In May, we'll be driving from Washington to Florida via eight or more States - including a detour across to Memphis to visit Graceland; then returning down through Mississippi, New Orleans and the Panhandle.
I wrote to the American Automobile Association (
AAA) to try and clarify the correct procedure in displaying a blue badge
wherever we might happen to be in the USA. - I eventually received the following response from them:
Steve.
Dear Steve,
Forgive my tardiness with this reply to your letter of March 17th. Things have just been popping around my office, with many too many projects to be completed, and Im afraid your letter got mislaid amongst the piles of papers. I do apologize!
So much for using the mails I guess this is why email is much more efficient; things are noticed more readily and answered accordingly.
I am attaching below a copy of the advice we give all international travelers coming to the United States. I am sure that if you follow the guidance given, you will have absolutely no problem displaying your Disabled Permit from the UK throughout the States:
**************************************
STANDARD ANSWER FOR USING INTERNATIONAL DISABLED PARKING PERMITS
IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA
AAA recommends that disabled drivers from other countries driving in the United States and Canada, and needing the use of designated parking spaces, should consider the following. These rules apply to any and all states in the United States, and provinces throughout Canada as well.
Travel with any credentials normally displayed in your home country.
Travel with a letter from your physician stating the nature of your disability.
Contact the nearest State Department of Motor Vehicles (IF YOU FEEL THE NEED) (THE DMV; listed in the middle government offices section of any phone book) or local police office concerning a temporary use parking permit once you have arrived in the United States, if you feel you need more precise information.
Display your permit by hanging it from the rearview mirror of your vehicle. This international disabled symbol is a side view of a wheelchair.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a final ruling that provides guidelines to (all) States for the establishment of a uniform parking system for drivers with disabilities that limit or impair the ability to walk .
The guidelines include minimum requirements to be incorporated into state systems. Under the DOT guidelines, placards must be hung from the windshield rearview mirror so they can be viewed from the front and rear of a car, helping law enforcement personnel to easily recognize whether a vehicle is legally parked.
The rule, required by the U.S. Congress, calls for reciprocity of enforcement among states and for the state systems to specify that the International Symbol of Access (a side view of a person in a wheelchair) shall be the only symbol used on license plates or windshield placards to identify a disabled motorist.
You can see by the advice given above, which is good for all of the United States and Canada, that there should be NO NEED for you to obtain any kind of a temporary disabled parking permit for your vehicle while visiting. If you have the standard symbol (side view of the wheel chair) to display in your front window or from your rear-view mirror, that should be all you need. Also in case a police officer should be doing a spot check on those carrying these credentials (to catch the AMERICANS or CANADIANS who should not have those permits lawfully, I might add) carrying the letter from your physician would clarify immediately that you are entitled to this universal disable parking permit.
It seems that you felt more comfortable on your last trip here, to obtain a temporary handicapped permit. Every city in every state of the union has a Department of Motor Vehicles, which is sometimes connected to the Tax Office. They should be able to answer any doubts you might have, but I sincerely do not think you need to have temporary permits from all of the eight states you will be driving in. Your own permit from the UK should do the trick. If you would feel better please do inquire with the DMV through
www.dmv.org and perhaps they can offer you more advice
.but we have never had anyone come back to us to tell us our information is incorrect, and we have hundreds of visitors writing to us every year, many of them about this permit.
I hope this answers your questions, Steve. If not let me hear back from you.
Margo Miller, Manager
AAA International Relations & Club Correspondent
1000 AAA Drive - Mail Stop #73
Heathrow, Florida 32746-5063 U.S.A.
Phone: (407) 444-7223
Fax: (407) 444-7750
mmiller@national.aaa.com
They said that they would destroy all my payment details.Fantastic.
