Drivers with Disabilities

To be eligible for a Maine disabled license plate or removable windshield placard that allows you to park in designated disabled parking spaces, you need to be certified by a physician as having a disability that impairs your ability to walk. Specifically, you must come under any of the following definitions:

• Cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest

• Cannot walk without assistance from a brace, crane, crutch, or prosthetic device

• Have serious breathing issues due to lung disease

• Use portable oxygen

• Have a major cardiac condition

• Be severely limited by arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition

The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) may also grant disability plates and placards to a spouse, parent, or legal guardian of someone who meets the above qualifications. Organizations that transport people with disabilities may also apply for disability parking privileges.

A disability may be classified as temporary or permanent. Someone with a temporary disability may be issued a parking placard that is valid for six months. A permanently disabled person may receive plates or placards that are valid for four years. In this case, the license plate's registration must be renewed every year, as with an ordinary plate, but the doctor's certification is required only every fourth year.

How to Apply

Anyone who wants a Maine disabled license plate or removable windshield placard needs to fill out an Application for Disability Plates/Placard. As part of the application process, you need to be examined by a physician and certified as disabled, according to state regulations.

You can turn in your application to a BMV office or your local municipal offices, if they are among those that handle registration and plate administration for the Maine BMV. You will need to pay any sales or excise tax that is due on your vehicle before plates and placards can be issued.

There is no extra charge beyond the standard $25 for disabled registration and plates. A placard costs $1. A disabled registration must be renewed annually. A doctor's visit for recertification of a permanent condition is required every four years.

How to Replace a Lost or Stolen Plate or Placard

You can replace a lost or stolen Maine disabled plate and registration or windshield placard by visting your local BMV office or your local municipal offices and applying for a replacement. You'll be asked to pay fees of $2 for the registration, $11 for plates (if needed), and $1 for a replacement placard.

Traveling Out of State

Your disabled license plate or windshield placard will be honored when you travel out of state. Likewise, Maine recognizes the placards and disability parking certificates on out-of-state vehicles.

If you have questions about using your disability plates or placards while traveling, contact the local police or our Drivers with Disabilities section for the state you plan to visit.

Improper Use

If you let your disabled plate or placard be used by anyone who doesn't legally qualify for use of a disabled plate, you can be fined $100 and have your plate or placard suspended or taken away permanently.

Special Disabled Veterans Plates

Maine offers a new special disabled veterans plate to qualified veterans who already hold special veterans plates. In other words, these plates are for veterans who have become disabled since leaving the service. (There are different disabled veterans plates available for veterans whose disability is service connected.)

To apply for a special disabled veterans plate, you need to apply at a BMV office. You need to either already have standard Maine veteran's plates or present evidence of an honorable discharge from the U.S. Armed Forces.

Registration costs $25 for vehicles that weigh up to 6,000 pounds, and $31 for vehicles weighing from 6,001 to 9,000 pounds. The plates are issued in a numbering sequence to include numeric and alphabetical sequences beginning with 1A.

Vanity plates are available in this series with a maximum of four characters. The fee for a vanity plate is an additional $15 plus the registration fee.

For additional information about the various types of disability plates and placards, how to get them, and what the rules are about their use, please contact the BMV's Registration Unit at (207) 624-9000, ext. 52149.