Chicago officials say they are preparing to take the misuse of disabled parking passes a lot more seriously going forward.
Karen Tamley, commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, announced a host of new penalties and requirements aimed at narrowing the availability of passes that grant preferred parking to people with disabilities, and cracking down on people who abuse or misuse the privilege, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Tamley told City Hall Tuesday that she wants disabled parking scams to be added to the list of offenses punishable by vehicle impoundment, which can cost motorists over $1,000 in fines and fees, the Sun-Times reports.
Karen Tamley, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, said Tuesday she wants the City Council to add disabled parking scams to the array of offenses punished by vehicle impoundment.
In Chicago, disability placards grant access to free parking at metered spaces on the street, reserved spaces in commercial lots and marked spaces in front of their own homes, for a $70 fee, according to the Chicago Tribune. The placard's proper owner is indicated with a hole-punched birth date, requiring police to track down the vehicle's driver before issuing a citation. Placards can also be used if they are issued to a vehicle's passenger, opening the door for fraudulent use by friends and relatives.
These conditions make enforcement of placard use difficult, Tamley told the Sun-Times, who investigated the issue in 2007. The newspaper found that nearly 10 percent of disabled spots on city rolls, 1,097 in all, were marked off at addresses where no nearby resident holds a state-issued parking credential or disabled license plate required by law. Tamley says this indicates a need for stricter enforcement in the distribution of preferred spaces and parking passes.
"To get a placard is based on functional need," she told the Sun-Times. "It's not just because you have a disability. It's because you cannot walk a certain distance. So, honing in on that is very, very important in making sure that those who have the placards are actually those who deserve the placards."
The Sun-Times investigation also found 260 spaces set aside for dead people, some of whom had been deceased for five years or more.
Many city aldermen have been calling for a crackdown on disability parking fraud, including Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), who said he knows someone still using a placard dispensed for a hip replacement he underwent four years ago.
"Let's make these spaces available for people who really need them," Mell told the Sun-Times. "I've seen individuals get them for their parents, then they use them for themselves."