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California DMV Audit To Identify Illegal Use Of Disabled Parking Placards
CBS San Francisco ^ | May 25, 2016 | Mike Sugerman

Posted on 05/25/2016 8:28:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Non-handicap drivers are gobbling up parking spaces all over California.

State lawmakers say the rampant abuse of the disability parking placard system starts at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

A few hours ago, elected leaders announced a bi-partisan audit of the DMV in hopes of getting to the root of the problem.

We uncovered cheating of the system in the Bay Area.

D.A. Issues Warning To San Franciscans Who Abuse Disabled Parking Placards There is an incredible amount of fraud and it’s been going on for years. There has to be.

Does 1 in 8 California drivers have a disability? That’s how many blue placards there are.

California To Crack Down On Disabled Parking Placard Abuse It’s pretty easy to get one. Just fill out a form and have a doctor sign it. An audiologist could say you have balance issues and can’t walk far or a psychiatrist could say you’re depressed. Those are actual ways to get a placard.

Robert Planthold helped write a grand jury report on the problem almost 10 years ago and has been fighting for reform ever since.

San Francisco Disabled Parking Placards Cost City $22.7 Million “Doctors get very low fees on HMO payments so that, what’s it to a doctor to fill out a form for you to keep you as a patient?” he said.

“There was a place in San Francisco that we were told that for $750 in cash, you would get a completed form, authorized by the right type of doctor,” Planthold said.

But nothing was done. So the problem is massive.

Democrat Mike Gatto and Republican Eric Linder have joined together to ask for an audit of DMV procedures.

“The benefit of the audit is that it will bring to light whether enforcement is enough, or whether there needs to be some additional changes,” Assemblymember Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) said.

Like whether balance or parking anxiety is an appropriate reason to be able to park at any meter, without paying, as long as you want. That’s what you get with one of these passes.

“There are roughly 24 million drivers in California and there’s 3 million or more with a disability placard… We know that one out of eight drivers is not disabled… So we know there is massive abuse out there,” said Gatto.

California lawmakers have drafted a bill modeled after an existing law in Michigan.

According to Gatto, once the law came into effect Michigan saw a 98 percent drop in the amount of people applying to placards.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: disability; handicapped; handicappedparking
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1 posted on 05/25/2016 8:28:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

“We uncovered cheating of the system in the Bay Area. “

Duh ... It took them 50 years to find this out?


2 posted on 05/25/2016 8:29:18 PM PDT by TexasGator
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To: nickcarraway

I’m more concerned about the Illegal Invaders getting Driver’s Licenses.


3 posted on 05/25/2016 8:35:38 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (There is nothing Democratic about the Democrat Party. (Or the GOPe))
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To: nickcarraway

Illegal immigrants that randomly murder women in SanFran are laughing their butts off.


4 posted on 05/25/2016 8:35:45 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo (Get Ready)
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To: nickcarraway

I didn’t think anything was illegal anymore and that fraud wasn’t that big of a deal...that’s what the left has been telling us.


5 posted on 05/25/2016 8:38:15 PM PDT by BookmanTheJanitor
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To: TexasGator

But what if it’s an illegal alien with an illegal tag? That’s OK, right?


6 posted on 05/25/2016 8:41:17 PM PDT by Chrysoprase
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To: nickcarraway

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

7 posted on 05/25/2016 8:45:14 PM PDT by SunLakesJeff (Thank you, St. Thomas More.)
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To: Chrysoprase

It’s okay as long as he self identifies as a disabled American citizen.


8 posted on 05/25/2016 8:46:35 PM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Lex rex)
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To: nickcarraway

>>Does 1 in 8 California drivers have a disability?

Yes. They have mental disabilities. They have an inflated sense of entitlement and an impaired sense of personal responsibility.


9 posted on 05/25/2016 8:46:53 PM PDT by generally
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To: freedomfiter2

Touchdown FF2
10 posted on 05/25/2016 8:47:18 PM PDT by SunLakesJeff (Thank you, St. Thomas More.)
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To: generally
>>Does 1 in 8 California drivers have a disability?

Yes. They have mental disabilities. They have an inflated sense of entitlement and an impaired sense of personal responsibility.

More than half of the voters vote Democrat. Proof of disability to think, right there.

11 posted on 05/25/2016 8:51:22 PM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue..)
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To: nickcarraway
I have my California marijuana doctor prescribe me both pot and a handicapped tag for my acute chronicness.
12 posted on 05/25/2016 8:52:20 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (An orange jumpsuit is the new black pantsuit.)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s Crooked California. Raise your hand if you’re surprised.


13 posted on 05/25/2016 8:58:44 PM PDT by upchuck (I'm hanging here until my Free Republic 401K is fully vested.)
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To: nickcarraway

If I eat Gin-soaked raisins for my knees, can I get a disability placard?


14 posted on 05/25/2016 9:03:44 PM PDT by bunkerhill7 ((("The Second Amendment has no limits on firepower"-NY State Senator Kathleen A. Marchione."))))))
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To: nickcarraway

Abuse is always bad, but people need to realize there are people who really need these placards who might not look like it to the observer. Case in point my parents, when my dad was alive (he passed in March): they both had Alzheimer’s and they had one caregiver take them places. It was so hard for her to handle them both in parking lots. It was so much better to use the handicapped placard. But let’s say she had brought them into a doctor’s office or someplace and went out to the car alone, she looked perfectly able bodied. So remember caregivers also use it.

I admit to being a little judgey when I see a chihuahua labeled as a service dog (set me straight if that is for real), but I no longer pass judgment if a young able bodied person has a disabled placard - our caregiver was such an angel and it made her job so much easier with the parents.


15 posted on 05/25/2016 9:06:23 PM PDT by Yaelle (Tinkerbelle glittering up the runway for Trump Force One!)
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To: Yaelle

I call the cops on them here in Ohio. They are all Blacks. There docs give those things out for no reason. It’s a $250 dollar fine. I’ve busted a bunch of them!


16 posted on 05/25/2016 9:17:43 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra (Don't touch that thing Don't let anybody touch that thing!I'm a Doctor and I won't touch that thing!)
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To: bunkerhill7

I eat Advil every, frikkin’ day for arthritis. Guess I need one, too. And a store scooter.


17 posted on 05/25/2016 10:25:55 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (<<<<<<< he no longer IS my 'teddy bear'.)
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To: nickcarraway

Enforcing against abuse is probably the lowest priority on law enforcement’s list. Which is sad, because the fines are quite the money maker, and that money supports the local police.


18 posted on 05/26/2016 5:03:37 AM PDT by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
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To: Excellence

Then proving it’s abuse is the hard part.
As said above, the psychologist or the audiologist can issue them. What, they’re going to cancel everyone’s placard,
then allow only certain doctors to re-issue them?


19 posted on 05/26/2016 5:15:21 AM PDT by scrabblehack
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To: scrabblehack

What, they’re going to cancel everyone’s placard,
then allow only certain doctors to re-issue them?

The placards expire. They should not be reissued unless it’s justified. Enforcement needs to be stepped up. Fines need to go up. They need to remove the requirement that the driver of the vehicle be contacted by police before issuing a citation. They should allow citations to be given by citizens patrol and code enforcement. I’m sick of the abuse.


20 posted on 05/26/2016 5:28:35 AM PDT by Excellence (Marine mom since April 11, 2014)
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