How to Get a Handicapped Parking Placard

If you are permanently impaired or temporarily disabled due to an injury, accident or illness, you are eligible to place a handicapped placard in your vehicle. The placard allows you to park in spaces reserved for the disabled, convenient to business entrances and wheelchair ramps. People with injured limbs, heart and lung disease, eye problems and other physical restrictions may apply for a disabled person's permit. Obtaining a parking placard for your car is simple, but if your disability is not immediately obvious, it may require a doctor's visit and the signature of a medical professional.

Instructions

• 1

  Check your state's policy. Call your local DMV or go online to confirm your state's requirements to see if you are eligible for a placard. Each state has its own policies and requirements.

• 2

  Download an application for the placard from your Department of Motor Vehicles website or pick up an application at your local Department of Motor Vehicles.

• 3

  Your doctor can sign your application

  Take the application to your doctor for a signature, and in some states, a prescription requesting the placard. Often a nurse, physician's assistant or other health professional can sign the document. If you have lost the use of one or both hands or a lower extremity and you can apply in person at the Department of Motor Vehicles, you will not require a medical signature.

• 4

  Mail the document with a small fee (if required) to the address on the application or the address supplied by your DMV. A placard should be mailed to you within two weeks.

• 5

  Display the placard in your windshield, and you may park in any designated handicapped parking spot featuring the International Symbol of Access (or wheelchair symbol). Your placard entitles you to: park next to a green curb, park at a meter at no charge, park in street spaces usually restricted to residents and merchants, and receive full service at gas stations at the self-service price.