L.A.’s Hands Are Tied on Parking Rules

Dear Traffic Talk:

My question has to do with handicapped people’s privilege of parking at metered sites for as long as an individual wishes.

What is the reason for the allowance of free, unlimited parking? I can almost rationalize the free aspect, but unlimited time?

Why can’t the time limit be respected by those with handicap permits--be they legal ones or any of the thousands of illegal permits floating around our city?

Not only does the city lose the revenue from the vehicles with the handicap plates, but it also loses the revenue it would collect from regular vehicles if the time allotment was respected.

Having meter attendants mark the tires of handicap-permit vehicles would allow for timing of the parking.

Carlos Ferreyra

Van Nuys

Dear Carlos:

Most of the laws affecting the disabled have trickled down from the state Legislature, leaving individual municipalities like Los Angeles with limited options.

State laws over the years have been enacted with the philosophy that it is in the public’s best interest to involve the disabled in as many of the activities enjoyed by the mainstream as possible, said Michael Inouye, the parking administrator for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

In the process of writing these laws, legislators at one point decided that the disabled would be allowed to park free of charge and without time limitations--even prohibiting municipalities from enacting contradictory laws, according to authorities.

Any concerns over existing state laws should be addressed to the appropriate state representatives.

Locally, Inouye said his agency is also concerned about any abuse.

A study by the Department of Motor Vehicles in 1994 determined that there was significant abuse of the handicap-parking privilege, particularly by friends and relatives of the disabled.

Consequently, in 1995 state law was amended to allow parking officers to request proof of issuance from individuals suspected of misusing the placards, Inouye said.

Then, in 1996 Los Angeles established a “Disabled Placard Abuse Unit.”

From July 1996 to January of this year, Inouye said, the officers issued 772 citations for abuse and confiscated 459 placards.

The number of vehicles parking in handicap spaces where the unit operated consequently decreased by 28%, Inouye said.

Dear Traffic Talk:

One of the worst roads I’ve ever been on is Owensmouth Avenue in Canoga Park between Sherman Way and Vanowen Street.

Are there any plans to do repair work on this section?

Larry Bakos

Encino

Dear Larry:

That stretch of street is on the Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s 1996-97 resurfacing program, according to authorities.

Presently, two utility companies are doing their work within the roadway, delaying the actual surfacing until the companies are finished, said Richard Evans, a transportation engineer with the department.

However, some interim asphalt repairs have been recently completed at that location, he said.

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