SB11 By Senator Whatley RFD Judiciary Rd 1 04-FEB-20

SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, a removable windshield placard is issued to an individual with a disability to allow the individual to park in a dedicated handicap parking place.

Also under existing law, each removable windshield placard contains the International Symbol of Access and the expiration date of the placard.

This bill would require each removable windshield placard to contain the photograph of the individual with a disability to whom the placard is issued.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT

Relating to individuals with a disability; to amend Sections 32-6-230 and 32-6-231, Code of Alabama 1975, to further provide for the design and issuance of removable windshield placards.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:Section 1. Sections 32-6-230 and 32-6-231, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§32-6-230.

"For purposes of this division, the following terms shall have the following meanings as provided in this section:

"(1) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY. Includes both individuals with a long-term disability and individuals with a temporary disability.

"(1) (2) INDIVIDUAL WITH A LONG-TERM DISABILITY. Any person individual with a long-term disability which that limits or impairs the ability of the person individual to walk, and the person individual meets any one of the following conditions, as determined by a licensed physician:

"a. The person individual cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest.

"b. The person individual cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person individual, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device.

"c. The person individual is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's individual's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 mm/hg, millimeters of mercury, on room air at rest.

"d. The person individual uses portable oxygen.

"e. The person individual has a cardiac condition to the extent that the functional limitation of the person individual is classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association.

"f. The person individual is severely limited in his or her ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.

"(2) (3) INDIVIDUAL WITH A TEMPORARY DISABILITY. Any person individual having a temporary disability, for a period up to six months, disability, as determined by a licensed physician, which limits or impairs the ability to walk as specified in subdivision (1) (2).

"(4) INTERNATIONAL SYMBOL OF ACCESS. The symbol adopted by Rehabilitation International in 1969 at its Eleventh World Congress on Rehabilitation of the Disabled.

"(3) (5) LICENSED PHYSICIAN. A doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathy licensed to practice medicine or a person employed by the U. S. government as a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy to practice medicine.

"(6) REMOVABLE WINDSHIELD PLACARD. A two-sided, hanger-style placard that displays the International Symbol of Access.

§32-6-231.

"(a) Any person individual who submits to the license issuing official a completed special access parking or disability access parking application form approved by the Commissioner of Revenue, which includes the a physician's certification that he or she the individual is an individual with a disability, shall be issued one removable windshield placard displaying that displays the International Symbol of Access thereby, designating the driver of the vehicle or the passenger as being an individual with a long-term disability or an individual with a temporary disability, as applicable.

"(1) The removable windshield placard shall be prepared by the commissioner Department of Revenue in conformity to Public Law 100-641 and rulemaking resulting therefrom accordance with 23 C.F.R..

"(2) a. The removable windshield placard issued to the an individual with a long-term disability shall expire after a maximum period of five years or any period less than five years, to be as designated by the commissioner Department of Revenue by rule.

"b. The Each removable windshield placard shall clearly reveal the expiration date and shall be designed in accordance with Public Law 100-641 and rulemaking resulting therefrom 23 C.F.R. Part 1235 to hang from the front windshield rearview mirror when the vehicle is parked in a parking space reserved for persons individuals with disabilities a disability. If the vehicle lacks a rearview mirror, the placard shall be placed on the dashboard.

"c. Each removable windshield placard shall contain the photograph of the individual with a disability to whom the placard is issued. The photograph shall be taken from the individual's driver's license or non-driver identification card on file with the Department of Transportation. If the removable windshield placard is issued for the use of an agency, organization, or facility, a photograph is not required.

"b. d. The commissioner Department of Revenue may require all persons each individual with a long-term disabilities disability to be recertified by a licensed physician as having a long-term disability before special access or disability access parking the individual's removable windshield placards may be reissued.

"(3) In the event that an individual with a disability does not have the distinctive special access or disability access license plate as provided by Sections 40-12-300 to 40-12-302, inclusive, upon request, a second placard may be issued.

"(4) A removable windshield placard issued to an individual with a long-term disability shall display the International Symbol of Access in white on a blue shield. A removable windshield placard issued to an individual with a temporary disability shall display the International Symbol of Access in white on a red shield.

"(b) The commissioner may make adopt any rules or regulations necessary to implement or administer this division.

"(c) An individual with a temporary disability who submits to the license issuing official a completed special access or disability access application form approved by the commissioner, which includes the physician's certification that he or she the individual is a temporarily disabled individual, shall be issued one temporary removable windshield placard for a period valid up to six months.

"(d) Any special access or disability access placard that is not in conformity with the federal system rule for handicapped parking, Public Law 100-641 and subsequent Rule 23 C.F.R. § Part 1235, shall not be recognized as a valid handicapped parking credential."

Section 2. This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Motor Vehicles

Disabled

Disability

Handicapped Parking

Code Amended