2003 SESSION

03-0994

03/09

HOUSE BILL 549

COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Prohibits any person not a police officer or department of safety employee from requiring verification of a walking disability.

II. Allows free parking for persons with walking disability plates or placards for up to 24 hours.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-0994

03/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Walking Disability Plates and Placards; Improper Use. Amend RSA 261:88, VIII to read as follows:

VIII.(a) Any person who finds or has reason to believe that such special plates or placards are being improperly used may report any such violation to the department. Any police officer of a city or town who finds that such special plate or placard is being improperly used shall report such violation to the department. The director may, at his or her discretion, revoke such special plate or placard for violation of any provision or law related to the use of special plates or placards.

(b) Except for police officers charged by law with enforcing motor vehicle laws and department of safety employees involved in administering motor vehicle matters for the disabled, no person shall require verification of the disability of any owner, operator, or passenger of a motor vehicle carrying such special plates or placards.

2 Parking Privileges for Persons With Walking Disability. Amend RSA 265:74 to read as follows:

265:74 Parking Privileges for Persons With Walking Disability. Any motor vehicle carrying the special plates or hanging windshield placard issued to a person with a walking disability under RSA 261:88, or a similar license plate displaying the international accessibility symbol shall be allowed free parking in any city or town, including any state or municipal parking facility where a fee is charged, for a continuous period of not more than 24 hours. [Each city or town shall have the discretion to set the time periods using guidelines which shall be provided by the governor's commission on disability.] The free parking shall only be allowed if the person who qualifies for the special plates or hanging placard is being transported in the vehicle to or from the parking place. Parking places designated for persons with walking disabilities shall be utilized only if a person with a walking disability is being transported in the vehicle to or from the parking place. Notwithstanding the provisions of any local ordinance which has been adopted to regulate parking in places designated for persons with walking disabilities, any person who is convicted under this section shall be guilty of a violation and fined not less than $250.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.