According to Chicago Breaking News, 11 motorists abusing handicapped placard privileges were cited Wednesday morning.
It was an enforcement operation centered around downtown, run jointly by Illinois State Police and the Chicago Police Department.
These violators, if found guilty, will set back violators $500. Ouch!
You can report handicapped placard abuse on the Secretary of State’s website.
This is the kind of enforcement our resident handicapped parking expert Hilarious Joe has strongly endorsed in a recent guest column.
Thanks to Illinois Patriot for the tip as the Geek totally missed it.
Here’s the full report at Chicago Breaking News.com.
Posted in 
I am reposting my comment left on another story about this issue
I read this story and the link to the CBS story; the following quote is from the CBS story: “Chicago is driving everybody crazy. And CBS 2 found something else that will make you mad: able-bodied drivers using handicap placards to park for free. It’s a multimillion dollar scam and you’re paying for it”
The CBS story is wrong. We (the taxpayers) are NOT paying for this alleged scam. everytime someone uses a handicapped card illegally to park free at a meter, the taxpayers do not lose. The only loser is Morgan Stanley Bank who leased the meters from the City for the next 75 years. The City has been paid $1 Billion for the lease. the City has its money. Therefore the City loses nothing if some avoids paying the meter by using one of these placards.
Remember Morgan Stanley ? They are one of the nine banks that received TARP funds (taxpayer dollars) to stay afloat in 2008. They still receive a subsidy from the Federal government by borrowing money from the Fed at zero interest and then depositing it at the Fed and being paid interest on these deposits. Anyone who beats this Bank out of a few buck in meter fee is a hero , not a criminal
@ ejhickey
By illegally parking for free at a metered space, the City has lost the opportunity cost for a paying driver to park at that space and either acquire a ticket, or be booted for other outstanding tickets. You may find the probability that someone would have parked at that spot and gotten a ticket to be outrageous, but may I remind you we’re having this discussion on a forum about getting ticketed.
If that amounts to millions of dollars as the CBS story claim is beyond anyone. But every dollar the city loses from that small revenue stream possible with each spot, is a dollar of our tax money that will be used instead.
Yes, but every time someone parks illegally all day using a handicap placard takes a space away from people trying to find short term parking, and money away from businesses that can’t be patronized because clients can’t find short term parking.
Not heroes.
To SS:
Then I guess you would not have a problem with someone who uses a handicapped placard (illegally) but only for two hours or less.
ejhickey….
You want the City and State to go the way of other municipalities and outright revoke the privilege?
I believe St. Louis was the most recent to pull the “free parking on Meters/Pay Lots” from HCP users due to abuse.
Personally speaking as a private citizen at the moment…
I don’t care if HCP marked vehicles don’t have to pay a meter. I care that they are allowed to take up a space for more time then is allowed the people that Have to Pay to park in the same slot.
A time restriction should be required for ALL or None.
2 hour meter slot? Move the Car after 2 hours FFS.
As a Revenue PEA…..I am sick to death of seeing perfectly Mobile persons get out of a car solo after Hanging up a HCP placard. And I report their plates to the SOSPD.
DoR-
I think a two hour limit would be fair. Is there a reason why the time limit is, well, infinite?
I’m not sure why a handicapped person is allowed more than two hours either.
Anyone have thoughts on this?
DoR–Do you know if anyone follows up when you report placard abuse?
PTG,
For the same reason why everyone else is allowed. While we can issue tickets for overstaying the meter, it does require a certain amount of due dilligence, and it is not worth the headache from the confrontations that we would surely encounter if we really tightened the screws.
Oh and I have to agree with DoR, I really hate to see the handicap parking rights abused by perfectly mobile people
PTG,
My dad, who is Jazzy 6 scooter bound, could easily exceed two hour for a downtown doctors visit. The scooter crane-in-trunk load/unload, assembly/knock-down plus getting him in/out of the car and on/off of of the nuclear powered scoot-o-matic could easily consume one hour total. Now he needs to get to the office, complete the visit and glide back. And how many downtown corners are ramp curbed? So the direct route from the parking spot to the office may not be so direct…and suddenly those two hours…
BTW My dad nailed a lady at a suburban medical clinic for placard abuse and called the pd the other day. The local pd actually staked her car out and waited for her to return. Later the cop told my dad she admitted the placard was her deceased father’s and she didn’t understand the problem “Since the card had not yet expired so why not use it!” For the record my dad had to park in a regular spot since all the H/C spots were full…go figure!
This is one of my pet peeves! The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was intended to “level the playing field” for people with disabilities. The main objective was to remove barriers and to provide reasonable accommodation in terms of access and mobility. So far, so good.
However, it seems every time government tries to help in the social services arena they usually screw it up big time. When it comes to parking, the interpretation of the ADA statutes went from providing reasonable accommodations to providing preferential treatment.
