invisable disability/parking

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From the Los Angeles Times May 6, 2003

BEHIND THE WHEEL - By Sharon Bernstein, Times Staff Writer

Handicap That Allows Parking Isn't Always Obvious

Some limitations, such as heart or lung disease, are not readily

visible, so it can be hard to tell if a person has a legitimate need for

the privilege.

Now here's something that gets a lot of drivers really steamed: It's

Sunday

afternoon at the beach, people seeking parking spaces are circling like

sharks,

and a healthy-looking chap zips into the parking zone for the

handicapped, hangs a

blue-and-white placard in his windshield and hops out.

In one case, reader Fry wrote, the offending driver and his

companion

proceeded to take bicycles out of their car and ride off down the beach.

" I had polio as a child, and it's obvious to anyone why I have a

handicapped card, "

Fry wrote. But " what debilitating handicap might a bicycle rider

possess? "

Any number, actually, said E. Botello, a spokesman for the state

Department of Motor Vehicles.

Drivers or passengers can qualify for parking spaces reserved for the

handicapped if they have obvious problems such as the loss of one or

both legs, or a condition that

requires the use of a cane, walker or wheelchair.

But people with certain diseases of the lungs or heart also can qualify

— and some might well be on doctors' orders to ride their bikes or go

walking, he said.

Those with temporary disabilities can apply for placards to hang in the

car in which they are riding or driving. The cards are good for six

months. Patients with permanent

disabilities can get special license plates.

" It's really hard to tell just by looking at a person, " Botello said.

" There are many disabilities that can qualify a person for a placard or

a plate. "

Los Angeles sees plenty of cases in which a driver has illegally parked

in a zone reserved for the handicapped, said , a deputy

mayor for transportation issues whose last job, as a lawyer in the city

attorney's office, involved prosecuting violations of rules covering

parking for the handicapped.

But, said, he just as frequently prosecuted outraged drivers

who had assaulted people they mistakenly thought were using fraudulent

handicapped cards. " Not every disability is something you can see, " said

, who prosecuted a notorious case a few years ago in which

members of the UCLA football team illegally parked in

reserved spaces.

" We had a number of cases of battery, " in which drivers with plates for

the handicapped got into fights with people who thought they shouldn't

have the privilege.

Just before Christmas two years ago, said, he learned of such

matters firsthand. The 6-foot-4 attorney, who looks like someone who

could have played college football (he was in the band), tore his

Achilles tendon and had to go about on crutches for several weeks.

On Christmas Eve, he pulled into a space reserved for the handicapped in

Old Town Pasadena, a temporary parking placard displayed prominently.

" A lady sees me from the chest up — this big, tall guy, getting out of a

car — and she starts yelling, 'You should be ashamed of yourself,' " he

said. " Then she saw me hobbling away on crutches and apologized. "

But what about people who really do scam the system? A colleague reports

that his dad, not disabled, has tags identifying him as handicapped.

A woman was seen popping out of a Mercedes-Benz at a Starbucks in the

San Valley with high heels, a brisk walk and a tag for the

handicapped that some speculated might have been her mother's.

Reader Jim Barry of Huntington Beach wants to know if there is an 800

number to call to report such suspected scofflaws.

Afraid not — in California at least. Botello, of the DMV, recommends

reporting suspected violations to the police.

The DMV does, however, point out that it is illegal to use another

person's placard, forge a doctor's signature, provide false information

to obtain a placard, alter a placard or lend your placard to another

person.

Violators risk fines and imprisonment — along with loss of the placard

or license plate.

Among the people eligible for such placards — as passengers, of course —

are those who are legally blind. To qualify, such passengers must have

eyesight of less than

20-200 in both eyes, even with glasses. Surprisingly, perhaps, it is

legal to drive in California as long as one eye sees better than 20-200

with glasses.

Reader Judy Rubin points out that such drivers do have trouble reading

road signs, however, and wants to know what state highway officials plan

to do about it.

" My suggestion would be that all north onramps would have a huge magenta

arrow and all south onramps would have bright turquoise arrows, " Rubin

wrote.

" For those of us with difficulty reading those signs from a distance in

spite of eyeglasses, it would be a tremendous help. We wouldn't hold up

traffic as we try to switch lanes at the last minute because we couldn't

see whether we had to be

in the left or right lane. "

Rubin suggests hot pink for the sign showing instances when more than

one car may enter the freeway when the metered light is flashing green.

We asked Caltrans spokeswoman Deborah whether road signs were

indeed designed to be seen by people whose vision neared that 20-200

mark, but she said that they were

not.

" There is no direct correlation between DMV vision requirements and

Caltrans freeway signs, " she said.

In other words, said, it is assumed that if a person is licensed,

he or she can see.