‘What's the point?' Driver criticizes RMV wait time for disability parking placard

It took an adjustment for Nancy to get around town in a walking boot.

“It’s heavy, uncomfortable and cumbersome,” she described to us when we met the Belmont resident in her backyard.

Nancy landed in the predicament after falling outside her house and fracturing her left foot.

During the recovery, Nancy still needed to drive to appointments and run errands without venturing too far from her car, so her doctor filled out the paperwork for a temporary disability parking placard.

However, when Nancy looked on the Registry of Motor Vehicles website, it tells customers to “please allow at least 30 business days for processing.”

When she called the agency to see if there was a faster way, Nancy learned she could only mail in the application or bring it into an RMV service center. There was no online application option.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? What’s the point?’ By then, I’m hoping to be out of the boot,” Nancy recalled. “It totally defeats the purpose and makes no sense.”

Nancy’s next call was to her to state senator, William Brownsberger.

“It seemed like an acute problem we’d like to take a look at,” Sen. Brownsberger replied when we asked him what piqued his interest about the call from one of his constituents.

The lawmaker helped expedite the process for Nancy, even hand-delivering the placard to her home once it was processed. But unless he hears from more taxpayers about the issue, Brownsberger isn’t ready to call the wait time a widespread problem.

“Obviously, that sounds too long because I’m sure there are plenty of people that do need it in a more rapid way,” he said.

A spokesperson for the RMV said its medical affairs team internally monitors the disability placard processing. In some, but not all cases, the process requires 30 or more business days, the spokesperson said.

So we submitted a public records request to the RMV for data showing how long it takes to mail out temporary disability placards from the time an application is received.

Here’s what we discovered: The agency told us it doesn’t have an electronic system that tracks those performance metrics. Instead, employees would have to manually review the thousands of applications it receives every month to arrive at that answer.

The good news for Nancy and others trying to get a placard in a more expeditious timeframe: The RMV says it is currently exploring the best way to add a secure online submission option to enhance the process.

“I just hope they can make it easier for the next person that really needs the temporary placard in a timely manner,” Nancy said. “I appreciate you bringing this to light, so thank you.”

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