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Handciapped parking spaces (also known as accessible parking spaces) are parking spaces that are reserved specifically for people with disabilities. To be allowed to park in one of these reserved spaces, you have to have a state-issued placard or plate. That means meeting the requirements set out by state and federal law—but a single mistake could be costly.
Here’s everything you need to know about handicapped parking spaces in Texas.
What Is Considered a Disability in Texas?
Some physical, mental, or health conditions can result in significant burdens in your daily life. Those conditions are called disabilities. However, not everything that we consider a disability happens to qualify as a disability in the eyes of the law. In fact, some disabilities (like mental health concerns) are notably absent from handicapped parking space laws in Texas.
For an impairment to render you eligible for a handicap placard or plate in Texas, it must meet one or more of the following requirements:
The impairment must substantially hinder your ability to ambulate (which means walk).
If the impairment results in a limp or pain while walking over time or extended distances, it might be legally considered a disability. More obvious examples include paraplegia, amputations, and multiple sclerosis. Of course, not every impairment is easily visible. It is possible for invisible impairments, like severe and chronic pain while walking, to qualify under this requirement.
The impairment must be sight-related, involving 20/200 vision or worse in your best eye with corrective lenses.
If you are medically or legally blind, you may qualify for a handicap placard or plate in Texas. The most important part of this requirement is the “with corrective lenses” bit. If your vision can be corrected to better than 20/200 vision, you might not qualify for a handicap placard under this requirement. However, as you’ll see in a minute (no pun intended), that is not always the case.
The impairment must be sight-related, involving vision better than 20/200 but with a limited field of vision.
Even if you have perfect, 20/20 visual acuity; it might be possible to get a handicap placard or plate in Texas. More specifically, if your range of vision only includes 20 degrees or less of an angle, then you may qualify under this requirement. In other words, tunnel vision of less than 20 degrees is considered a legal disability.
How Do I Get a Handicap Placard or Plate?
The hardest part about having a disability is coping with it—and the state of Texas understands this. So they’ve made getting a handicap placard or plate relatively simple and pain-free. Unfortunately, you will still have to go through the bureaucratic process, which can take some time.
The first step is to go to the Texas Department of Transportation’s website and download the “Application for Persons with Disabilities Parking Placard and/or License Plate” form (also known as Form VTR-214). If you cannot fill out this form on your own, you are allowed to have somebody fill it out for you.
The next step is to ask a state-recognized official to complete the “Disability Statement” section of the form (found halfway down the second page). Most commonly, that person will be your doctor or other healthcare provider. However, any of the following people will do:
- A physician licensed to practice medicine in the state of Texas or an adjacent state.
- A physician’s assistant licensed to practice in Texas.
- A physician practicing medicine in the U.S. military or on a military installation in Texas.
- A physician practicing medicine in a hospital or other health facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
- A person licensed to practice podiatry or optometry in Texas or an adjacent state.
Once you’ve filled out the form and your sponsor has filled out the “Disability Statement” section, you will be able to submit it to your local tax officer. To find the tax office in your county, head to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles’s (DMV) website (or click here) and scroll down to “Find Your Local Tax Office & DMV.”
After submitting your completed application, you may have to wait a few weeks before it has been processed. So, give it some time.
What Kinds of Placards and Plates Are Available?
There are two kinds of handicap parking placards and plates available in Texas: blue and red. Each of these colors means something different and requires a different level of disability. Let’s break them down.
Blue: Permanent
Unfortunately, scientists have yet to discover a method of enabling humans to regrow lost limbs. So, certain disabilities, like having an amputated leg, are going to be permanent. For those disabilities, you will need a blue placard.
Blue symbolizes a permanent disability. These placards and plates can be valid for up to four years before needing to be renewed.
Red: Temporary
If you’ve suffered a catastrophic injury but are capable of healing with the hope of one day returning to your original situation, you might qualify for a red handicap placard. Red symbolizes a temporary disability and these placards and plates are valid for either six months or until you recover from the disability (whichever comes first).
Rules for Veterans
In addition to the standard blue and red handicap placards and plates, there are also placards specifically for disabled veterans. The requirements for those placards are mostly the same; However, there are a few additional standards that need to be met before you can qualify for a veteran handicap placard in Texas.
First, you must be a Texas resident. That means living in Texas for at least one full year and having a home in Texas.
Second, you must be a veteran of any branch of the United States Armed Forces. As long as you were a member of the Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Space Force, you satisfy this requirement.
Third, your disability must be service-related and either include a 50% disability rating or a 40% disability rating due to the amputation of a leg. Among the most common example of this is veterans of the wars in the Middle East who suffered injuries from IEDs.
Fourth, you must be receiving compensation from the federal government for the disability. Social Security Disability is the most common way to satisfy this requirement.
Fifth, you must be the registered owner on the title of at least one vehicle.
How Much Do Placards and Plates Cost?
The price of handicap placards and plates in Texas vary for the general public and veterans. Although the placards and plates function in much the same way, the administrative process for obtaining them is slightly different. To account for that, the financial aspects also change. Here’s what you need to know.
General Public
For members of the general public (i.e., anybody who is not a veteran) with permanent disabilities, blue handicap placards are free to obtain. However, members of the general public with temporary disabilities must pay a fee of $5 to obtain a red placard.
The fee for disabled license plates is the same as the fee for standard license plates ($50.75 before any other electronic or local fees). That being said, you can pay an extra $40 to personalize your plate. Do note that personalizations are subject to review and approval by the state and may not be accepted for a variety of reasons.
