AN ACT to ensure the accessibility of parking for persons with disabilities in north carolina by requiring an expiration date visible from at least twenty feet on all such placards, to ensure increased enforcement and collection of expired or revoked placards by requiring that placards display the month and year of expiration, to require the division of motor vehicles to issue "handicapped placard" registration cards, and to REQUIRE that the person to whom the placard is issued be the OPERATOR of or a PASSENGER in the vehicle in which the placard is displayed, AND TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES TO ISSUE A SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION CARD FREE OF CHARGE TO A PERSON WHOSE VALID DRIVERS LICENSE IS ADMINISTRATIVELY REVOKED DUE TO A MEDICAL DISQUALIFICATION.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑37.5(4) reads as rewritten:
"(4)	"Removable windshield placard" means a two‑sided, hooked placard which includes on each side:
a.	The International Symbol of Access, which is at least three inches in height, centered on the placard, and is white on a blue shield;
b.	An identification number;
c.	An expiration date that is visible from at least 20 feet and the month and year of expiration; and
d.	The seal or other identification of the issuing authority."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 20‑37.6(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Handicapped Drivers and Passengers; Distinguishing Placards. – A handicapped person may apply for the issuance of a removable windshield placard or a temporary removable windshield placard. Upon request, one additional placard may be issued to applicants who do not have a distinguishing license plate. Any organization which, as determined and certified by the State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, regularly transports handicapped persons may also apply. These organizations may receive one removable windshield placard for each transporting vehicle. When the removable windshield or temporary removable windshield placard is properly displayed, all parking rights and privileges extended to vehicles displaying a distinguishing license plate issued pursuant to subsection (b) shall apply. The removable windshield placard or the temporary removable windshield placard shall be displayed so that it may be viewed from the front and rear of the vehicle by hanging it from the front windshield rearview mirror of a vehicle using a parking space allowed for handicapped persons. When there is no inside rearview mirror, or when the placard cannot reasonably be hung from the rearview mirror by the handicapped person, the placard shall be displayed on the driver's side of the dashboard. A removable windshield placard placed on a motorized wheelchair or similar vehicle shall be displayed in a clearly visible location. The Division shall establish procedures for the issuance of the placards and may charge a fee sufficient to pay the actual cost of issuance, but in no event less than five dollars ($5.00) per placard. The Division shall issue a placard registration card with each placard issued to a handicapped person. The registration card shall bear the name of the person to whom the placard is issued, the person's address, the placard number, and an expiration date. The registration card shall be in the vehicle in which the placard is being used, and the person to whom the placard is issued shall be the operator or a passenger in the vehicle in which the placard is displayed."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑37.7(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	Expiration and Fee. – A special identification card issued to a person for the first time under this section expires when a drivers license issued on the same day to that person would expire. A special identification card renewed under this section expires when a drivers license renewed by the card holder on the same day would expire.
The fee for a special identification card is the same as the fee set in G.S. 20‑14 for a duplicate license. The fee does not apply to a special identification card issued to a resident of this State who is legally blind, is at least 70 years old, is homeless, or who has been issued a drivers license but the drivers license is cancelled under G.S. 20‑15, in accordance with G.S. 20‑9(e) and (g), as a result of a physical or mental disability or disease. To obtain a special identification card without paying a fee, a homeless person must present a letter to the Division from the director of a facility that provides care or shelter to homeless persons verifying that the person is homeless."
SECTION 4.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective January 1, 2010, and apply to placards that are issued or renewed on or after that date. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 11th day of August, 2009.

	s/	 Walter H. Dalton
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Joe Hackney
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Beverly E. Perdue
	 Governor

Approved 3:04 p.m. this 26th day of August, 2009