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For millions of people with disabilities in Texas, handicapped parking is an essential part of going about their daily lives.
Blue signs and cross-hatching between no-parking zones are more common than ever, thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, which allows people with visible and invisible disabilities to access everything from hospitals and clinics to movie theaters and amusement parks.
About 28% of people in Texas have a disability, according to a 2021 Centers for Disease Control report. Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Adam Shaivitz said the department issued 325,966 permanent ADA signs in 2022, including renewals.
But some advocates feel the system could still be improved because those spaces need to be maintained and made available to disabled people when they need them, even during peak times. Advocates also say there needs to be stricter enforcement of the rules for non-disabled people parking there.
“These spots are frequently misused,” said Chase Bearden, advocacy director for the Texas Coalition on Disabilities. “They’re a lifeline for people who need them, but at the end of the day, we need proper enforcement and regulation of these spots.”
Over the years, lawmakers have introduced legislation to tweak the system and address these concerns. Here’s everything you need to know about the current state of handicapped parking in Texas.
What is disabled parking?
According to federal guidelines, these parking spaces “must be located on the shortest access route to entrances and exits.”
Building owners must provide a certain number of handicapped parking spaces, whose width and length are mandated by federal law, as well as an access aisle, usually marked with a cross line, to allow wheelchair users space to get out of their cars or vans.
“Most people don’t know what the rules are about handicapped parking,” Bearden says, “so they might park diagonally in the middle of the diagonal strip and not realize that they’re actually blocking the other space for someone in a power wheelchair who needs to be removed.”
A state law passed in 2019 requires new parking spaces to be clearly signed with the International Accessible Symbol, also known as the wheelchair symbol.
Is handicapped parking available?
To use these spaces, people must have a medical condition that meets the state’s legal definition of a disability, which includes people who are blind or have limited mobility due to a variety of medical conditions, including lung disease and arthritis, according to the state DMV website.
Texas also has a temporary red plate available for people whose fractures or muscle conditions aren’t expected to last more than six months.
If you qualify, you can apply for a placard through your local county tax assessor’s office. Part of the application must be completed by your doctor or health care provider.
When applying, you can get a set of blue placards or license plates with a wheelchair symbol to prove your eligibility. One of these must be visible when parking in these spaces and must be used by the person with a disability or the driver, according to the website.
How has Texas’ new law changed handicapped parking?
In 2019, Sen. Drew Springer, a North Texas Republican, introduced a bill to help people recognize handicapped parking spaces. The bill would require multiple signs, including wheelchair symbols and cross-hatch “no parking” warnings, to discourage people from parking there.
Springer’s wife, Lydia Springer, is in a wheelchair after a diving accident more than 20 years ago.
“When my wife goes to the new building and there’s a new sign that says ‘No Parking,’ she’s just happy because now she has one less place to deal with and worry, ‘Is someone in a 31-inch wheelchair going to squeeze in next to my car when there’s literally only six inches of clearance,'” Springer said.
At the time, activists worked with Springer to get this law passed, but it had an unintended consequence: Parking lots that hadn’t been updated to comply with the new rules were deemed “non-compliant” with state rules because they didn’t have proper signage. So when police tried to ticket able-bodied people who parked in designated spots, the tickets were dismissed and no penalties were imposed.
“Judges were dismissing these cases, so the officers weren’t writing any more tickets because they kept getting dismissed,” Springer said.
To close this loophole, Springer helped pass SB 904 this year, which would ensure that people who park in handicapped parking spaces whose signs haven’t been updated can still be ticketed; non-compliance with signs can no longer be used as a defense.
Another law enacted in 2021 changed eligibility for these parking spaces.
Until 2022, anyone with a disabled veteran license plate could park in those spaces, but now the law requires a doctor’s permission to get a placard or wheelchair symbol in addition to a license plate.
Thirty percent of veterans in Texas are disabled, according to a report by Every Texan, a nonprofit that advocates for access.
How do you police violations of the Handicapped Parking Law?
According to the state of Texas, misusing a disabled parking permit or parking in a space without a proper sign can result in a fine of up to $1,250 and up to 50 hours of community service. Police officers can also confiscate permits that appear to be counterfeit.
But police don’t always catch everyone who violates the rules, says Mac Marsh, project director for Parking Mobility, an Austin-based nonprofit that works to eradicate handicapped parking violations in several states. People can use Parking Mobility’s app to report violations they see, which are then sent to the city, which will ticket the vehicle.
Marsh said he began tracking the crime in 2013 and quickly realized it was happening “everywhere, all the time” with very few penalties. In conversations with law enforcement, it became clear judges were dismissing cases because they felt high fines were “punitive,” Marsh said.
As an alternative, Marsh said, he developed courses to “educate people about why these spaces are important, teach them the rules and encourage them not to violate them again.”
Springer said that still might not be enough.
“Sometimes people rationalize in their own mind: ‘I’m only driving here for 30 seconds. I’ve been in this car park 200 times. There’s no one in any of these 10 locations,’ so they think it’s OK,” Springer said. “But if it continues to happen, I think we should consider increasing the fine.”
Where can I get more information?
The Governor’s Commission on People with Disabilities held a training session on handicapped parking earlier this month, which can be viewed here.
To apply for a placard or license plate symbol, please click here.
More information can be found on your state’s DMV website here.
Neelam Vohra is a Disability Reporting Fellow, covering accessibility issues affecting Texans. She was a member of the 2022-23 New York Times Fellowship class. Her fellowship is a partnership between The New York Times, The Texas Tribune and the National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University. The fellowship is funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation.
Disclosure: Texas Coalition for People with Disabilities, Every Texan and The New York Times are financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization supported in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters have no role in Tribune journalism. A complete list of financial supporters can be found here.
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