BEL AIR, Md. — Accessible parking spots are highly coveted by those who need them the most.
“We use this for my daughter, and it’s really important to us to have the spots available when we need them,” said Marni Hansel of Bel Air.
And even those with a legal right to park in them can make mistakes.
“I will admit,” said Fran Avallone, “I forget to put mine out and I’ll pull in the spot, and then I come out and I go, ‘Oh, geez. People are probably saying nasty things about my car.’”
But what about people who have no business parking in such designated spots?
They were the focus of a crackdown in Harford County this week.
Police teamed with the Maryland Department of Motor Vehicles at various shopping centers where they seized 10 placards and six sets of license plates.
Some violators didn’t know the person issued the accessible designation must be in the vehicle to use the spots, and at least one person took it a leap beyond that.
“He was trying to tell me that she was at home waiting for him, and he was running errands on her behalf and that was his excuse,” said Harford County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jerry Eaton, “but the MVA has these records and their investigators informed me that Mom had been deceased for some time, and the gentleman was still using her placard to park illegally.”
In addition to the seizures, many of the alleged violators received $140 fines.
