Assemblywoman Fiona Ma: Abusing disabled placards

I've always been a strong advocate of people with disabilities and have worked to ensure their equal rights.

Living in a big, busy city like San Francisco can be very dangerous for pedestrians and people with disabilities, especially without countdown and audible signals at crosswalks or when sidewalks are obstructed. Making sure that safety measures, like countdown signals at crosswalks, are installed and maintained has been a top priority of mine.

Recently, a new issue that adversely affects people with disabilities was brought to my attention - the misuse and abuse of disabled placards.Ê ÊÊ

In a City with all too many cars and not enough parking, it's important that disabled parking is protected for those who are disabled and that people who are illegally parking their vehicles in spaces designated for people with disabilities face the consequences.

The widespread misuse of disabled placards has contributed to an already difficult parking environment in San Francisco. Between September 2007 and September 2008, 1,234 false placards were confiscated in San Francisco. The number of disabled placards issued between 1995 and 2005 increased 122 percent, while the number of cars registered between those same years only increased about 11 percent - it doesn't add up.

To help fix this problem, I've introduced legislation, Assembly Bill 144, which will make parking placard violations easier to enforce. The law, "Protecting Parking Placards," will decriminalize the misuse and abuse of disabled parking placards and instead allow parking control officers to issue citations or parking tickets if abuses occur.

Under current law, it is a misdemeanor for someone to, among other things, use a counterfeit, forged, altered or mutilated placard. Parking control officers who currently issue citations for these violations require special training and legislative authorization. Enabling parking control officers to cite violators will ensure that tickets will be issued more frequently for misuse.

By decriminalizing the abuse of disabled parking privileges, it will be easier for officers to enforce penalties, thereby ensuring that individuals who really need placards are protected.

The legislation will also raise the fine for using a counterfeit placard from $250 to $750 per violation. This will offer an even greater deterrent to those people who are benefiting from the illegal use of placards.

For more information about AB 144, visit www.leginfo.ca.gov.

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