Few people would question that a person in a wheelchair will require more time than an able bodied person to park a car and go into an office building for an appointment. If the person in a wheelchair parked in a two hour metered space, a reasonable accommodation would be to allow a one hour grace period after the meter expires before issuing a ticket. How does that equate to what we have now where someone with a handicapped permit gets to park on the street for free and for the entire day day?
My boss was sued last year by an employee under the ADA statutes. She had to spend tens of thousands of dollars constructing a separate bathroom facility for just the one employee. She was guilty of owning a building that was built before the ADA. The female employee is not in a wheelchair, but she is as big as a house and the stalls in the woman’s bathroom were “too tiny”. Apparently, when you file suit under the ADA statutes you don’t need a lawyer. The United States Department of Justice, that’s right the DOJ will provide you with legal counsel and handle your case for free! Government attorneys paid for by our tax dollars will sue on your behalf. For my employer it came down to simple math; pay the legal fees to fight the suit or give in to the extortion demand. Easy choice to make since the US Government can just print more money to fund the Department of Justice side of the equation.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for equal treatment and there is a legitimate need for laws to protect people from abuse. But just like the proposed healthcare “reform” storm raging right now, I don’t trust that the government will provide us with a “reasonable” solution. In the end, they’ll screw it up.
First , I hope everyone realizes that reports of alleged HCP abuser to the SOS office are not anonymous. The online form requires the reporters name and email address. While the placard may be seized on the spot, license suspension and a fine requires a hearing and the reporting person may be called to testify. Also any reports made to the SOS are available Through a FOIA request. In any case, there goes the claim of anonymity. Anyone who has their driver’s license suspended may very unhappy and consequently reporting them may not be risk free.
There are really two separate issues regarding the illegal use of HCP. First , almost everyone would agree that if a non disabled person uses one for convenience in a free parking lot , that is an offense that should be punished. However using the HCP to park free at a meter in Chicago is another matter. The recipient of the meter revenue is no longer the City but a private corporation, Morgan Stanley Bank. This is one of the Banks that is politically wired into both Washington, DC and Chicago.. They have received billions of tax dollars in a subsidies after helping to create a financial crisis. Instead of being allowed to fail, they kept alive with our tax dollars and were able to consummate the Meter Deal.
Anyone who pays the meters , is feeding this parasitic corporation. People who use the HCP illegally to park free , even all day, are cutting into the revenue stream for LAZ and Morgan Stanley. That is what the crackdown on HCP’s is all about. MS is losing revenue and so they have put pressure on the City and the State to crack down on illegal users . In effect , the State and City police are being used as collection enforcers, similar to the Mafia. The sad thing is that this crack down is being cloaked in a phony tone of moral superiority in which citizens are being urged to spy on and rat each other out. Some people are buying into this but I am not.
In this context , I say that anyone who uses an HCP illegally for the purpose of parking free at a Chicago meter is committing an act of Civil Disobedience and is fighting back against this corrupt relationship between government and business supported by tax dollars. Yes it may inconvenience a few people and businesses but so did the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and the Memphis Sanitation Workers strike in 1968. Somehow , someway the citizens of Chicago have to find a way to rescind this deal. If it takes a whole lot of people using the HCP to beat this system , so be it.
There is a simple solution to this issue. Rescind the contract with LAZ/MS and return the meters to the City along with the revenue. If that happens , I will shut up and may even report a few HCP abusers.
I’m sorry ejhickey, howeveryour argument of civil obediance does not hold an ounce of water. People have been abusing the privilage long before the meters were even remotely considered to be leased.
Ticketmaster: I am aware of the past abuse and I used to think it was wrong However , the recent change in the meters along with the tax support of banks like MS has changed my mind. IMHO the status of these alleged abusers has been changed from criminals to Freedom Fighters, even if they are only for their own benefit. Sounds like you agree with the rest of my argument.
As i said there is a simple solution to this situation: Rescind the Contract with LAZ and give the meters back to the City. As for the $1.1 Billion – turn that into a no interest loan from Morgan Stanley to the City to be paid back over 75 years. This would not hurt the bank, since they can borrow all they want from the Fed at zero interest.
I am sorry Ej, the crackdown has nothing to do with MS losing money. The SOS and Revenue has been working together in order to catch these scofflaws for several years. We are feeling pressure, but it is not because of MS. It is because there is a 500+ million dollar hole in the upcoming budget and it needs to be filled.
As far as rescinding this contract; not going to happen. While we do have funds in the “rainy day fund” to repay this contract, the arrogance of the Mayor and his select crew of Alderman will not allow this contract to be cancelled. The will of the people can be very effective, however it is not being used in the right way or at the right time. Election time is when the will of the people must be used.
