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Persons with Disabilities

The Department of Revenue issues identifying license plates and placards to qualified persons with disabilities to park in reserved parking spaces.  To apply for an identifying license plate or placard, a DR 2219 Persons with Disabilities Parking Privileges Application must be completed and submitted to the County Motor Vehicle Office. 

To be considered "disabled" and eligible for an identifying license or placard, an applicant must meet one of the following criteria as outlined in the DR 2219:

  • Mobility:  Persons who cannot walk two‑hundred feet without stopping to rest;
  • Assisted Mobility:  Persons who cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device;
  • Respiratory:  Persons who are restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second when measured by spirometry is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air or at rest;
  • Oxygen:  Persons who use portable oxygen;
  • Cardiac:  Persons who have a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as class III or IV according to the standards of the American Heart Association; and
  • Other:  Persons who are severely limited in their ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.

The table below outlines penalties for offenses related to disabled parking privileges:

Offenses Related to Disabled Parking Privileges

Offense

Classification and Penalty under Current Law

Attempting to obtain a disabled parking plate or placard while revoked
 

Class A traffic infraction, punishable by a $32 surcharge and fines of:

  • $350 to $1,000 for first offense;
  • $600 to $1,000 for second offense;
  • $1,000 to $5,000 and up to 10 hours of community service for third and subsequent offenses.

Parking in reserved parking without a disabled parking plate or placard

Class A traffic infraction, punishable by $32 surcharge and fines of:

  • $350 to $1,000 for first offense;
  • $600 to $1,000 for second offense;
  • becomes misdemeanor and fined $1,000 to $5,000 and up to 10 hours of community service for third and subsequent offenses.

Blocking reasonable access

Class A traffic infraction, punishable by $32 surcharge and fines of:

  • $350 to $1,000 for first offense;
  • $600 to $1,000 for second offense;
  • becomes misdemeanor and fined $1,000 to $5,000 and up to 10 hours of community service for third and subsequent offenses.

Fraud and trafficking of disabled parking plates or placards

Class A traffic infraction

Source: Sections 42‑3‑204 and 42‑4‑1208, C.R.S.
 

Remuneration exempt parking.  Under current law, a person is exempt from paying at a meter if his or her vehicle bears a disability placard or license plate, and the method of payment is not reasonably accessible to a person with the disability.  As of January 1, 2019, the Department of Revenue will begin issuing remuneration exempt placards.  After this date, only individuals with the remuneration exempt placard will be exempt from paying at meters.  To qualify for this placard, individuals must have a qualifying disability that limits their:

  • fine motor control in both hands;
  • ability to reach a height of 42 inches from the ground; or
  • ability to reach or access a parking meter due to the use of wheelchair or other device.