HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2104
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to parking for disabled persons.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that persons who are blind or visually impaired have mobility difficulties that are similar to other persons with disabilities.  Navigating busy parking lots is fraught with danger, not only for blind or visually impaired persons, but also for other drivers and pedestrians who might attempt to avoid or assist them.

     The purpose of this measure is to allow blind and visually impaired persons to apply for and obtain disability parking permits.

     SECTION 2.  Section 291-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "person with a disability" to read as follows:

     ""Person with a disability" means a person with a disability [which] that limits or impairs the ability to walk[,] and who, as determined by a licensed practicing physician:

(1) Cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest, due to a diagnosed arthritic, neurological, orthopedic, renal, vascular, or oncological condition;

(2) Cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device;

(3) Is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced (respiratory) expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter[,] or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest;

(4) Uses portable oxygen; [or]

(5) Has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to the standards set by the American Heart Association[.]; or

(6) Is blind or visually handicapped, as defined in sections 235-1, 347-1, and 347-2."

     SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Persons with Disabilities; Parking Permits; Visually Impaired

Description:

Authorizes blind and visually impaired persons to apply for and obtain disability parking permits.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.