Obtaining a disability plate

Things could get easier for people wanting a disability license plate for their motorcycle.

Sponsored by Rep. Ron Shimanski (R-Silver Lake) and Sen. Al DeKruif (R-Madison Lake), HF1094/ SF478* would modify issuance of a disability plate for motorcycles.

Approved May 2 by the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee, the bill was sent to the House floor. It was passed 62-0 by the Senate

March 24.

Under current law, a person is allowed one handicap placard and one set of handicap license plates, although individuals may apply to the State Council on Disability for a second set. When the second set is for a motorcycle, the council has generally given its approval. The bill would put approval into law.

“People with disability plates on their vehicles are looking at the price of gasoline and wanting to utilize their motorcycle more in transportation,” Shimanski said. “This simply clarifies the statute that allows Driver and Vehicle Services to issue disability plates for a motorcycle for a person that may already have disability certification on another motor vehicle.”

Tony Larson, who became a right leg amputee after he was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq, said his personal vehicle has his handicap plates and his placard is used with his wife’s vehicle. “I have no third option to put one on my motorcycle,” he said. Without a handicap plate or placard he has to walk from further out in a parking lot. “It’s quite a distance, especially since I just got a new prosthesis and am learning how to walk after five months of not being able to walk on a prosthesis.”