The South Bay was in the crosshair on Thursday as the Department of Motor Vehicles conducted an undercover operation.
They were trying to catch people fraudulently using disabled person parking placards.
“Good morning sir, I’m with the DMV,” Officer Wendy Espinoza told one Costco shopper. “I am a police officer. We’re checking parking placards today.”
Espinoza and about a dozen other undercover officers spent the morning at the Costco store on Almaden Expressway in South San Jose. They were checking to make sure disabled parking placards were valid and being used by the people to whom they were issued.
“We’re trying to use a combination of public awareness and enforcement to get the message across to people that they need to save that space,” DMV spokesman Jamie Garza said.
Misuse varies. Most violations involve family or friends using a placard to get a spot up close or avoid parking fees.
Sometimes, the placard is long since expired, which led to a citation for Cici Michaud of Morgan Hill.
“I am guilty, what can I say? Micahud said. “I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t follow the rules, and I will have to pay for it.”
Competition for parking at this Costco can be fierce, especially for the disabled.
The crackdown is welcome.
“I think it’s about time that they did something about the fact that people are parking in spots that are needed by handicapped people,” Costco customer Roger Lilly said.
The DMV carries out several such operations each month around the state. They not only root out abuse but reduce the impact disabled person parking placard fraud has on the mobility of those with disabilities.
“We don’t want to issue a single citation, but if you’re going to break the law, well, going to issue a reminder in the form of a citation to remind you to save the space,” Garcia said.
In some 20 such operations like this conducted last month, the ratio of citations to people checked out was about 1 in 10.
On Thursday, 135 placards were checked and three citations were issued.
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