Throughout the month of May investigators with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) cited 136 individuals, 10 from Santa Clarita, for misusing disabled parking placards, officials said Friday.

The DMV holds up to 24 enforcement operations each month throughout the state targeting illegal use of disabled parking placard, according to officials.

During the past 11 months the DMV investigators have issued 1,866 citations and verified 20,420 disabled person parking placards, officials said.

“Disabled parking placards are issued to a specific person and the person to whom it is issued is the only person that could use it,” said Jaime Garza, a spokesperson for the DMV.

When a disabled placard is issued it has a number that matches a number on a registration card.

When investigators are conducting placard checks, when they see drivers pull into a disabled parking area, the DMV officials make sure that the placard number matches the same digits on the registration card and ask to see identification.

“If the three don’t match we confiscate the placard and issue a misdemeanor citation,” Garza said.

Drivers are able to drop off a passenger with a disability close to a door and then park in a disabled spot.

If a parking enforcement officer does ask for proof of the disability requiring them to see the identification of the disabled person, the driver must go get their passenger, according to officials.

Due to all disabilities not being visual officials urge residents to not assume someone is misusing disabled parking spots just because they don’t see them using a walker, wheelchair or cane, according to officials.

“Some people may have heart or lung problems, which is not visible,” he said.

DMV officials also want to remind the public that it is illegal to use no parking areas next to a disabled spot for loading or unloading their vehicles.

“These spots are used for vans that have ramps used to get people with wheelchairs out of the car,” Garza said.
Those who illegally use disabled parking placards and are caught can face fines that range from $250 to $4,000 depending on the jurisdiction of where the citation was issued, according to officials.

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