‘It isn’t right,’ cries disabled driver hit with $200 fine for using handicapped space – he was only in Walmart 5mins
A DISABLED veteran was fined $200 for parking in a handicap spot despite having a disabled veteran license plate.
Vietnam veteran, Bobby Prater, first noticed the ticket on his windshield after a quick stop at Walmart.
KCBD 11 NEWSCHANNELBobby Prater is spreading the word of a legislative change made in 2022 by Texas[/caption]
KCBD 11 NEWSCHANNELThis change no longer allows disabled veteran plates to be used in handicap spots[/caption]
KCBD 11 NEWSCHANNELPrater, who served in Vietnam, was unaware of the two-year-old change until he got a $200 ticket in 2024[/caption]
But Prater was confused as to why he got a ticket for parking in the spot reserved for people with disabilities.
“That’s where I always park,” he told local NBC affiliate KCBD-TV.
In fact, he had been parking in handicap spots since 1972 when he was honorably discharged as a disabled veteran, serving since 1969.
But what Prater didn’t know is that he was actually no longer allowed to park in these spots.
In 2022, the Texas state legislature passed a law no longer allowing disabled veteran license plates access to handicap parking spaces.
Prater said he and many other veterans knew nothing about this change until he got a ticket over two years since the bill’s passing.
The legislature’s explanation for the change is that a disabled veteran plate “may utilize handicapped parking regardless of whether or not they are mobility impaired.”
They continued to say that organizations such as the Paralyzed Veterans of America and Disabled American Veterans have been pushing for the change for that reason.
They said this is why there is often led to a lack of handicapped parking, especially at Veterans Administration facilities, and wanted to ensure handicap parking was available for those who are mobility impaired and really need it.
But Prater disagrees with with this idea.
“They’re disabled for a reason,” he said.
The law now requires veterans, like Prater, to apply for a new license plate or placard that displays the handicap sign.
Prater said that was not a problem and he would’ve happily complied.
But the biggest issue he does have, however, is that this change was not communicated properly to people who it was going to affect beforehand.
Prater said he received no prior warning or indication of this change happening whatsoever.
“If a letter was sent out, I never got it,” he said.
“I never even heard about it,” he continued, believing he is not the only one who wasn’t informed and in for a rude awakening.
Prater said he is now making it his mission to spread the word and inform other veterans of the change before they too get stuck with a $200 ticket.
“Election’s coming up and I got a feeling there’s gonna be repercussions out of this,” he said.
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