Sec. 14-253a. Special license plates and removable windshield placards for blind persons and persons with disabilities which limit or impair the ability to walk. Parking spaces. Penalty. Regulations. **Update notice: This section has been amended by P.A. 99-268. P.A. 00-169. Click on the hyperlink to view the act. (a) For the purposes of this section: (1) "Special license plate" means a license plate displaying the international symbol of access in a size identical to that of the letters or numerals on the plate and in a color that contrasts with the background color of the plate; (2) "Removable windshield placard" means a two-sided, hanger-style placard which is valid for a five-year period from the date of its issuance and which bears on both of its sides: (A) The international symbol of access in a height of three inches or more centered on such placard and colored white on a blue background; (B) a unique identification number; (C) a date of expiration; and (D) a statement indicating that the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles issued such placard; (3) "Temporary removable windshield placard" means a placard that is the same as a removable windshield placard except that the international symbol of access appears on a red background. (b) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall accept applications and renewal applications for special license plates and removable windshield placards upon receipt of a fee of five dollars from (1) any person who is blind, as defined in section 1-1f; (2) any person with disabilities which limit or impair the ability to walk, as defined in 23 C.F.R. Part 1235.2; (3) any parent or guardian of any blind person or person with disabilities who is under eighteen years of age at the time of application; and (4) any organization which meets criteria established by the commissioner and which certifies to the commissioner's satisfaction that the vehicle for which a plate or placard is requested is primarily used to transport blind persons or persons with disabilities which limit or impair their ability to walk. Such applications shall be on a form prescribed by the commissioner and shall include certification of disability from a licensed physician or of blindness from an ophthalmologist or an optometrist. In the case of persons with disabilities which limit or impair the ability to walk, the application shall also include certification from a licensed physician or a member of the handicapped driver training unit established pursuant to section 14-11b, that the applicant meets the definition of persons with disabilities which limit or impair the ability to walk, as defined in 23 C.F.R. Section 1235.2. The commissioner may require additional certification at the time of the original application or at any time thereafter. If a person who has been requested to submit additional certification fails to do so within thirty days of the request, or if such additional certification is deemed by the commissioner to be unfavorable to the applicant, the commissioner may refuse to issue or, if already issued, suspend or revoke such special license plate or removable windshield placard. Any person whose application has been denied or whose special license plate or removable windshield placard has been suspended or revoked shall be afforded an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54. (c) Any person who is eligible to obtain a special license plate pursuant to subsection (b) of this section and who has a motor vehicle registered in his name as a passenger vehicle, passenger and commercial vehicle or motorcycle shall be issued, upon approval of the application, number plates in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 14-21b, which shall bear letters or numerals or any combination thereof followed by the international access symbol. The registration of any motor vehicle for which a special license plate is issued shall expire and be renewed as provided in section 14-22 and be subject to the fee provisions of section 14-49. Any person eligible to obtain a special license plate pursuant to this section who transfers the expired registration of a motor vehicle owned by him and replaces his number plate with a special license plate shall be exempt from payment of any fee for such transfer or replacement. Any special license plate issued pursuant to this section shall be returned to the commissioner upon the subsequent change of residence to another state or death of the person to whom such special license plate was issued. (d) Any removable windshield placard issued pursuant to this section shall be displayed by hanging it from the front windshield rearview mirror of the vehicle when utilizing a parking space reserved for persons with disabilities. If there is no rearview mirror in such vehicle, the placard shall be displayed in clear view on the dashboard of such vehicle. Upon request and payment of a fee prescribed by the commissioner, one additional placard shall be issued to applicants who do not have special license plates. (e) Vehicles displaying a special license plate or a removable windshield placard issued pursuant to this section or by authorities of other states or countries for the purpose of identifying vehicles permitted to utilize parking spaces reserved for persons with disabilities which limit or impair their ability to walk or blind persons, shall be allowed to park, without limitation as to time, in areas where parking is legally permissible, and no penalty may be imposed for the overtime parking of any such motor vehicle, provided the operator of or a passenger in such