Disabled Person Parking Placard or Plates (FFVR 7)

Who qualifies for a Disabled Person (DP) Parking Placard or DP License Plates

You can get a DP placard or DP plates if you have impaired mobility and a licensed physician, surgeon, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or certified nurse midwife certifies your condition. You may also qualify if any of the following conditions exist:

• Heart or circulatory disease.
• Lung disease.
• A diagnosed disease or disorder that significantly limits the use of lower extremities.
• Specific, documented visual problems, including low-vision or partial-sightedness.
• The loss, or loss of the use, of one or both lower extremities or both hands.

NOTE: You do not need a medical professional’s certification if:

• You have lost a lower extremity or both hands, and you appear in person at a local DMV office.
• You currently have a California Disabled Person (DP) Placard, or Disabled Person (DP) or Disabled Veteran (DV) license plates assigned to your vehicle, and the license plate number is entered in part “B” of the Application for Disabled Person Placard or Plates form (REG 195).

Other medical certification

The disability of a person who has lost, or has lost use of one or both lower extremities or both hands, or who has significant limitation in the use of lower extremities may also be certified by a licensed chiropractor. The blindness of any applicant must be certified by a licensed physician or surgeon, who specializes in diseases of the eye, or by a licensed optometrist.

NOTE: You do not have to own or drive the vehicle to use your placard.

Who can get Disabled Veteran (DV) License Plates

A veteran who, as a result of an injury or disease that occurred while on active service with the U.S. Armed Forces, qualifies if any of the following apply:

• Has a disability rated at 100 percent by the U.S. Veterans Affairs or the military service that discharged the veteran due to a diagnosed disease or disorder that substantially impairs or interferes with mobility.
• Is so severely disabled as to be unable to move without the aid of an assistant device.
• Has lost, or lost the use of, one or more limbs.
• Is permanently blind, as defined in §19153 of the Welfare Institution Code.

Parking privileges for DP placard, DP plates, or DV plates

• In parking spaces with the International Symbol of Access (wheelchair symbol).
• Next to a blue curb authorized for handicap parking.
• Next to a green curb (green curbs indicate limited time parking) for as long as you wish. There is no time limit with a DP placard, DP license plates, or DV license plates.
• In an on-street metered parking space at no charge.
• Streets where preferential parking privileges are given to residents and merchants (private off street merchant parking facilities may be restricted to customers and employees).

In addition to parking privileges, service stations must refuel a disabled person’s vehicle at self-service rates unless the service facility has only one employee on duty.

Are there any limitations of parking privileges?

Yes, you cannot park:

• In spaces marked with a crosshatched pattern next to a parking space with the International Symbol of Access (wheelchair symbol). These spaces are for wheelchair and wheelchair lift access.
• Next to red curbs, which indicate no stopping, standing, or parking.
• Next to yellow curbs, which are for commercial vehicles to load and unload passengers or freight.
• Next to white curbs, which are for loading and unloading passengers or depositing mail in an adjacent mailbox.

Parking placard abuse

People who are not entitled to the privileges often abuse disabled person parking spaces. Local law enforcement has the primary authority to enforce parking placard or disabled person license plate misuse.

Placard abuse can result in the cancellation and revocation of the placard and loss of the privileges it provides, and is punishable by a minimum fine of $250 up to $3,500 or imprisonment up to six months or both.

Remember

You are the only person who can use the parking placard for parking or service station privileges. It is illegal to:

• Lend your placard to another.
• Forge a licensed medical professional’s signature.
• Use someone else’s placard.
• Possess or display a counterfeit placard.
• Provide false information to obtain a placard.
• Alter a placard or placard identification card.

California Vehicle Code (CVC) §§1825, 4461, 4463, 21458, 22511.5, 22511.6, 22511.7, 22511.55, and 22511.59. Business and Professions Code §13660.

