From Peter DeMarco at
The Boston Globe. In the picture, one of the state’s first special plates for handicapped drivers, issued in 1957.
Jim Reilly had a simple question for the people at the Apple store on Boylston Street in Boston, but it had nothing to do with the iPad he was buying. “I wanted to know if there were any handicapped spots near the building,’’ Reilly said. “That was one of my main concerns.’’
Reilly, 76, of Melrose, has had a handicapped plate for about 30 years. His fused hip gives him trouble walking, but he never knows where he’ll find handicapped-parking spots on the street. Sometimes store employees can tell him. Sometimes he’ll circle the block before finding one.
And so, a few weeks ago, Reilly asked me where he could find a map showing the exact location of every on-street handicapped-parking spot in Boston.
“At least with a map, people who go into town will know where to go instead of driving around looking for a spot,’’ he said. “I know the phone book is kind of obsolete now, but maybe there’s another place they could put it.’’ The Internet, for instance.
I told Reilly I’d try to answer his question. So this week, we immerse ourselves in a topic I’ve long ignored: handicapped parking. Are parking meters free if you have a handicapped placard? Does state law require a specific number of handicapped spots per community? Is it OK to use a handicapped space if you break your leg, or you’re pregnant?
Does Reilly’s map exist?
First, a little history. The federal Americans with Disabilities Act turned 20 years old last month, but Massachusetts has had vehicle registration plates for drivers with physical handicaps a lot longer. According to plate historian Stewart Berg, they debuted in 1957, with their special status denoted by the letters “HP’’ before the plate’s number.
It’s unclear whether those early plates offered any specific privileges, as the first handicapped-parking spots didn’t appear until 1968, when the state’s Architectural Access Board began requiring them in public parking lots. But police were probably less apt to ticket you in general if you had an HP plate.
Jeff Dougan, parking guru for the Massachusetts Office on Disability, couldn’t say when the first on-street handicapped spots appeared, other than that they were commonplace by the mid-1980s. But Dougan was filled with plenty of other facts about “HP’’ spots that all drivers, not just disabled ones, should know.
State law allows any driver with a HP placard, an HP plate, or a Disabled Veteran plate — adding up to about 334,000 motorists — to park for free at any parking meter, without a time limit, anywhere in Massachusetts.
“The general idea was that when you have on-street parking or parking in a lot, the meters are up on a curb,’’ he said. “People can’t always physically get to the meter, so they just exempted them.’’
Drivers using a placard can park in a handicapped spot only if they get out of the vehicle, Dougan said. If a passenger were to, say, run into the bank while the driver waits in the car, police have the right to revoke the driver’s placard and impose a $500 fine. (You can report placard abuses to the Registry of Motor Vehicles through a form on its website, www.mass.gov/rmv.)
More than 200 communities across the state ticket drivers for parking illegally in handicapped spots at malls, shopping plazas, and other private parking lots. But not some major cities, including Boston and Cambridge, where you’d have to report a violator to the property’s landlord, who’d then have to call for the car to be towed, assuming it was still around by the time a tow truck arrived.
Why don’t those large cities ticket? Police simply don’t have the staffing to patrol private parking lots, officials said.
The fine — up to $300 — for parking illegally in a handicapped spot also applies to anyone parking in the yellow striped space alongside an HP spot, which is needed for wheelchair ramp access. “Every person who’s gone through driver’s ed should know that the striping means no parking, but that’s a common offense lately,’’ Dougan said.
Heart conditions, respiratory ailments, and ambulatory issues dominate the list of eligibility requirements for placards and handicapped plates. To receive a temporary placard, a driver’s doctor, nurse practitioner, or chiropractor must certify that the disability is predicted to last at least two months.
Just because you think you’re disabled, however, doesn’t mean you can park in a handicapped spot, said Frank Lombardo, clerk of the Waltham Traffic Commission.
“Violations of this kind of misuse are becoming more and more universal, I hate to say it, with pregnant woman,’’ he said. “You just can’t park there for that reason — you need a placard. Or if you have a broken leg — how is a cop supposed to know that you have a broken leg without a placard?’’
Surprisingly, there are no laws dictating how many on-street handicapped spots a community must provide. “Usually we go on need,’’ Lombardo said. Nor are there specific guidelines for where they should be located, though Dougan’s office often works with communities to find appropriate spots near curb ramps.
Federal and state rules for the number of spots required in parking lots are more complex than you might think, especially with residential buildings, but in general the first parking spot a business provides must be a “designated accessible parking space.’’
Where can Reilly find a map of Boston’s HP spots? Alas, it doesn’t exist. If you want to know where handicapped spots are, you have to call the Boston Transportation Department with specific street names and numbers.
Cambridge parking officials, however, say they’ll be posting exactly such a map on their city website within the next few months.
And Dougan, among others, was so impressed with Reilly’s question that he said his office will look into whether such maps, though challenging to create, could be generated for the entire state.
“It’s a great idea.’’
From Peter DeMarco at The Boston Globe. In the picture, one of the state’s first special plates for handicapped drivers, issued in 1957.