kathyandrick2

We are taking my father to France in a week. He has an official Dept of Motor Venicle placquard for his car in the States due to his inability to walk long long distances. Will this card be honored in France or do I have to get him something special for France?

Betsy

I can't speak for France, but I traveled to Italy with a woman who uses a wheelchair. She took her CA hangtag that allows her to park in a handicapped space in the US. We used it everywhere we went in Italy and parked in specially marked places there. When there weren't marked parking spaces, we asked where the nearest was was and were usually invited to park anywhere there was room. For example, we parked just to the right of the Duomo in Siena, which is not a public parking lot.

Barb_in_Ga

I traveled to France with my wheelchair bound brother 3 years ago and we used his handicapped access tag both in Paris and in LeMans. Everyone was very gracious and we had no problems having the hangtag accepted where we were able to find handicapped access. One thing I did learn is that sometimes it was better to pull up to an entrance, get him out of the car, then go find the closest possible space, as handicapped access spaces are not always available.

RufusTFirefly

State handicap plates, decals, hangtags, etc. are not even valid from state-to-state in the USA unless two neighboring states happen to have made a reciprocal agreement.

While people might have been nice in some particular individuals' experiences both in the USA and abroad, I wouldn't count on it happening every time.

flanneruk

French local authorities are legally required to honour the Carte Europeenne de Stationnement (we call it the Blue Badge in English). Honouring any other disability identification is entirely up to whoever's doing the enforcement.

The blue badge needs a fair amount of bureaucracy to get. It might be realistic for a non-European living here for six months or a year to go through it, but it's really not feasible for someone coming over for a week or two. Remember Europe - and tourist honeypots in particular - can get very crowded. Fraudulent or misused disability ID is rife, and can be a very emotional issue in places where residents can't find parking. Only one thing ruins your love of humanity as much as seeing someone patently able-bodied using the disabled space near your house when you've got to hoik the week's shopping 300 yards. And that's when the fraudulent abuser is foreign.

So don't necessarily expect a non-European badge to be honoured. The traffic warden has no way of knowing it's genuine, and even the shortest meter maid career will have seen dozens of abuses.

If you want to try to get your own blue badge, you need to apply to the local prefecture. Details at:
http://www.muskadia.com/voyager_avec...tionnement.asp

Viajero2

Rufus is absolutely wrong in everything he stated. The Blue Placard with the wheelchair symbol (the type you can hang from your front mirror) is an international sign. Our was issued by OUR TOWN HALL when we presented a doctor's letter and we have used in more than 40 states and 12 countries with no problem whatsoever. It could had been issued by DMW as well. In Sweden the rental car company provided us with special maps depicting all handicap parking spots in city centre. In Norway a nice policemen directed us to closest handicap spot available when we showed him the tag. If you have the hangtag with the blue handicap sign issued take it with you.

RufusTFirefly

Viajero--This issue is addressed on many state government handicap parking websites, warning people that their state placard may be honored in most, but not all jurisdictions. Perhaps the EU has some sort of a blanket recognition, but not all countries or all US states do.

janis

Viajero2: Yes, the blue and white wheelchair symbol is universal. That doesn't mean handicap placards from different jurisdictions are interchangeable. Most places will honor placards from other countries/states -- but it is a courtesy not a requirement.

kathyandrick2: As the others say - take the placard w/ you. It will often be honored. Then any place you run into a problem you can always drop your father off and go park elsewhere.

kathyandrick2

Thank you for all the info.

oxyjen42

I don't know what the traffic laws are in other states/countries, but what I do know is I got a parking ticket for legitimately parking in a handicapped spot in the Republic of Ireland with a US, blue and white, placard hanging from the mirror.

nytraveler

Um, no - if the Repubic of Ireland doesn't recognize your local handicap placard then you are NOT parking legally - you are parking illegally. This is not like a driver's license - which are recognized from state to state and country (with some limitations - as in underage drivers from the US not being allowed to drive in some states or countries with higher minimum age limits).

chartley

I think it may depend on where and how you want to park. If you park in a disabled space at the supermarket or in a private car park at a tourist site, and show some sort of entitlement badge, there is unlikely to be any problem.

The situation may be different if you want to park on the road or in a public place for longer than the usual period of time, or at a time of day or in a place where it is not usually allowed. You have to know what the disability badge entitles you to do in the place you are visiting, as well as worry if your badge will be seen as valid.

BigBlue

Please see my thread Disabled Parking France/Spain posted at the France forum. In it I cite a specific reference to an agreement amongst EU countries for accepting US disabled parking permits.

Viajero2

A requirement of the UNIVERSAL hanging White/Blue Placard is an expiration date in the space provided (again, this is a UNIVERSAL symbol, much like many HAZARD placards used in global trading). If it is not written or past exp date you could get penalized.

BigBlue

nytraveler, although the initial thread began in 2005, there has been significantly more activity on this topic on which I have commented extensively as recently as yesterday. For current information, please go to the Ireland board and look at the subject: Handicapped Placard for Rental Car posted by kathy-from-texas.

The purpose of my reply to you is to suggest that if one local official in Ireland got it wrong, that doesn't mean the traveler got it wrong. Your erroneous and authoritative assertion that "This is not like a driver's license..." suggests that you need to do your homework. Fortunately, I've done it for you if you will look at the referenced thread.

It's really simple, inn't it? If you don't know a fact, don't make an erroneous statement as though it is a fact. That will only confuse an already confusing topic. And, it is only confusing because people are venturing forth with opinions instead of valid information.

As to where and when you can park, this is spelled out in great detail in the document referenced in the thread. Some of the generous provisions in it might shock people.

mkp1409

BigBlue Can you please point me to the board you refer to above?

BigBlue

mkp1409, as I state above, select Ireland from Europe and look for the posting on June 23, 2010, by kathy_from_Texas to follow the discussion. If you need more, please advise. Am I missing something in your question?

BigBlue

We have just returned from a five-week driving trip in France and Spain. I displayed my California placard at each appropriate location and never had any questions or concerns about it.

Viajero2

Since this post, I have added Spain to the number of countries we have used the UNIVERSAL blue hanging placard for handicapped parking. It was accepted everywhere, even in the most remote mountain villages. Furthermore, in more than one ocassion, we did NOT have to pay for parking whenever there was a parking fee involved. This is all in part due to a strong movement in Spain for wheelchair accesibility.

By the way, we used the SAME placard all over Ireland in Aug-Sept 2007; NOT one problem whatsoever; the placard was honored EVERYWHERE.

kerouac

I recommending placing the tag on your dashboard (as per EU custom) and not hanging it from the mirror, where it may not be recognized.