Question: I’ve noticed that the handicap stalls have parking meters in the Kaimuki parking lot situated between Koko Head and 12th avenues. Why is this, and will it be islandwide?

Answer: The vast majority of Hawaii residents with disability parking permits are supposed to pay for metered parking — a temporary (red) or long-term (blue) disability parking placard entitles the holder to park in a reserved, accessible space, but not for free. Only the Disabled Paid Parking Exemption Permit (green) entitles the holder to free public parking at meters and unattended lots that otherwise charge for parking, for the first 2-1/2 hours or the maximum time the meter allows, whichever is longer. The DPPEP is for disabled people who drive themselves and can’t reach or operate the parking meter or pay station.

It’s been this way since July 1, 2021, when 2019 amendments to state law took effect, eliminating free parking for people with blue or red disability parking placards and allowing it only for drivers with green placards. Before these changes took effect, meters were rare at parking stalls reserved for the disabled because fees were waived for everyone entitled to park there. Since the updated law took effect, meters have been added to disability parking stalls statewide, although at a varying pace, and will continue to appear.

The Hawaii measure approved in 2019 clarified that the statewide parking program for people with limited mobility was not meant for their financial benefit, but to ease access by reserving parking for them near building entrances, whether they are a passenger or a driver, and that the fee exemption is meant only for licensed drivers whose disability physically prevents them from paying. When the disability placard belongs to a passenger, not a driver, it’s assumed that the person driving the passenger can reach and operate the meter or pay station. We’ll also mention that free disability parking at staffed parking lots was eliminated even earlier (2015 on Oahu) because someone is there to collect the payment and assist if needed.

Of the 22,682 disability parking permits issued statewide in fiscal year 2021-2022, only 319 were DPPEPs (green), exempting the holder from parking fees, according to the parking program’s annual report for that year, which is posted on the Disability and Communication Access Board’s website; it is the most recent report posted.

At the end of that fiscal year, the first in which DPPEPs were issued, 106,548 blue or red disability placards or special license plates were valid in Hawaii, according to the report. That total includes placards issued that year and in earlier years (long-term placards last six years).

To be eligible for a DPPEP, an applicant must have a valid driver’s license, a qualifying mobility disability and meet at least one of the following conditions, according to DCAB’s website:

>> Cannot reach above their head “to a height of 42 inches from the ground due to a lack of finger, hand, or upper extremity strength or mobility.”

>> “Cannot approach a parking meter due to use of a wheelchair or other mobility device.”

>> “Cannot manage, manipulate, and insert coins, bills, or cards in a parking meter or pay station due to a lack of fine motor control in both hands.”

For details about applying for a DPPEP or a temporary or long-term disability parking pass, go to health.hawaii.gov/dcab.

Mahalo

Thank you to a very nice lady who guided me to the airport on Jan. 3. I took a wrong turn and was lost, ending up stressed out on a dead-end street. The woman was obviously leaving work and told me to follow her in her white/silver car. I know she went out of her way, and I wish I could have gotten her name to thank her. I got to my destination and wish her the very best. She is truly a very caring person. — B.M.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.