Frequently Asked Questions

You must submit application form HSMV 83039, signed by a certifying medical authority within the last 12 months, to your local motor vehicle service center  with appropriate payment for temporary permits only. In addition to the completed form, be sure to bring a copy of your Florida driver license or ID card.

Disability types include:

• Inability to walk without the use of or assistance from a brace, cane, crutch, prosthetic device, or other assistive device, or without assistance of another person. If the assistive device significantly restores the person’s ability to walk to the extent that the person can walk without severe limitation, the person is not eligible for the exemption parking permit.
• The need to permanently use a wheelchair.
• Restriction by lung disease to the extent that the person’s forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for 1 second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter or the person’s arterial oxygen is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at rest.
• Use of portable oxygen.
• Restriction by cardiac condition to the extent that the person’s functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association.
• Severe limitation in a person’s ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.
• Legally blind (certifiable only by an optometrist).

Persons issued a permanent disabled person parking permit will receive a renewal notice before their next expiration date.

If you have any questions concerning applying for a disabled persons parking permit, you may call your local motor vehicle service center or DHSMV Customer Service Call Center at (850) 617-2000.

Temporary disabled person parking permits require a $15 fee. If the need for the temporary disabled person parking permit exceeds six months, an additional temporary permit may be issued. If the additional permit is applied for within 12 months from the issuance of the first permit, no additional fee is required.

Persons with long-term mobility impairments, or who are certified as legally blind by, may receive a permanent disabled person parking permit valid for four years. There is no fee for this parking permit.

Persons with long-term mobility impairments, or who are certified as legally blind, may request a wheelchair license plate be issued for a motor vehicle registered in their name, in lieu of receiving a permanent disabled persons parking permit. The fee for a wheelchair license plate is $28 in addition to other applicable registration fees.

For more information for military service members and family, click here.

Yes. Anyone with a disabled parking permit will be able to park for free on the street at a turnstile meter for four hours maximum. The law also allows local municipalities to exceed the four hours maximum by local ordinance.

Free parking is granted to the driver of a vehicle transporting a disabled person who has the properly issued permit or special license plate, on public streets and highways in areas used for public parking. Where a parking meter is present, such a permit allows free parking for up to four hours, unless more time is permitted by local ordinance.

Please note that the law allows certain public venues to charge parking fees to persons with disabilities. Counties and municipalities may charge a fee for parking a vehicle with a special license plate available to persons with disabilities or transporting a person in possession of a disabled parking permit in the following settings:

• Government lots that are used for entertainment, such as convention centers, cruise port terminals, sports stadiums, sports arenas, coliseums, auditoriums; and
• Facilities or lots that provide timed parking spaces.

Section 316.1964(7), Florida Statutes, allows a private airport that owns, operates, or leases parking facilities, that are used for the purpose of air travel, to charge a parking fee for vehicles which display a disabled parking permit or specialty license plate available to persons with disabilities.

No county or municipality may charge fees for parking in its timed or metered parking spaces for a vehicle displaying a disabled person parking permit. No publicly owned or operated airports may charge parking fees for a vehicle displaying a disabled parking permit or a vehicle with specialized equipment used by a person with a disability, such as a ramp, lift, or foot or hand controls. The Florida Toll Exemption permit is also entitled to free parking in these locations.

Section 316.1964(4), Florida Statutes, allows facilities to restrict the number of days (in a row) a vehicle may be parked with a permit, if the number of days is also being restricted for the general public. Please check with the individual facility on time limits.

All disabled parking spaces are required to be 12 feet wide with a 5-foot access aisle. A 5-foot access aisle may be shared by two accessible spaces. Section 553.5041, Florida Statutes, requires the space to have the signage and painting properly maintained.

Law enforcement officers, parking enforcement specialists and the owner or lessee of the space that finds a vehicle in violation may enforce parking restrictions or have the vehicle towed. Law enforcement officers or enforcement specialists have the option of writing a ticket for the violation. All violations will be recorded by the local clerk and submitted to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The courts may assess penalties on drivers who violate parking permit restrictions.

Access aisles are no parking zones for all vehicles, whether the vehicle is displaying a disabled person parking permit or not. The fine for parking in an access aisle is the same for the disabled parking space, most commonly $250. The placement of the identification number on the permit will allow the enforcement entity to ensure the parking permit is only being used by the permit holder. If anything does not match, a ticket may be written.

The disabled person parking permit application warns all applicants and physicians that permits are only for those people who are severely mobility impaired. Any physician who signs an application for someone who is not eligible can be fined $1,000 or one year in jail or both. All applications are tracked and the number signed by specific physicians can be reviewed. Any person who applies and is not eligible can be fined the same as a physician.

Anyone who obtains or uses a disabled person parking permit that does not belong to them can be charged with a second degree misdemeanor – $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail. Improper use of the permit costs twice the fee of a disabled parking violation. Permit holders may not loan their permits to family members. It does not matter if you are running an errand for the person with a disability. If the person with a disability is not present, the fine is $1,000.

Under section 320.084, Florida Statutes, 100 percent disabled veterans are eligible for a “DV” license plate at no charge to the customer. Visit the Wheelchair License Plate webpage for more information.

Under section 316.1964(8), Florida Statutes, disabled veterans with a “DV” license plate are exempt from paying parking fees statewide.

A veteran who has been evaluated and certified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USVA), or any branch of the United States Armed Forces, as permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability may provide a USVA form Letter 27-333, or its equivalent, in lieu of a certificate of disability. The letter, or its equivalent, can not have been issued more than 12 months prior to renewing the disabled person parking permit.

Form HSMV 83146, Application for Replacement License Plate, Validation Decal or Parking Permit, must be completed and submitted to a motor vehicle service center for a replacement to be issued. If the parking permit was issued more than 12 months prior to being lost or stolen, a valid form Letter 27-333, or its equivalent, may be submitted in lieu of form HSMV 83039.