POMONA – A series of enforcement operations held at the Los Angeles County Fair has resulted in 345 citations being issued to abusers of disabled person parking placards. During four operations held at this year’s fair, DMV investigators verified that 1,955 visitors using disabled person parking placards were doing so legally. The statistics reveal that one of every six people were fraudulently using a placard.
DMV investigators confiscated offenders’ placards and issued citations that carry a fine between $250 and $1,000.
“Shame on these able-bodied people who take advantage of someone’s placard and uses it for more convenient parking,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “I applaud DMV investigators for routinely enforcing this so those who truly need to park their vehicle close to a destination’s entrance, can find a space available.”
| L.A. County Fair Placard Enforcement
Date Citations Placards Verified 9/6 58 320 9/13 90 526 9/15 95 526 9/20 102 583 ______________________________ Total: 345 1,955 |
“We want the public to know that a person who is assigned a disabled parking placard is the only one who can legally use it,” said DMV Investigations Chief Tom Wilson. “Our goal is to achieve compliance through education and enforcement, and we ask those without a disability to save the space.”
This is the second year that the DMV has conducted enforcement operations at the L.A. County Fair. Of the 2,754 placards verified during five enforcement operations last year, investigators caught 477 people misusing them.
California Vehicle Code Section 4461(b) (c) prohibits anyone from lending their placard, knowingly permitting the use of their placard or allowing anyone else to use it while they are not present. In addition, individuals cannot display a disabled parking placard that is not issued to them or that has been canceled or revoked.
