Handicapped Parking Vehicle Restrictions Aren’t Legal

Dear Street Smart:

Are the operators of a public parking facility permitted to post and enforce restrictions on the type of vehicle that may be parked in spaces marked for handicapped parking?

To be specific, can they be marked “Reserved for Handicapped Van” even though they are the only spaces for handicapped parking on the ground floor of the parking garage serving the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa?

My wife and I attended a concert at the center and we parked our car in one of these spaces, as we have been doing for the past several years. My wife’s disabled person parking placard was displayed in the windshield. When we returned to the car after the concert, we found a warning citation on the windshield.

The citation states that our vehicle violated the California Vehicle Code because it was parked in a space reserved for handicapped vans . While I was reading the citation, I was approached by another person who told me that the security officer had prevented her from parking her car in the adjacent space, even though she also had a disabled person placard.

The instructions on the back of the parking placard simply state “You may park in/on disabled person parking spaces” and “you may not park in red zones, tow away zones, white or yellow (loading) zones.”

We would appreciate it if you could tell us whether a restriction on the type of vehicle allowed to park in a handicapped parking space is enforceable under the California Vehicle Code.

G.W. Anderson, Santa Ana

There is no statute that restricts certain vehicles from parking in a disabled person’s space as long as an authorized placard is appropriately displayed. “It’s not like there are certain tiers of disability,” said Sam Haynes, information officer for the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento.

A client services officer for South Coast Town Center, the agency that handles security in the parking structure where you received your citation, agreed that your car should not have been ticketed.

He attributed your citation to an overzealous security guard and said you could not be held responsible for parking in a disabled person’s space (reserved or otherwise) as long as you displayed your placard.

There is reserved ground-level parking for disabled van drivers because vans usually can’t clear the height limitations within the parking structure, the client services officer said. However, on each level of the five-tiered South Coast Town Center parking structure, there are two or three spaces to accommodate disabled visitors, he said.

“The Performing Arts Center does get a major amount of traffic and all the disabled spaces could have been filled that night, but as long as the placard was displayed, they should have been able to park in a van space,” the client services officer said of your situation.

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Dear Street Smart:

The southbound, two-lane off-ramp from Interstate 5 at Avery Parkway has a problem. At the end of the off-ramp, an almost obliterated pavement arrow in the right lane allows both a right and left turn from the right lane, making the exit a two-lane left turn. Unwary motorists turning left from the left lane find unexpected companions on their right when making the turn.

At the very least, the pavement arrows, which are the only current turn indicators, should be repainted. A sign on a post showing allowable turns should also be placed across the intersection.

Maurice A. Cooke, Laguna Hills

The Interstate 5 southbound off-ramp at Avery Parkway is a one-lane off-ramp that transitions to two lanes as it approaches the intersection, said Gary Slater, chief of traffic operations for Caltrans. The left turn is a mandatory left turn lane and the right lane allows motorists to turn right, left or proceed straight through the intersection to the southbound on-ramp, he said.

This off-ramp has an average daily use of 11,900 vehicles, Slater said. It provides access to Mission Viejo and Saddleback College and the majority of those vehicles turn left, he said.

Caltrans conducted a field investigation and found that the lane lines and arrows had faded and that the lane-use control sign was missing. The stripes and arrows will be repainted, Slater said.

Because of the heavy volume of left turns from both lanes, Caltrans will also add pavement markers called “Cal tracks” to channel motorists through the intersection to the eastbound lanes on Avery Parkway, Slater said. A lane-use control sign will also be installed.

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Dear Readers:

The Measure M Citizens Oversight Committee is recruiting volunteers to fill three vacancies. The committee monitors Orange County Transportation Authority expenditures to ensure that all revenue collected from the half-cent transportation sales tax is spent only on the voter-approved Measure M plan.

Two positions are open in the 1st Supervisorial District, which encompasses Westminster, Fountain Valley, central Santa Ana, a portion of Garden Grove and the unincorporated area of Midway City. The third vacant position is in the 5th Supervisorial District, which includes Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Newport Beach, Irvine, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, San Clemente and part of Tustin.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old and willing to serve a three-year term beginning July 1. Committee members are nominated by a panel of the Grand Jurors Assn. of Orange County. Final selection is by lot from among the nominees.

For an application or more information, call the Grand Jurors Assn. at (714) 835-6209.