COMMITMENT INTEGRITY LEADERSHIP
April 18, 2017
Report2016-121
DepartmentofMotorVehicles
Administrative and Statutory Changes Will ImproveItsAbilitytoDetectandDeterMisuse ofDisabledPersonParkingPlacards
Our Key Recommendations
To improve DMV’s management of placards or plates, the Legislature should:
•RequireDMVtoseektheassistanceofhealthboards and conduct quarterly audits of applications for placardsorplates.
•RequireDMVtousethefederaldeathmasterfileto informitseffortstoidentifydeceasedplacardholders and cancel theirplacards.
The DMV should do the following:
•Establishgoalsregardingthenumberofsting operations its district offices should perform eachquarter.
•Develop and implement an application, database, or other technology to allow local parking enforcement officialstohaveimmediateaccesstoplacard
status information.
Key Findings
•We reviewed 96 applications that DMV approved for disabled personparking placardsandplatesandfoundthatitsprocessisinadequatetoensure applications arelegitimate.
»Mostmedicalprovidersdidnotincludeenoughinformationonapplications whencertifyingdisabilities—73%oftheapplicationswerevieweddidnot fullydescribethedisabilityasrequired.
»Whendeterminingtheirvalidityandapprovingapplications,DMVdoesnot workwiththeappropriatehealthboardsthatlicensemedicalproviders.
» The medical provider’s signature on 18% of the applications did not match the signature on file with the appropriate licensing health board.
»Somemedicalprovidersthatcertifiedtheapplicant’sdisabilitywerenot authorizedtodoso.
•DMVhasnotcanceledpermanentplacardsforthousandsofindividuals whoarelikelydeceased.AlthoughDMVperformsamonthlymatch
betweenstatevitalrecordsandpermanentplacardholders,itdoesnotdoso with federal records—we identified 35,000 likely matches when we compared placardrecordstothefederaldeathmasterfile.
•Although DMV’s district offices conduct sting operations to identify placardmisuse,wefoundthatdistrictofficesvariedgreatlyinthenumber
conducted—rangingfromoneto18—overathree‑yearperiodbecauseDMV hasnotsetthenumberofstingoperationsitsdistrictofficesmustperform.
•Local parking enforcement officials cannot efficiently identify and seize placardsthatpeoplearemisusing—iftheyarenotswornofficers,theymust calllocallawenforcementdispatcherstoverifyaplacardnumber.
Nearly3MillionDisabledPersonParkingPlacardsandPlatesWereActive asofJune30,2016
Temporary Placards—130,000
Plates—381,000
2.9
Million
Permanent Placards—
2.4 million
621 Capitol Mall, Suite1200|S acramento, CA 95814|916.445.0255|916.327.0019fax|w w w.auditor.ca.gov