State lawmakers seek to strengthen standards for handicapped

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- While there already are penalties in state law for people who illegally park in handicapped spaces, Missouri lawmakers wanted to go a little further this year.

A measure pending before Gov. Bob Holden would triple the criminal penalties for people who misuse or fraudulently obtain handicapped license plates or placards.

The handicapped provisions are included in a larger bill that deals with several transportation issues, ranging from specialized license plates to vehicle emissions testing in the St. Louis area.

Passed by lawmakers last month, the legislation would make it a Class A misdemeanor -- up from a Class C misdemeanor -- for those who can't prove they're authorized to park in a disabled parking space.

So, instead of facing a maximum fine of $300 and up to 15 days in jail, a violator would face a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to one year in jail.

Under the legislation, a relative or friend of a disabled person would not be authorized to park in a disabled parking space by driving a car with a disabled license plate or placard.

There were more than 95,000 disabled plates on Missouri vehicles in 2002, according to the state Revenue Department, plus 314,000 permanent disabled placards and 28,108 temporary placards.

Jim Tuscher, vice president of public policy for the disabled advocacy group Paraquad in St. Louis, said the legislation is badly needed.

"There are people who need those spots to live independent and productive lives," Tuscher said. "When people park illegally, it makes a difficult life more difficult for those who need the access."

Asking for verification

Under the bill, law officers would have the option of asking an individual to provide verification that the person using a disabled placard or license plate has state authorization to do so. The state Revenue Department, which issues placards, also would issue a registration certificate.

Katie Banister, president of Access-For-All Inc. in St. Louis, said she has seen healthy people using the placards to park at movie theaters.

"I hope it will deter people from parking in accessible parking, even for five minutes," said Banister, who is paralyzed from the waist down. "It's not fair for people to take advantage of that."

Those who fraudulently obtain a disabled placard or license, and physicians who falsely authorize them, would all be guilty of Class A misdemeanors. Failure to return license plates or placards to the state after the death of the who obtained them also would be a Class A misdemeanor.

Physicians would be required under the bill to keep on file the medical records of patients who are eligible for the special parking privileges. Those records would be subject to review by state medical licensing boards.

Other provisions of the bill would require people to renew their permanent placards every two years instead of annually.

Carol Fischer, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue, said the change in registration should save the state money by reducing paperwork.

"It cuts the cost of doing business," Fischer said. "We won't have to process the paperwork every year like we used to."

Daniel Card, an attorney from St. Louis who is disabled and helped write the legislation, also has seen firsthand abuses of the handicapped parking system.

"The bottom line is that this bill is designed to eliminate those people who are misusing or abusing the system," Card said.