When I renewed my disabled mother's handicapped parking placard a while back, I paid the full price for a four-year authorization. When I got home, I noticed the expiration date was Dec. 31, 1997, which was much shorter than the four years we paid for. I've checked the dates on other placards I've seen and they all have a Dec. 31, 1997, expiration. How come? Shouldn't they be four years from the date of issuance? What's going to happen the first week of 1998 when hundreds of permit-holders flood the office at the same time for renewals? Disabled parking permits
dated by a wait for rulesTo begin with, the city charges a flat processing fee for the permits, previously $4 and currently $10. A 6-month permit for a temporary disability and a 4-year one (renewable) for a permanent disability cost the same, said the supervisor of the street usage section for the Department of Transportation Services.
That's the simple part of the answer. We'll try to simplify the second part. In 1992, to comply with federal law, the state, which oversees the handicapped parking permit system, moved to replace permits displayed on dashboards with hanging placards.
The new rules and regulations were expected to take effect that year; it didn't happen until April 1994. But the state's guidelines lacked certain details, the city official said, so the four counties had to come up with their own ordinances to cover such things as fines and fees.
The Honolulu ordinance passed last Aug. 23 and the new placard system was instituted Sept. 1.
Before then, city officials optimistically thought the new system would be in place long before, hence the 1997 expiration. When time passed and nothing happened, they decided to stick with 1997 because of uncertainty about when the new system would be implemented.
People who got permits before Sept. 1 were given the option of waiting until the new system was set, or to pick up permits with the 1997 expiration. Most wanted it immediately. The new placards all have expiration dates four years from the date of issuance.
More Kokua Line
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- Auwe
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