Rise in handicap placards to be reviewed

Some people with placards have a disability that’s not visible, the chairwoman of an advisory group said.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Difficulty that disabled people say they experience finding a designated parking space in Ohio is not surprising, considering that more than 1.2 million handicap tags — or roughly one for every 10 Ohioans — have been issued for display in vehicles.

Between 2000 and 2006, the last full year of available data, the number of placards assigned annually by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles increased by more than 80 percent, according to The Plain Dealer.

Reviewing handicapped parking in Ohio is a major objective for the Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities, said Tanya Fernandez-Mote, chairwoman of the advisory group.

“Our Access Concerns Committee as one of its objectives is putting together a working group to look at if there is a way to alleviate any abuse in the parking placard situation,” she said Monday.

But she also said the group intends to be cautious in its assessment, because it’s possible for someone to think there is abuse when a user is legitimate.

“There are just so many variables to be taken into consideration,” she said. “I am an electric wheelchair user missing my left arm and have little use of my right arm, so when people see me get out if a van they feel I naturally deserve a handicap placard. But if they don’t see a disability, they might think it’s just an abuse.”

She said an example she knows of is a military veteran who lost a lower limb and wears a prosthetic leg not apparent under his clothing.

State governments generally have been getting tougher because there are more placards in circulation, indicating the possibility of handicapped-parking abuse, and disabled people have become more vocal about their needs.

Ohio’s blue-and-white placard can hang from a rearview mirror to make possible parking close to a building’s entrance.

Tag user Elsie Danevich of Elyria said she seldom finds an open spot.

“There aren’t that many more people disabled,” said Danevich, 62, who is paralyzed from the waist down.

In Ohio, a physician, chiropractor or advanced practice nurse must prescribe a tag for it to be issued for up to five years.

The Ohio BMV attributes the rise in placards to Ohio’s aging population and more requests for duplicates. People often seek extra placards to leave in multiple vehicles, including those of family members who routinely drive them places.