decreasing the amount of time that a space can be used by the disabled.
One of the quid pro quos in disabled parking was that in exchange for the City not providing designated disabled parking on its streets, as it should under the ADA (the City is not exempt from the ADA), the time allowed for disabled parking was indeterminate. Now that is gone, the City has decreased the parking time allowed for the disabled parker. Holders of the placards, which includes the many more legitimate holders of those placards, are increasingly being shook down by the City, to prove their disability, treated as suspects first, and as is typical in disability-dom and in situations with ADA implications, made to go through as many physical and psychological barriers and disruptions as possible for an opportunity to participate in society. It should be underscored also, that participation is not on parity with able-bodied people either, but at a disadvantage in comparison to able-bodied people.
There is no need for his legislation, it is a cheap easy way for the City to harass the holders of the placards. It's easy to see through it, and rather than having to prove their case, the City wants to be able to forego the legalities of proving their case, and instead be allowed to issue tickets willy nilly and haul you into court and make you prove the case for them.
This is the act of an arrogant and really, hateful mayor, and if the City Council goes along with it, well it says something about them too.
Elizabeth Campbell
www.c4seattlemayor.com
Disabled Parking Permits
Sadly enough, yes, there is abuse of these parking placards and as a disabled veteran, I see it quite regularly.
Going shopping can be a harrowing enough experience in itself at times, but trying to find a parking space for disabled parking can be even more of a challenge, thanks to abusers. I have seen many people park in the spaces, slap a placard up and go RUNNING into the store. That just plain "ain't right".
I have also been the victim of over zealous police ticketing my vehicle, thank you Renton P.D., for parking in a disabled space with both my placard hanging from the rearview mirror and also my disabled veteran license plates on my vehicle. A $250 dollar ticket issued and unable to talk to the Renton police department with them merely stating I had to go to court. Well, a day wasted in the courtrooms before my case was called up and then the judge dismissed it because, yes my placard is valid, yes I do have my disabled card which I must also carry in my wallet and yes, my license plates do state disabled veteran, issued by the state of Washington. So I had to take a day off from work to prove what was already proven to the state prior to issuance of the plates and placard.
The city of Seattle is not exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act and needs to get in line with the rest of the country as far as parking spaces and rules and limitations. Wake up Nickel! If you can take over our roads for the bicyclists who do NOT pay registration fees, road taxes or anything else to have free reign on the roads, disrupting traffic and violating every vehicle law there is, on a regular basis, shut down city streets so the bicyclists can take over, then by golly, gee whiz, you ought to take care of this situation also. I think the police have more important things to do than be parking permit nazis and you ought to have more spaces for disabled parking in the downtown areas instead of diminishing these spaces and putting more restrictions on them.
When you do find a violator of these privileges for disabled parking, nail them, by all means and do so heavily, with not only my blessings, but with the blessings of probably all of us who do need them, but don't take it out on those of us who do not abuse this privilege.