Handicapped parking
Many employers misunderstand accessible parking
Employers are bound by law to provide accessible parking to eligible employees. But that’s not always enough. When employers fail to treat each accessible parking issue individually, they may be in violation even when they think they are operating well within the law. A former Kaiser employee sued her company for $143,000 after she was […]
NY legislators support new disability icon
Lawmakers in New York are following the lead of the state’s largest city and backing a change to the familiar icon representing the disabled. Instead of a stick figure sitting upright in a wheelchair, which advocates argue portray the disabled as passive, the revamped image shows the figure leaning forward with arms raised as if […]
Benefits for disabled parking placards in Illinois curtailed
This month, drivers in Chicago who slide into a metered parking spot and who neglect to feed it because their rear-view window sports the familiar blue disabled parking placards will be courting a $65 fine. That’s because Illinois state law now requires all placard holders to pay for parking, unless they use a wheelchair, can’t […]
Portland city council votes to end free disabled parking downtown
The city coffers of Portland, OR, may soon welcome more than $1 million annually when disabled parking permit holders begin paying for parking in its downtown. The city has offered free parking to disabled motorists for decades, but a 2008 change to state law gave local governments the option to suspend free parking to disabled […]
Public employees gaming TN’s disabled parking system, say officials
When the Tennessee General Assembly meets in January, it will reconsider overturning a law that distinguishes it from other states: allowing local governments to charge disabled motorists a fee for parking on any municipally owned or leased street, metered space, or lot. Suspicious numbers of applicants from public employees at the Knox County City/County Building, […]
Court case expands employees’ ADA parking rights
Before last month, employees had to show that a reasonable work accommodation, such as the provision of handicapped parking spaces, was linked to the performance of essential job functions if they wanted to file a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). That changed when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in an employee’s favor in Feist […]
Wisconsin lawmakers push for equal parking rights for disabled bikers
Disabled bikers could soon start enjoying accessible parking privileges in Wisconsin. (Currently, eligible motorcyclists can’t be issued a disability placard or sticker like their counterparts who own four-wheeled vehicles.) Senator Frank Lasee (R-DePere), who proposed a bill last week to give disabled bikers the same parking advantages as those who own a car, explains that […]
Tampering with disabled parking placards to draw bigger fines in ME
Drivers found tampering or using expired disabled parking placards in Portland, Maine may now have to pay a heftier fine of $200. On 21 October, the City Council gave the first reading of this ordinance change in an effort to curb the rampant misuse of disabled passes. If the new rule is implemented, frustrated parking […]
Tougher laws to check disabled parking abuse
According to a 2010 Seattle DOT report, about 30 to 40 percent of downtown and First Hill spaces are filled with cars possessing disabled parking permits. Out of these permits, over 10 percent were inactive – temporary placards lasting only six months. Presently, the city police estimates 60 percent of disabled placards on the street […]
Chicago’s new disabled placard gets tough on meter parking frauds
The administration in Chicago, Illinois is set to tighten the noose on disabled parking placard abusers. The new state law will add new gray and yellow ‘meter exempt permanent placards’ to the current blue/red placards and disability license plates. While holders of the old placards can still park in accessible parking spots, they can no […]
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