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Here's What to Do If You Suspect Someone Is Misusing an Handicap Parking Space
What to Do If You Suspect Someone Is Misusing an accessible Parking Space Accessible parking spots are designed to provide accessible parking for people who have a disability.
They’re indicated with the international symbol for disability, diagonal hatch marks, and no parking. Those allowed to use the parking spots are issued with a disabled parking permit. When these spots are used by people who don't have a disability, it takes away the opportunity for someone who needs it to have access to parking. This is not only frustrating, but it's also illegal.
People with disabilities rely on these spots to make it easier to get around and run errands. There are several ways accessible parking can be abused, including parking in a spot without a disabled parking permit using someone else's disabled parking permit. It's also considered misuse if you're using a handicap permit that is invalid or has expired, using a disability parking permit that is counterfeit. All these are illegal, and you can handle them as explained below.
Assess the situation
Many conditions can qualify you for a disability placard, according to the ADA. Some of these conditions are obvious, such as blindness or using a wheelchair. Other conditions, such as mental illness, chronic pain, difficulty walking, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or cerebral palsy, may not be as easily recognizable. It's good to consider all these before you accuse someone of misusing a disability placard because they could actually be disabled.
It would be best to consider other scenarios that could have happened. Some may not have a placard with them because they left it somewhere or forgot at home. Some could be using an expired placard but have already notified the authorities. It's okay to understand them because anyone can forget or get confused.
File a report
After you're done with the assessment and you're still convinced that the person is misusing the accessible parking spot intentionally, you'll need to report to the authorities. To file a report, you'll need to call the police but avoid using 911 because it's not an emergency. You'll be required to inform them of the vehicle's location, vehicle's description, and driver's description. You'll also be asked to provide the registration license plates of the vehicle that you suspect is misusing a disabled parking and the accessible parking placard number if they have one.
Keeping in mind that these kinds of calls aren't prioritized due to insufficient resources, you shouldn't hang around waiting for an officer to come immediately. To help further, you can take a photo of the vehicle using a phone from a distance and send it to the authorities. The police will investigate the issue and charge the person mostly with a fine or a ticket.
Notify the parking enforcement officers
In an attempt to cater to the shortage of police resources, most states have traffic hotlines that deal with issues regarding traffic. Since handicap parking is under traffic, you can call these hotline numbers and explain the issue. Just like with the police, you'll be required to tell where the violation took place to describe the vehicle by probably stating the car model, color, and make. You will also give them the vehicle's registration license plates that are violating a disabled parking and the accessible parking placard number if one is present. In a case where your area doesn't have such a hotline number, you can call the local authorities like the sheriff's office. Your call will mostly not be prioritized, but eventually, there will be a follow-up, or you may be redirected to contact another department that's responsible for parking rules enforcement.
Complain to the DMV
In every state, the Department of Motor Vehicles is responsible for the evaluation of disability conditions and the issuance of disability parking placards and plates. They also regulate the use of disability plates and placards. In most states, the DMV has a specific department that deals with the abuse of disabled placards and plates. After you suspect a person is misusing disabled parking, you can complain to your state's DMV office. You'll be directed to fill out a form in which you explain the incident. If they find it alarming, they'll start an investigation. In the form, you'll be required to describe the vehicle that violated parking rules by stating the make, model, license number plate of the vehicle, and the disability parking placard if one is available. You'll also state the location where the violation took place and some of your information like your name, telephone number, and email address.
File the complaint online
Due to a lack of resources, your local DMV can take a long time to act. An organization, handicappedfraud.org, allows you to file a complaint faster online on their website. If you want to file a complaint easier and faster and have it acted on faster, you can visit their website here. On the website, you'll not only be able to file the complaint, but you can also view the cases that have been filed in the past. The organization takes the cases reported and forwards the matter to the local authorities, who will follow up. For this, you'll need to describe the vehicle that parked illegally. You can also provide a photograph if you're able to take one. You'll also state the location where the violation took place, the vehicle's registration plates, and a placard number if they have one.
Don't engage in confrontations
Sometimes it's very infuriating to find someone misusing handicapped parking and thus to disadvantage those who need the spots. No matter how much you feel validated, you should avoid confrontations. There's never a safe way to confront someone, and people have many issues. Although you might feel that you can calmly take it with the person, they might be having anger issues or looking for a fight, and it can even lead to violence or name-calling. This will not have solved anything, and worse, it puts you in danger. Instead of confrontations, you should try any of the ways explained above. Always consider your safety first in any situation and if you have a disability placard or plate yourself, make sure you always use it appropriately. It'll not mean that there'll be no misuse of accessible parking spots, but reporting and appropriate use by you keeps the incidences low.