Types of DP Parking Placards

• Permanent parking placard for permanent disabilities. Valid for two years and expires on June 30 of an odd numbered year.
• Temporary parking placard for temporary disabilities. Valid for up to 180 days (six months) or the date noted by your licensed medical professional on the application, whichever is less.
• Travel parking placard for California residents who currently have a permanent parking placard or Disabled Person or Disabled Veteran license plates. Valid for 30 days from the date DMV issues it.
• Travel parking placard for nonresidents who plan to travel in California and are a disabled person or disabled veteran. Valid for up to 90 days or the date noted by your licensed medical professional on the application, whichever is less.

NOTE: You are allowed to have only one permanent placard at any given time.

Placard fees

There is no fee for a permanent parking placard, its replacement, or for a travel placard. There is a fee for a temporary parking placard.

NOTE: For registration fees, see the brochure, Registration Related Fees (FFVR 34). Because fees are subject to change, visit our website at dmv.ca.gov for the most current information or call DMV toll free at 1-800-777-0133.

How to apply for a Disabled Person placard

You must:

• Complete and sign an Application for Disabled Person Placard or Plates (REG 195).
• Have a licensed physician, surgeon, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or certified midwife sign the Doctor’s Certification of Disability portion of the application.
• For a Temporary Placard, include the fee.
• Mail the original application to the address on the form. You will receive your parking placard in about two weeks after you submit the completed form.

NOTE: You do not need a Doctor’s Certification of Disability if:

• You have lost a lower extremity or both hands, and you appear in person at a local DMV office.
• You currently have California Disabled Person (DP) or Disabled Veteran (DV) license plates assigned to your vehicle, and the license plate number is entered in part “B” of the application form.

NOTE: You can make an appointment online or by telephone and take the completed application to a DMV office near you.

Permanent placard renewal

You do not need to renew your permanent placard. DMV will automatically mail your new placard and identification card to the address shown on DMV records. If your address has changed, you must file a change of address with DMV to ensure the placard will be mailed to your most recent address.

To file a Change of Address form (DMV 14)(PDF), you may:

• Download the form at dmv.ca.gov, complete it, and mail it to the address on the form
  or
• Call 1-800-777-0133 to have the form mailed to you. DMV’s online service for filing the Change of Address form is not available for placards.

Replacing your DP placard if it is lost, stolen, or mutilated

You may obtain a substitute placard if your original (permanent or temporary) is lost, stolen, or mutilated. You will need:

• A completed and signed Application for Replacement Plates, Stickers, Documents (REG 156)(PDF).
• To surrender the placard if it is mutilated.
• A substitute placard fee for temporary placards only; permanent and travel placards are replaced with no fee charged.
• Mail the completed application to:
  
  DMV Placard
  PO Box 942869
  Sacramento, CA 94269-0001

You will receive your parking placard in about two weeks after you submit the completed form.

NOTE: You can make an appointment online or by telephone and take the completed application to a DMV office near you.

Surrender of placards

The placard must be surrendered to DMV within 60 days of the death of the disabled person. Mail the placard to:

DMV
Registration Operations Division
PO Box 942869 MS C271
Sacramento, CA 94269-0001

Disabled Person and Disabled Veteran License Plates

DP or DV License Plates Certification Form

All holders of DP or DV plates are required to present a certification form, upon request, to law enforcement officers or persons authorized to enforce parking laws, ordinances, or regulations. The self-certification card provides law enforcement with verification of the person’s eligibility for DP or DV plates. The certification form is intended to prevent unauthorized persons from using disabled person parking spaces. When the law was enacted requiring this form, DMV sent the form to all current holders of DP/DV license plates. New DP/DV plate holders receive the certification form with their plates.

Surrender of plates

DP and DV license plates must be surrendered to DMV within 60 days of the death of the plate owner or upon expiration of the registration, whichever comes first.

Special Interest License Plates

Department policy allows disabled person and disabled veterans to display Special Interest License Plates in place of DP or DV plates. In such cases, a parking placard must be displayed in the vehicle to receive the parking privileges.