I will say this, MS is still feeling the heat. While the meters downtown are not as busy as they once were, my operatives on the far South & North sides have informed me that despite pay and display boxes being installed, the meters are pretty much empty.
ejhickey,
Better to be thought stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Mike…
I am not aware of the reason that HCP plate/placard users are allowed Unrestricted time on metered locations.
I have seen CPD tickets on HCP cars for Time Restriction while parked on a meter in 12th District.
I see a HCP car on a meter and I do a 4 corner check to see if there is ANYTHING wrong with the vehicle that I can cite it for.
yeah….its a harsh comment……..but I feel that HCP users should be restricted to the time limit that people that pay are.
You want to see HCP abuse?
Northwestern Hospital….
County Hospital….
Any area around a CTA El Stop downtown.
If Chicago has that many Handicaped people….PACE shouldn’t need assistance for the HCP Vehicle program.
DoR,
So you report “perfectly mobile” people as Handicapped Parking abusers?
You must be a real “hero” in your department!
I just can’t wait for you to report my wife and I since I have handicapped plates and my wife IS perfectly mobile… but we have those plates because she is LEGALLY BLIND. She needs to have me park in a Handicapped Space because while she can see (vision is +400/20) she can’t see curbs or even slight inclinces from ramps, having zero depth perception.
Because of this she has fallen and broken her pelvis in the past, because we had to park in non-handicapped parking due to all of the fakers who use handicap placards.
We don’t break the law because we respect it. My Father-in-Law was a Chicago Policeman for 31 years and his brother was a Detective for 25 years. The HCP program is a good program. What is bad is the Secretary of State not being more diligent in enforcing the placard system. Issuing 6 month temporary placards for broken legs that take less than 3 months to heal enough to no long need HCP.
Issuing Permanent placards along with handicap plates even if the family only own one car. Why do you need a placard along with handicap plates? If my dughter drives my wife to a doctor or elsewhere she only has to use my car that has handicap plates. Having a Permanent placard leads to the temptation to use it even if the handicapped person is not in your car. So I don’t understand why there is any need for a Permanent placard at all. If you are handicapped and don’t own a car, issue a permanent Handicapped ID so that if someone else has to drive you to the doctor or elsewhere, they can double park and get you from the car and then park just as I do when I can’t find a Handicapped space. This would avoid being ticketed for a fast double park in order to unload a handicapped person while not having all of these permanent placards being abused.
So while all of you look upon those who take up handicap spaces when they are not handicapped as heroes, I look on them as the vile creatures they are.
Having no sympathy for loss of revenue to Mayor Daley’s nephew and his company (Morgan Stanley), I do have sympathy for those who are handicapped and can’t get handicapped parking spaces because of fakers. It happens much more often than anyone realizes. I have seen dozens of spaces filled and had to drop my wife off, double parking (luckily Superhero DoR wasn’t around or I would be pounding rocks in Dixon Prison) and leading her to the sidewalk where she then has to wait for me to find a non-handicap space and return to lead her to where we were going while truly able bodied people walk to their pacarded cars and drive away, clearly having no handicap at all except laziness.
I am very disappointed so many that posted comments have not taken the time to know the facts. The free parking downtown is not required under the ADA, the City offers it. The fine in Chicago is $250 for first offense, that goes to the State of Illinois, has nothing to do with the current Parking Meter debate in the City, Shame on those that are using this issue for there own cause. Under State Statues a local municipality could add $100 on to the fine for themselves, many cities do, Chicago does not.
The HCP is intended for those of any age, that due to a medical condition, which defined by Federal Statues, and definition are People with Disabilities.
Please remember when someone that parks in designated disabled parking spots, this effects the quality of life for those of us that need to be able of easy access to locations.
Please turn in suspected HCP abusers, and keep writing those tickets and confiscating the HCP Placards. Thank you…
Does anyone know how I can report a handicapped placard abuse without the placard number? I could not get close enough to the vehicle to take down the placard number, as the driver was approaching the car at the time I noticed the infraction. I do, however, have the license plate number. Any ideas? This very obviously able-bodied woman should have to pay for her transgression. Shame on her.
Madasheck…
In regards to HCP placard usage….if the owner of the placard was being transported by the vehicle in question, the driver does not have to be disabled in any way.
Legally…the operator of the vehicle is only allowed to use the placard when transporting the owner to or from whatever location the owner needs assistance in getting to and from.
In Illinois, to receive a disabled license plate or placard, you must fit into one of five conditions:
* Cannot walk without the use or aid of cane, prosthetic, wheelchair, etc.
* Restricted by lung disease
* Uses portable oxygen
* A cardiac condition
* An arthritic, neurological or orthopedic condition as determined by a licensed physician
If there is a suspected abuse…
Call 1-800 252-8980 option 0, tell the operator what your issue is and they can get you to the proper person.
Try to have both the Plate Number AND placard serial number for the Sec of State Investigators.