Handicapped placard fraud is going on everywhere and all the time, but enforcement is only sporadic at best. According to losangeles.cbslocal.com, a recent CBSLA investigation showed scammers are actually selling handicapped placards on Craigslist. The sting showed that some of these placards are stolen, others are possibly obtained through connections at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation estimates it loses $6 million a year because of disabled placard abuse.
I know handicapped parking is an important issue in our country – it’s important, but not urgent. It’s something that gets a lot of attention for the ways it fails, but not for the ways it might work better.
The only place I go where handicapped parking is used to capacity is Costco. Don’t ask me why, but there are probably 15 to 20 handicapped spaces that are always full. Maybe half of those are cheaters, but it’s not like that anywhere else. At the mall or the school or the grocery store, there are always empty handicapped parking spots.
I’m curious what would happen if there were fewer handicapped parking spots. Would the scarcity make them a less desirable target for liars and thieves, or would it have the opposite effect? Maybe if there were fewer prime parking spots going unused, people would be less interested in them. I’m sure there are rules, regulations and formulas regarding handicapped parking that I don’t understand, but it never hurts to ask questions.
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