Residents: Students Misusing Disabled Parking Placards

Numerous allegations of drivers improperly using disabled parking placards near UCLA has sparked a joint investigation by the university and the Los Angeles Department of Transporation, the Daily Bruin reports.

One person has posted four videos to YouTube of people he says are illegally using disabled parking placards walking to their cars or leaving their cars. Those videos, posted by the user "1TerminalVelocity," can be viewed by clicking the images to the right of this article. They have received more than 1,600 views altogether, as of Monday afternoon.

The videos show the user following the people he claims are parking illegally on foot or in his own car as they walk to or from their parked cars. Not all of the videos show proof that the drivers in the video are displaying a disabled parking placard.

In one video, the person holding the camera follows two young women who park a black Audi on a residential street. From up the block, the woman turn around and call out inaudibly to the filmer, who responds: "We're filming UCLA students using disabled placards... Well you should be parking on campus... Well, we're sending this into the DMV and channel 4 news." The video does not show the disabled parking placard in the car.

The user posted this note on one of the videos: "Dear viewer: Just because the UCLA students don't appear disabled, doesn't mean they aren't disabled. By no means am I making a claim these people are not disabled."

Most of the complaints about misuse of the placards were filed by residents who live near Hilgard Avenue, a UCLA spokesman told the Daily Bruin. Some residents have sent to the university videos of students who they say are misusing the placards parking in permit spaces near the UCLA campus.

Enforcement has been boosted in the area, and at least one car has been towed on Hilgard Avenue since then. Part of the investigation into the residents' claims involve sting operations, where authorities wait near cars bearing the placard until drivers return. Drivers are then asked to show proof of validation and receive fines with they cannot produce the proof. Drivers may be fined $250 to $1000 for the violation, a LADOT spokesman told the Daily Bruin.

To read the original article on the Daily Bruin, click here.

Have you seen people parking in Westwood who you believe are misusing disabled parking placards? Tell me in the comments below or send me an email at saraf@patch.com.