Watch CBS News

Surge In Disabled Parking Placard Use Allows More Room For Placard Abuse

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Every day, there's a fight on the streets of downtown Sacramento to find parking.

For Yolanda Powell, parking near her work is crucial, because she can't walk for long.

"It's really difficult to find parking. I usually get here about 6:30 in the morning if I need to drive to work," she said. "The arthritis that's in my knees—sometimes I can't make it, because the pain was really bad."

Powell is mostly in a battle for parking with other disabled drivers, and dozens of those drivers aren't even disabled—they're breaking the law.

Sacramento has one disabled parking task force officer, whose identity we've agreed not to reveal.

"They're using their parents' or their friends' and they're using it to park for free," the officer said. Handicapped placards make drivers exempt from paying in metered parking spaces.

He's memorized almost all of the cars parked in downtown Sacramento with valid disabled parking placards. Those drivers can park as long as they'd like, even at meters with a one-hour limit.

It's his job to spot the offenders, and there are plenty of them.

"There's a placard on pretty much every vehicle," he said. "Lot of state employees, lot of people at the Capitol."

He's kept his eye on a state worker who has used a placard four times in the last two weeks, who he's hoping to catch in the act.

That placard the woman is using, he says, is registered to a man. But there's never a man with her.

The following exchange happened between the worker and CBS13's Maria Medina

Medina: Hi, I'm Maria Medina with CBS13.

Woman: I don't want my face on anything.

Medina: Whose placard are you using?

Woman: I don't want my face on anything, thank you.

Medina: How long have you been using the placard?

Woman: Did you hear me? I don't want my face on anything.

Medina: Whose car are you using?

[Woman slams door]

The officer later explained to CBS13 that the woman said the placard was her dad's.

"Her dad is blind, so she uses it to take him around, but she says it's $200 to park, and she can't afford it."

Disabled placard use is on the rise, according to City of Sacramento Parking Services Manager Matt Eierman. He says the DMV signed off on 150,000 disabled placards, compared to 130 the year before.

That 13 percent increase is forcing city parking staff to look into tougher legislation.

"There's no verification process," Eierman said. "Your doctor submits the form, and the placard's issued."

Many offenders are called in by anonymous tipsters who call the city's hotline at 916-808-5563. The price for a violation can run up to $3,500.

Last month, DMV investigators did a statewide crackdown on placard violators and handed out 241 citations in the state—15 in the Sacramento region.

 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.