Commercial vehicle weight fee exemption for DP License Plates

One commercial vehicle with an unladen weight of 8,000 pounds or less registered to a qualified disabled person and assigned DP plates is exempt from the weight fee. Commercial vehicles with an unladen weight of 8,001 pounds or more, owned by a disabled person, are not eligible for the weight fee exemption, but may be issued DP plates. (CVC §9410.)

To apply for DP plates

You must:

• Complete and sign an Application for Disabled Person Placard or Plates (REG 195)(PDF).
• Have a licensed physician, surgeon, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner, or certified midwife sign the Doctor’s Certification of Disability portion of the application.
• Provide the current registration card in your name or documents to register the vehicle in your name.
• Pay the normal registration fees due on the vehicle.
• Surrender the plates currently on the vehicle.
• Mail the original application to the address on the form. You will receive your plates in about two weeks after you submit the completed form.

NOTE: You do not need a doctor’s certification if:

• You have lost a lower extremity or both hands, and you appear in person at a local DMV office.
• You currently have California Disabled Person (DP) or Disabled Veteran (DV) license plates assigned to your vehicle, and the license plate number is entered in part “A” of the application form.

NOTE: You can make an appointment online or by telephone and take the completed application to a DMV office near you.

The vehicle cannot be parked in a disabled parking space until the vehicle displays Disabled Person plates or a Disabled Person Parking Placard. Applicants who do not have a parking placard may obtain one in conjunction with the plates.

Disabled Veteran License Plates fee exemption

A qualified disabled veteran is exempt from payment of all fees except fees for duplicates, for one passenger motor vehicle, motorcycle, or commercial vehicle with an unladen weight of 8,000 pounds or less not used for transportation for hire, compensation, or profit, which is owned by the disabled veteran and displays DV license plates.

NOTE: The fee exemption can be used for one vehicle only. An individual who qualifies for two types of plates, such as DV and Ex-POW, cannot obtain both.

To apply for DV plates

You must:

• Complete and sign the Disabled Veteran Certification on the Miscellaneous Certifications (REG 256A)(PDF).
• Provide proof of eligibility documentation.
• Provide your current registration card or the documentation required to register the vehicle in your name.
• Surrender the plates currently on the vehicle.
• Mail the completed application to:
  
  DMV
  SPU-MS D238
  PO Box 932345
  Sacramento, CA 94232-3450

NOTE: You can make an appointment online or by telephone and take the completed application to a DMV office near you.

The vehicle cannot be parked in a disabled parking space until the vehicle displays Disabled Veteran plates or a Disabled Person Parking Placard. Applicants who do not have a parking placard may obtain one in conjunction with the plates.

Proof of eligibility requirements

The veteran must submit documentation (a letter or a photocopy) as follows:

• If the veteran has lost, or lost the use of one or more limbs, has suffered permanent blindness, or is so severely disabled as to be unable to move without the aid of an assistance device, then the documentation must indicate that the injury occurred while the veteran was on active duty with the U.S. Armed Forces.
• If the veteran is rated as 100 percent disabled due to a diagnosed disease or disorder that substantially impairs or interferes with mobility, then the documentation must: o Be from the military service that discharged the veteran, and o Indicate the disability rating that substantially impairs or interferes with the veteran’s mobility is due to a diagnosed disease or disorder that occurred while the veteran was on active duty with the U.S. Armed Forces.

Replacing your DP/DV plates if they are lost, stolen, or mutilated

You may obtain duplicate license plates if yours are lost, stolen, or mutilated. You will need:

• A completed and signed Application for Replacement Plates, Stickers, Documents (REG 156)(PDF).
• To surrender any remaining plates.
• A substitute plate fee.
• Mail the completed application to:
  
  DMV
  SPU-MS D238
  PO Box 932345
  Sacramento, CA 94232-3450

NOTE: You can make an appointment online or by telephone and take the completed application to a DMV office near you.

FFVR 7 (REV. 1/2008) WWW, Updated 05/06/2009