Skip to: Content | Footer | Web Accessibility | Disability Services
Disabled wheelchair logo

California Department of Motor Vehicles
DMV Spanish website
car image
Home Page >> Publications >> Vehicle Registration Brochures >> Disabled Person Parking Placard or Plates

Disabled Person Parking Placard or Plates

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 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 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.

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, and 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.
  • In an area that indicates it requires a resident or merchant permit.

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.

Parking privilege limitations

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 6 months or both.

Remember

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

  • Lend your placard to another.
  • Forge a physician’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 §§ 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 physician 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 physician 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.

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 approximately 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 “B” of the application form.

NOTE: If you need a DP Placard immediately, you can make an appointment 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. You may download the Change of Address form (DMV 14) and mail it to the address on the form (DMV's online service for filing the Change of Address form is not available for placards). Once issued, a permanent Disabled Person Parking Placard does not require recertification by your doctor.

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:

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

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

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 law was intended to prevent unauthorized persons from using disabled person parking spaces. When this law was enacted, DMV sent all current holders of DP/DV license plates a certification form. New DP/DV plate holders receive one 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 lieu 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. (California Vehicle Code § 9410.)

To apply for DP plates

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.
  • 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 approximately 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 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 form.

  • 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 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).
  • 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 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:
    • Be from the military service that discharged the veteran, and
    • 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:

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

Updated 02/08/2007