Handicap parking permits, which were taken from motorists found to be abusing them, have been collected at the office of the Inspector General. One permit had a new date taped over its expiration date.
(JOSH REYNOLDS/FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
Curb parking scofflaws
Handicap parking permits, which were taken from motorists found to be abusing them, have been collected at the office of the Inspector General. One permit had a new date taped over its expiration date.
(JOSH REYNOLDS/FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)
ROBERT REOCH , writing in response to the front-page story "Tough laws eyed against handicap permit abuse," does not see a need for legislation "to make [this] fraud a felony." He even lists other crimes that are felonies, but fails to include, among them, fraud.
Having been a resident of Boston for the past eight years, and previously having attended school and worked in the city for seven, I can tell Reoch that this has been a problem the entire time.
I have seen trade workers park their trucks, remove their tool box, and then walk two to three blocks to their job site, making sure to hang their handicap placard before getting out of their vehicle. An accordion player who walks around the North End at night parks his car with New Hampshire plates in resident parking areas, with his handicap placard hanging from the mirror.
Unlike many others, I have challenged these people on their handicaps. Their response is usually, "None of your business," although I will say the accordion player removed the placard when I would not stop harassing him.
These people do not care that they are breaking the law, so the laws need to be strengthened to stop this behavior.
DANA K. MAHONEY
Boston
I APPLAUD the Inspector General and Registry of Motor Vehicles for investigating the abuse of handicap parking permits ("Many use handicap permits illegally," Page A1, Aug. 13).
The Registry, however, should realize that it has enabled these abuses by giving in to pressure about dubious claims of identity theft, and supplying the white strips that are used to block the permit holder's picture and the permit's expiration date.
Get the name off the front of the pass, but require that the photo and date be displayed.
The original purpose of redesigning the pass was to make abuse more difficult, but supplying that blocking strip undid it all.
JAMES BEAGAN
Methuen
THIS MONTH while sitting on Main Street in Woods Hole I saw the driver of a new SUV with a handicap parking permit hanging from its rearview mirror speed into a handicapped parking spot. The people in the SUV got out, put on their backpacks, and walked briskly down the street to catch the ferry to Martha's Vineyard.
The car remained there all day and was never ticketed.
The Registry needs to get a better system.
BRIAN SWITZER
Woods Hole
I'VE BEEN the grateful user of a handicap parking permit for several years, and it seems that there are measures that could diminish the abuse of these permits.
The newer placards were issued close to 10 years ago with photographs of the permit holder, but a few years later the permit started including the holder's name.
When the Registry provided sleeves to cover the name and picture, the theory was that one would have to remove the sleeve if challenged by the police, but this has never happened in my experience.
If only the photo were visible on the placard, it would be quickly obvious to others when a person using the permit was not the one to whom it was issued.
There are two other ways that vehicles are designated as being used by someone who is disabled: handicap license plates and the older dashboard permits.
There is no reason that people using those could not be required to display on the dashboard some form of photo identification.
PATRICIA H. GROSS
Arlington 
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
