MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman with a disability reached out to TMJ4 News after she thought she had been mistakenly ticketed for parking in a disabled space.
"I decided to call TMJ4 because there are a lot of senior people who are in their late 60s, 70s and 80s, that probably forget to hang up the handicapped sticker, and then the City of Milwaukee goes around and gives you a ticket," the woman explained.
Andrea Albers wanted to help, so she met with Charlie Booker to understand more about the situation. What she found can benefit anyone who has a disabled parking placard — one of the large blue or red tags you hang from your rearview mirror.
"Whoever gave me this citation, they didn't bother to get out and look at my license plate," Booker alleged. "If the person who gave me that citation had gotten out, looked at my license plate and ran it, they would have seen that I had a handicap sticker," Booker continued.
Watch: Milwaukee woman's parking ticket teaches a lesson about disabled permit rules
Unfortunately, having a disabled parking placard does not shield you from a parking ticket if you forget to hang it up. Albers spoke with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the City of Milwaukee to get clarification.
Parking officers can run your license plate number before writing a ticket, but the permit you hang from your rearview mirror is not linked to your license plate registration. It's designed that way so you can use the tag in someone else's car. For example, when a friend drives you to a doctor's appointment.
But if you forgot to hang your tag, and you end up with a ticket, you have a few options.
First, if you have a permanent disability and tend to forget to hang up your disabled parking permit, you can avoid any future tickets by switching your regular license plate to a disabled plate.
Second, you can dispute the ticket. That process starts by contacting the city's violations bureau. After that, you'll have an option to request a municipal court hearing. Click here for more information about disputing a parking citation.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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