motor vehicle is a blind person or a person with disabilities. A removable windshield placard shall not be displayed on any motor vehicle when such vehicle is not being operated by or carrying as a passenger the blind person or a person with disabilities to whom the removable windshield placard was issued. Vehicles bearing a special license plate shall not utilize parking spaces reserved for persons with disabilities when such vehicles are not being operated by or carrying as a passenger the blind person or a person with disabilities to whom such special license plate was issued. (f) Only those motor vehicles displaying a plate or placard issued pursuant to this section shall be authorized to park in public or private areas reserved for exclusive use by blind persons or persons with disabilities, except that any ambulance, as defined in section 19a-175, which is transporting a patient may park in such area for a period not to exceed fifteen minutes while assisting such patient. Any motor vehicle parked in violation of the provisions of this subsection for the third or subsequent time shall be subject to being towed from such designated area. Such vehicle shall be impounded until payment of any fines incurred is received. No person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of leasing or renting motor vehicles without drivers in this state may be held liable for any acts of the lessee constituting a violation of the provisions of this subsection. (g) The State Traffic Commission, on any state highway, or local traffic authority, on any highway or street under its control, shall establish parking spaces in parking areas for twenty or more cars in which parking shall be prohibited to all motor vehicles except vehicles displaying a special license plate or a removable windshield placard issued pursuant to this section. Parking spaces in which parking shall be prohibited to all motor vehicles except vehicles displaying such special plate or placard shall be established in private parking areas for two hundred or more cars according to the following schedule: Total Number of Number of Special Parking Lot Spaces Parking Spaces Required 0 - 200 Exempt 201 - 1000 1.0% 1001 - 2000 10 plus 0.8% of spaces over 1000 2001 - 3000 18 plus 0.6% of spaces over 2000 3001 - 4000 24 plus 0.4% of spaces over 3000 4001 or more 28 plus 0.2% of spaces over 4000 All such spaces shall be designated as reserved for exclusive use by handicapped persons and identified by the use of signs in accordance with subsection (h) of this section. Such parking spaces shall be adjacent to curb cuts or other unobstructed methods permitting sidewalk access to a blind or handicapped person and shall be fifteen feet wide, including three feet of cross hatch, or be parallel to a sidewalk. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply (1) in the event the State Building Code imposes more stringent requirements as to the size of the private parking area in which special parking spaces are required or as to the number of special parking spaces required or (2) in the event a municipal ordinance imposes more stringent requirements as to the size of existing private parking areas in which special parking spaces are required or as to the number of special parking spaces required. (h) Parking spaces designated for the handicapped on or after October 1, 1979, shall be as near as possible to a building entrance or walkway and shall be fifteen feet wide including three feet of cross hatch, or parallel to a sidewalk on a public highway. Such spaces shall be designated by above grade signs with white lettering against a blue background and shall bear the words "handicapped parking permit required" and "violators will be fined". Such sign shall also bear the international symbol of access. (i) Any public parking garage or terminal as defined in the state building code constructed on and after October 1, 1985, shall have nine feet six inches vertical clearance at a primary entrance and along the route to at least two parking spaces which conform with the requirements of subsection (h) of this section and which have nine feet six inches vertical clearance unless an exemption has been granted pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of section 29-269. (j) The commissioner may suspend or revoke any plate or placard issued pursuant to this section when, after affording the person to whom such plate or placard was issued an opportunity for a hearing in accordance with chapter 54, the commissioner or his representative determines that such person has used or permitted the use of such plate or placard in a manner which violates the provisions of this section. (k) Nothing in this section may be construed to allow a blind person or a person with disabilities who is a bona fide resident of the state to park in a public or private area reserved for the exclusive use of handicapped persons as provided in this section if such person does not display upon or within his vehicle a plate or placard issued pursuant to this section. (l) Violation of any provision of this section shall be an infraction, provided the fine for violation of the provisions of subsection (f) shall be not less than eighty-five dollars. (m) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this chapter and to establish a uniform system for the issuance, renewal and regulation of special license plates, removable windshield placards and temporary removable windshield placards. Such plates and placards shall be used only by persons to whom such plates and placards are issued.

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