March 28, 2008

By Peggy Fikac
San Antonio Express News

AUSTIN – Caught parking illeggally in spots reserved for people with disabilities, drivers often give the same excuse.

"Just in and out."

"I’m just dropping this off, and then I’m leaving."

"Just for a second."

In a video shown to lawmakers considering whether changes are needed to better enforce the accessible parking law — such as doubling the minimum fine for infractions to $500 — the offenders seem nice enough.

But to people like Michelle Colvard, who uses a wheelchair, their offense affects safety, mobility and quality of life.

"Accessible parking violations are not a victimless crime," Colvard, executive director of the Houston mayor’s office for people with disabilities, told a House Transportation subcommittee this week.

"When people using placards that don’t belong to them take all of the accessible parking spaces up, many people with disabilities are left without a place to park at all," Colvard said.

Judy Babbitt, San Antonio’s planning manager for disability access and a wheelchair user, agreed Thursday that for people with disabilities, the spaces are part of "your freedom to be able to be independent."

Officials from cities including Houston and San Antonio, along with Travis County and other advocates for people with disabilities, are behind the push for tougher laws.

"Clearly, the $250 hasn’t been enough of a deterrent," said Travis County Constable Bruce Elfant, who outlined proposals including the suggested doubling of that minimum fine for a first offense of parking in a spot for people with disabilities or misusing an accessible parking placard.

Surveys indicate that in downtown areas of cities like Austin, Houston and San Antonio, between 30 percent and 65 percent of vehicles parked at meters or in accessible-parking spots are displaying a disability placard that is being abused or fraudulently used, Houston parking official Liliana Rambo said.

"In many urban areas, the price of an off-street parking space can range anywhere from $100 to $250 per month," Rambo said. "And what is happening … is that people without disabilities have learned that these accessible parking placards are ‘golden tickets.’"

Patrick Fries, who made the video shown to lawmakers this week and has a daughter with impaired mobility, said he often can’t find an accessible parking spot at her doctor’s office. He said adequate penalties already are on the books but should be better enforced and that there should be a widespread education program.

Roland Guzman of Helotes, a wheelchair user and member of the Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, said: "You do find a lot of people that just run into a convenience store — ‘Well, I was just going to be there for a few minutes.’ … We need to educate everybody."

Besides education and bigger fines, lawmakers heard a push to ensure that accessible parking placards are prescribed in a consistent way by doctors. In addition, the Texas Department of Transportation already is working on a statewide database for the placards that officials believe will help prevent counterfeiting.

Rambo and Babbitt also are among those who want lawmakers to specify that parking enforcement officers who are city employees have authority to verify that placards belong to the individuals using them, which can be checked by driver’s license.

That idea raised a red flag for Ray Jones of Houston and his daughter, who uses a wheelchair but noted some disabilities may not be readily visible.

"Someone decides, ‘This person doesn’t look disabled, and I’m going to check their driver’s license,’" said Ray Jones. "We’re detaining a citizen at this point who may truly be disabled."

Lawmakers on the subcommittee are cautious about raising fines, but they didn’t rule it out and said they want to take action to safeguard the spaces.

Comments are closed.