Post by Logan on May 8, 2017 3:46:31 GMT -6
California’s DMV has a message for motorists using disabled placards to get close-in or free parking: The crackdown is here.
Inspired by a critical audit that found widespread abuse of the program – including thousands of placards in use even though their original owners likely were dead – the department is stepping up enforcement and making sure it gets the public’s attention.
Friday, the DMV announced it had cited 417 people in April for fraudulently using the placards, more than half of the citation total issued in each of the past two fiscal years. Two-thirds of the citations came over three weekends of sun-baked concerts at the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in Indio, where officials cited dozens of people a day as they tried to enter disabled-access parking areas and avoid the long walks and massive traffic jams of the festivals’ main public lots.
“We’re definitely ramping up to publicize it more,” DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said. The department plans to launch a major public-relations push against abusers in September or October, she said, adding that the Coachella and Stagecoach experiences will likely prompt the department to conduct more stings at large events.
Read more here: www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article148905604.html
Inspired by a critical audit that found widespread abuse of the program – including thousands of placards in use even though their original owners likely were dead – the department is stepping up enforcement and making sure it gets the public’s attention.
Friday, the DMV announced it had cited 417 people in April for fraudulently using the placards, more than half of the citation total issued in each of the past two fiscal years. Two-thirds of the citations came over three weekends of sun-baked concerts at the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in Indio, where officials cited dozens of people a day as they tried to enter disabled-access parking areas and avoid the long walks and massive traffic jams of the festivals’ main public lots.
“We’re definitely ramping up to publicize it more,” DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said. The department plans to launch a major public-relations push against abusers in September or October, she said, adding that the Coachella and Stagecoach experiences will likely prompt the department to conduct more stings at large events.
Read more here: www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article148905604.html