Disabled-parking abusers.

• Author: Essex, Amanda
• Position: TRENDS

There's no excuse for it--parking in a disabled parking space when you're not disabled--but it's happening all over the country.

Able-bodied drivers are getting hold of phony handicapped parking placards and stickers, or "borrowing" a loved one's placard, so they can park in prime, close-in spots, often for free.

Not only are they making life harder for people with disabilities, they're also bilking cities out of millions of dollars in lost meter revenue. Schemes ran the gamut. Fraudsters forge doctors' names on applications for the permits; copy or print their own permits or placards; steal placards out of cars and use or sell them; alter the expiration date; help themselves to an elderly relative's placard; or appropriate that of a deceased relative.

States, which generally are in charge of issuing disabled parking permits, are cracking down with tighter controls and stiff fines. Also, some cities that used to make handicapped parking free now charge, in part to remove some of the incentive for abusers.

States are taking the following approaches:

* Photo IDs. At least three states-- Massachusetts, New Mexico and South Carolina--require placards to include a photo of the owner. Similar legislation failed in Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

* Doctors' statements. Recent laws in Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Washington require applicants for disabled parking stickers to obtain a detailed physician's statement verifying the disability. In Illinois, a person can get a sticker for free parking if a doctor verifies the person is physically unable to use a parking meter. Michigan requires a physician's statement concerning the nature and estimated length of the disability. Massachusetts requires certification that the passenger is legally blind or is...