BILL ANALYSIS
AB 144
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 144 (Ma) - As Amended: March 2, 2009
SUBJECT : Parking: disabled persons
SUMMARY : Allows the inappropriate use of placards or license
plates issued to disabled persons to be adjudicated as an
infraction. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes an infraction punishable by a fine of $250 to
$1,000 or a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $250 to
$1,000, or six months imprisonment in county jail, or by both
such fine and imprisonment for any of the following:
a) A disabled person who knowingly permits his or her
disabled placard or plate to be used by a person not
entitled to it;
b) A person displaying a disabled placard that was not
issued to him or her (except when transporting a disabled
person), or a disabled placard that has been canceled or
revoked;
c) A person using a vehicle displaying a special
identification license plate issued to another who parks in
a parking stall or space designated for disabled persons;
or,
d) A person who, with fraudulent intent, displays or causes
or permits to be displayed a forged, counterfeit, or false
disabled person placard.
2)Allows local agencies to prohibit the use of disabled persons'
parking stalls and spaces within privately or publicly owned
or operated offstreet parking facilities by vehicles
displaying disabled placard or license plates if:
a) The placard or license plate is displayed on a vehicle
that is not being used to transport, and is not in the
reasonable proximity of, the person to whom the license
plate or placard was issued or a person who is authorized
AB 144
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to be transported in the vehicle displaying that placard or
license plate; and,
b) The placard or license plate is counterfeit, forged,
altered, or mutilated.
3)Increases, to $1000 from the current $750, the maximum fine
for an infraction involving parking in a handicapped space
without a valid plate or placard.
4)Requires cities and counties to impose a 10% assessment on
such fines for deposit into their general funds.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Allows a disabled person or disabled veteran displaying
special license plates or a distinguishing placard to park for
unlimited periods in any restricted zone or on streets upon
which preferential parking privileges and height limits have
been given or in any parking zone that is restricted as to the
length of time parking is permitted.
2)Allows a disabled person or disabled veteran park in any
metered parking space without being required to pay parking
meter fees.
3)Allows local authorities to prohibit or restrict the parking
or standing of a vehicle or from a disabled person's parking
stall or space of a privately or publicly owned or operated
offstreet parking facility when the vehicle displays, in order
to obtain special parking privileges, a distinguishing
placard, and the placard has been reported as lost, stolen,
surrendered, cancelled, revoked, or expired, or was issued to
a person who had been reported as being deceased for a period
exceeding 60 days.
4)Specifies that violations of these restrictions are punishable
as a misdemeanor with a fine of $250 to $500 for the first
violation, $500 to $750 for the second violation, and $750 to
$1000 for third and subsequent violations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS : The author points out that most violations of
disabled parking restrictions are treated as misdemeanors.
Misdemeanor violations are enforced by peace officers,
adjudicated through the courts, and carry potential jail terms
as punishment.
While this bill does not take away the ability to treat such
violations as misdemeanors, it also allows for them to be cited
as infractions, subject to a civil penalty. "By providing this
alternative procedure for disabled placard parking violations to
be adjudicated outside of the criminal court system, a local
jurisdiction will be able to provide a faster, more convenient,
and less intimidating process for paying or protesting these
citations," the sponsor asserts.
Additionally, since law enforcement officials and courts may be
reluctant to prosecute placard violations as misdemeanors,
allowing for them to be pursued as infractions could actually
increase the effective enforcement of disabled parking
violations. And, as asserted by the sponsor, adjudicating these
cases outside the criminal system provides the following
benefits: 1) Parking control officers are not required to be
present in court, thereby allowing for more officers on the
street to deter abuse, and, 2) Judicial resources can focus on
violent crimes.
While this city-sponsored bill would have statewide application,
no local authority would be precluded from pursuing these
violations as misdemeanors, as is the current practice.
Disability Rights California has requested that this bill be
amended to allow persons cited for using expired placards or
plates to present evidence indicating medical documentation of a
disability. "We will be happy to support the bill if it is
amended to ensure that people with disabilities who experience a
delay in obtaining needed medical documentation of disability
will not be prevented from using a disabled parking spot."
While this request may be reasonable on its face, it does raise
the specter of allowing program participants to park in
violation of existing restrictions and then to justify their
actions after the fact. At the very least, granting such
privileges will make parking enforcement more difficult and it
could even spark requests for similar privileges for disabled
persons who are in the process applying for their first placards
or plates rather than for renewal documents.
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Author's amendments : For purposes of clarity, the author is
proposing to amend this bill so that the violations it targets
would be subject to the issuance of parking citations that
impose civil penalties, rather than infractions that are
punishable by fines.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City and County of San Francisco (sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Association of Regional Center Agencies
City of West Hollywood
Disability Rights California (support if amended)
League of California Cities
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Planning for Elders
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
San Joaquin County Commission on Aging
Letters from two individuals
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093