Veterans
Disabled veterans, however, do not have to pay the standard fee for license plates when obtaining their first set of disabled plates. Instead, they only have to pay $3. However, veterans will still have to pay the full registration fee for license plates obtained after that original set.
For example, if you have two vehicles, the plates for the first vehicle will cost $3 and the plates for the second vehicle will cost at least $50.75 (before any other electronic or local fees).
If you qualify for the reduced-cost veterans license plate, you can choose to obtain a general public license plate at the same cost instead of the veterans license plate. This is particularly useful if you do not want people to know that you are a veteran or would simply like a little more privacy.
What Are the Laws Regarding Who Can Park in Handicapped Parking Spaces?
Texas takes the matter of personal disability very seriously and only allows those people with qualified disabilities who have been approved by the Department of Transportation park in handicapped parking spaces.
It is a common misconception that the person with the disability placard must be the one driving the car in order to park in handicapped parking spaces. That is simply not true. In order for the driver of the vehicle to be allowed to use the handicap placard, they must either be the one with the disability or be operating the vehicle for the purpose of transporting the person with the disability.
That means, even if you are not driving the vehicle, the driver may park in handicapped parking spaces as long as you are in the vehicle. However, you must be sure to display the proper handicap placard and plates at all times or else you will risk getting a ticket or having your vehicle towed anyway.
You can also park at meters without having to pay the standard prices. The privilege of Texas’s accessible parking laws exempt the owner of the vehicle from having to pay a fee or penalty for parking at a meter. However, that is only true if both of the following conditions are met:
- The vehicle is being driven by the person with the disability or by somebody else for the purpose of transporting the person with the disability.
- A valid handicap placard and license plate are properly displayed on the vehicle.
Placard or Plate from Another State
Traffic law is a finicky subject, often changing significantly from state to state. However, handicap placards and plates from other states work just fine in Texas. Texas handicap placards and plates also work just fine everywhere else. So, no matter where you’re from or where you’re going, your handicap placard and plate should enable you to park in accessible parking spaces.
The penalties for improper use of or failure to display a placard or plate, on the other hand, can be different depending on the place in which you received the ticket. And any violation of the law in another state can sometimes get back to the regulatory agency in your home state.
Violations of Handicap Parking Law in Texas
If you think the only way to get a ticket for a handicap violation in Texas is to illegally park in a handicap parking space, you’re wrong. There are a handful of actions that are considered non-moving violations related to handicap parking laws in Texas. Let’s take a look at each of them.
Failure to display a proper handicap plate or placard
If you forget to install your handicap plates or hang your placard when parking in a handicap parking spot, you can get a ticket. This is true regardless of whether or not there is a person in the vehicle with a disability. Make sure to always remember to display your plate and/or placard just to be safe.
Using a handicap plate or placard when nobody in the vehicle has a disability
This violation is often hard for authorities to spot; however, it is almost always punished to the fullest extent of the law. Do not park in a handicap parking spot when there is no disabled person in the vehicle. In that case, you can still get the ticket even if you properly display the correct handicap parking placard and plates.
Using a handicap plate or placard that is expired
Remember, plates and placards have expiration dates—even the permanent ones. Be sure to make a note in your calendar when your plate or placard is about to expire so that you can avoid getting a ticket for using them after the expiration date.
Using somebody else’s placard or plate when they are not in the vehicle
It is illegal for somebody to use somebody else’s handicap placard or plate when the owner of the placard or plate is not in the vehicle. For example, if you have a handicap placard in your name, you cannot legally allow somebody else to use it when you’re not in the vehicle.
Stealing somebody else’s handicap placard or plate
As you might expect, stealing anything is illegal. However, you can also get a ticket for theft of a handicap placard or plate.
Counterfeiting a handicap placard or plate
Handicap placards and plates must be authorized for use by the government in order to be valid. Counterfeit placards and plates are invalid and creating or knowingly using them can result in hefty penalties.
Parking in such a way as to block access to a handicap parking spot
This is a common way for non-disabled people to get handicap parking spot tickets even when not parking in the handicap parking spot. Parking too close to, in front of, or otherwise in a way that makes it impossible for somebody else to park in the handicap parking spot can result in penalties.
Letting somebody else use your placard to violate another law
If you knowingly allow somebody else who does not have a disability to use your handicap placard or plates to break any of the above laws, you can each get a ticket.
Penalties for Violations of Handicap Parking Law
The penalties for violations of handicap parking law in Texas vary depending on the specifics of the violation. As you’ve seen in the section directly above this one, there are quite a few different forms of handicap parking law violations in the state. While some of these violations can carry criminal punishments, like counterfeiting and stealing, most are what we call civil violations.
Civil violations cannot directly result in jail time. On the bright side, that means that parking in a handicap parking spot without a permit can never get you sent to jail. However, it can still break the bank.
A single ticket for parking in a handicap parking spot in Texas without the proper plate or placard can cost you up to $1,250. As if that weren’t bad enough, the court can also sentence you to 50 hours of community service.
If you’ve received any kind of non-criminal ticket related to handicap parking law in Texas, know that you have options. Start by downloading the WinIt app today from Google Play or the App Store. With WinIt, you can find the affordable legal assistance necessary to take your case to court and win it.
So what are you waiting for? Get started fighting your tickets today.
