ADA Access Blog

South Florida activists said misuse of parking permits for the disabled goes far beyond Miami International Airport.

BY MATTHEW I. PINZUR AND YUDY PINEIRO

• Video | Surveillance footage from MIA
• Document | Detailed description of Florida's disabled parking laws
• MIA workers abuse handicap parking spots
• Rules on using permits for the disabled
• Disabled-parking policy at Broward's airport

Buying groceries is already a challenge for Fred Shotz, who has terminal cancer and struggles with the physical task of shopping. It is that much harder when he needs to circle the Publix parking lot for 30 minutes waiting for an apparently able-bodied driver to give up one of the disabled parking spots.

He drives past dozens of empty spaces farther out, but they are not large enough to unload his wheelchair.

It is infuriating, he said, but not surprising.

''People will use any permit they can get their hands on,'' said Shotz, a disability access consultant in Plantation. ``People use the spouse's permit, their uncle's permit -- it's just never-ending.''

A Miami-Dade inspector general's report this week focused on workers abusing permits at Miami International Airport. But the report contained off-hand references to wider public abuse.

In a span of about four hours on Thursday, The Miami Herald witnessed roughly 45 cars pulling into the 11 disabled-parking spots near one entrance to Dadeland Mall.

Every one had a disabled-parking placard, but only two of the people exiting the cars had visible disabilities -- one in a wheelchair, the other using a walker.

Most were middle-aged women who parked in the spaces, strolled into the mall and returned with handfuls of shopping bags.

Many said the permits had been issued to their disabled husbands or elderly parents -- none of whom rode along. Some said they were at the mall to pick them up, but later left alone. None would give their names.

Using someone else's permit is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $1,000 and a year in jail, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Others who parked in the Dadeland spaces were elderly couples who walked slowly and told a reporter they suffered from back and knee pain and other ailments such as emphysema, diabetes, varicose veins, spinal cord injuries and rheumatoid arthritis.

In many cases, however, activists contend that doctors sign off on permits for patients who do not qualify under state law. Indeed, the airport investigation is now looking into chiropractors who signed the workers' permit applications.

''I can sign a piece of paper in three seconds or spend 10 minutes getting my patient angry at me,'' Shotz said.

A wide range of doctors, including chiropractors, osteopathic physicians and advanced nurse practitioners, can sign off.

''It depends on how ethical the doctor is,'' said Dr. Fleur Sack, a family physician in Kendall. ``Patients ask and it's very simple: If I think they can walk, I won't give it.''

Temporary permits last no longer than six months, and a doctor must approve renewal.

Permanent permits last four years, require no follow-up medical approval and can be renewed online. The state does not have a system to block renewals after the permit-holder dies.

''Someone dies and someone else in the family just starts using it,'' said Betty McNally, chairwoman of Miami-Dade's Commission on Disability Issues.

Nor does the state system raise flags if one doctor issues an unusual number of permits.

Police can check whether the right person is using it -- the permit-holder's driver's license number is printed on the placard -- but verifying those numbers and looking for expired permits are not necessarily high priorities.

Legitimate permit-holders have long complained about fraud. In Miami-Dade County, an unusual policy of letting permit-holders park free in county-owned garages makes illicit permits even more attractive, as the airport investigation this week showed.

Inspector General Chris Mazzella said the county waived about $2.2 million in parking fees at the airport last year, with another $500,000 at the Port of Miami.

At the urging of aviation director José Abreu, Mayor Carlos Alvarez may suggest repealing the fee waiverBut even within the network of disability activists, such a change would be controversial.

Shotz said the waiver is ''a very bad thing,'' increasing demand for black-market permits and making it harder for disabled drivers to find spaces.

Another activist, Miami's Denny Wood, said ending the waivers would simply boost airport revenues on the backs of disabled travelers.

''It's a small perk in life, but we don't have access to good jobs; we don't get hired,'' Wood said.

McNally took a middle ground, saying the rule should be reformed, perhaps waiving fees for a few hours per day. Some consideration is necessary, she said, because many disabled people cannot use low-cost alternatives such as shuttle buses or taxis.

At the state level, McNally said a panel will present ideas to Gov. Charlie Crist this summer, including a possible overhaul of the permit system.

Until then, Shotz will keep circling the Publix lot, waiting for a space.

Permits for the disabled often abused, activists say - 04/11/2008 - MiamiHerald.com