Oregon Legal Research Blog
The Willamette Week (12/12/07 issue) article by Nigel Jaquiss, “Space Odyssey: New law limits disabled parking benefits for drivers not in wheelchairs,” describes the new law, SB 716, that goes into effect January 1st, 2008. (The 2007 ORS will be here in a few weeks.)
Excerpt from the Willamette Week story:
“A new state law set to take effect Jan. 1 has advocates for Portland’s disabled drivers in an uproar.
Currently, all disabled drivers get the same parking placard and the same rights. That means wheelchair users and disabled drivers who don’t need wheelchairs both enjoy unlimited free parking in on-street spaces reserved for the disabled.
But in June, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 716, which creates a new parking placard for people who are disabled but don’t use wheelchairs.
After Jan. 1, disabled people not in wheelchairs could be subject for the first time in Oregon to locally enforced on-street time limits when they park, and fines for parking too long in a space. And they will also no longer get to park in metered spaces for free.
Michael Levine, vice chairman of the Portland Disabled Citizens’ Advisory Committee, says that all adds up to stripping non-wheelchair users of crucial rights….” (Full story, here.)