A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to ensure the accessibility of handicapped parking in north carolina by changing the handicap placard design to reflect an expiration date visible from at least twenty feet to ensure increased enforcement and collection of expired or revoked placards and to require the division of motor vehicles to issue placard registration cards.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑37.5(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	"Removable windshield placard" means a two‑sided, hooked placard which includes on each side:
a.	The International Symbol of Access, which is at least three inches in height, centered on the placard, and is white on a blue shield;
b.	An identification number;
c.	An expiration date that is visible from at least 20 feet and gives the month and year of expiration; and
d.	The seal or other identification of the issuing authority."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 20‑37.6(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Handicapped Drivers and Passengers; Distinguishing Placards. – A handicapped person may apply for the issuance of a removable windshield placard or a temporary removable windshield placard. Upon request, one additional placard may be issued to applicants who do not have a distinguishing license plate. Any organization which, as determined and certified by the State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, regularly transports handicapped persons may also apply. These organizations may receive one removable windshield placard for each transporting vehicle. When the removable windshield or temporary removable windshield placard is properly displayed, all parking rights and privileges extended to vehicles displaying a distinguishing license plate issued pursuant to subsection (b) shall apply. The removable windshield placard or the temporary removable windshield placard shall be displayed so that it may be viewed from the front and rear of the vehicle by hanging it from the front windshield rearview mirror of a vehicle using a parking space allowed for handicapped persons. When there is no inside rearview mirror, or when the placard cannot reasonably be hung from the rearview mirror by the handicapped person, the placard shall be displayed on the driver's side of the dashboard. A removable windshield placard placed on a motorized wheelchair or similar vehicle shall be displayed in a clearly visible location. The Division shall establish procedures for the issuance of the placards and may charge a fee sufficient to pay the actual cost of issuance, but in no event less than five dollars ($5.00) per placard. The Division shall issue a placard registration card with each placard issued to an individual. The registration card shall bear the name of the individual to whom the placard is issued, the individual's address, the placard number, and an expiration date. The registration card shall be in the vehicle in which the placard is being used, and the individual to whom the placard is issued shall be the operator or a passenger in the vehicle in which the placard is displayed."
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2009.