United States
In the United States, reserved spaces are mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.
Disabled parking permits generally take the form of either specially marked license plates or a placard that hangs from the rear-view mirror. Plates are generally used for disabled drivers on their personal vehicle, while the portable placard can be moved from one vehicle to another with the disabled person, both when driving or when being transported by another driver.
The medical requirements to obtain a permit vary by state, but are usually confined to specific types of disabilities or conditions. These as a general rule include the use of any assistive device such as a wheelchair, crutches, or cane, as well as a missing leg or foot. Many states also include certain cardiovascular conditions, respiratory problems, and conditions that cause pain while ambulating or otherwise require the person to rest after walking a very short distance. About half of US states (26) include blindness as a disability that can obtain a placard (for use as a passenger) and 14 states include a missing or maimed hand. Four states include deafness, and only two states (Virginia and New York) include mental illness or developmental disabilities.
Most if not all states have blue permits for people with lasting or permanent disabilities, and temporary permits that are red or another color for short term conditions such as broken legs or recovering from surgery.
The availability of specially reserved parking spaces is regulated by both federal and state laws. Generally at least one space is available at any public parking location, with more being required based on the size of the parking lot and in some cases the type of location, such as a health care facility. Parking spaces reserved for the disabled are typically marked with the International Symbol of Access, though in practice, the design of the symbol varies widely. Anyone parking in such reserved spaces must have their plate or mirror placard displayed, or else the car can be ticketed for illegal parking. In some major US cities, local law also allows such vehicles to park for free at city parking meters and also exempts from time limits on time parked. Fraudulent use of another person's permit is heavily fined.
If traveling from other countries, requirements to obtain a parking permit vary from state to state. Some states will honour other country permits, while others require application as a visitor/tourist.
Read more about this topic: Disabled Parking Permit
Famous quotes related to united states:
“United States! the ages plead,—
Present and Past in under-song,—
Go put your creed into your deed,—
Nor speak with double tongue.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“So here they are, the dog-faced soldiers, the regulars, the fifty-cents-a-day professionals riding the outposts of the nation, from Fort Reno to Fort Apache, from Sheridan to Stark. They were all the same. Men in dirty-shirt blue and only a cold page in the history books to mark their passing. But wherever they rode and whatever they fought for, that place became the United States.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black American woman has never been able to feel that way. No black American man at any time in our history in the United States has been able to feel that he didn’t need that black woman right against him, shoulder to shoulder—in that cotton field, on the auction block, in the ghetto, wherever.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)
“When Mr. Apollinax visited the United States
His laughter tinkled among the teacups.
I thought of Fragilion, that shy figure among the birch-trees,
And of Priapus in the shrubbery
Gaping at the lady in the swing.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“The Federated Republic of Europe—the United States of Europe—that is what must be. National autonomy no longer suffices. Economic evolution demands the abolition of national frontiers. If Europe is to remain split into national groups, then Imperialism will recommence its work. Only a Federated Republic of Europe can give peace to the world.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)