Washington Handicap Placard: Eligibility, Application, and Renewal

To get a Washington handicap placard, you fill out the Disabled Parking Application for Individuals (Form TD-420-073) together with a qualifying healthcare provider, then submit it with an original signed prescription to any vehicle licensing office or by mail to the Department of Licensing’s Special Plate Unit in Olympia. The placard is free. Whether yours is temporary or permanent depends on what your provider certifies about your condition.

Who Qualifies

Under RCW 46.19.010, a licensed healthcare provider must certify that your disability meets at least one of the following:

You cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest.
An arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition severely limits your ability to walk.
You need a wheelchair, walker, cane, crutch, brace, prosthetic device, or another person’s help to walk.
You rely on portable oxygen.
Your forced expiratory volume is less than one liter, or your arterial oxygen tension is below 60 mm/Hg at rest.
You have Class III or Class IV cardiovascular disease under American Heart Association standards.
An acute sensitivity to vehicle exhaust limits your ability to walk.
You are legally blind or your vision is too limited to qualify for a driver’s license.
A form of porphyria makes reduced sun exposure medically necessary.

You do not need to use a wheelchair to qualify. Difficulty walking because of a joint condition or a lung disease that limits exertion is enough.¹

Which Permit You Can Get

If your provider expects your condition to improve within a year, you qualify for a red temporary placard, valid up to 12 months from the date your physician noted the disability. When it expires, return it to a vehicle licensing office or mail it back. If your condition continues, you cannot renew the temporary placard; you must submit a new application with fresh medical certification.²

A permanent disability qualifies you for a blue placard good for five years. You can also add disabled parking license plates or a yellow disabled parking tab to a vehicle you own. Both carry fees on top of the free placard, and both are tied to a specific vehicle. You can transfer them to another vehicle you own by contacting the department, but if you sell or transfer the vehicle, the special plates or tabs have to come off first.¹

How to Apply

Download Form TD-420-073 from the Department of Licensing website. It is available in English, Spanish, Russian, and other languages.²

You complete the first section with your personal identification, plus vehicle information if you want plates or a tab. Your healthcare provider completes the medical section, checks the box matching your qualifying condition, signs the form, and includes a professional license number and contact information. Only certain provider types can sign: MDs, DOs, chiropractors (DCs), podiatrists (DPMs), naturopathic doctors (NDs), advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs), and physician assistants (PAs).³

Along with the form, your provider has to give you an original signed prescription on letterhead or prescription paper, or an electronic authorization. The department will not accept photocopies.²

Where to Submit It

Bring the application and the provider’s authorization to any vehicle licensing office, or mail them to:

Special Plate Unit
Department of Licensing
PO Box 9043
Olympia, WA 98507²

Placards are free. Fees apply only if you choose disabled parking plates or the yellow tab. The placard arrives by mail, typically within about 7 to 10 days based on the department’s stated processing timeline for similar permits. Your identification card, which you have to carry whenever the placard is in use, comes separately and may take two to three weeks.⁴

Renewing a Permanent Placard

Permanent placards expire every five years. The department mails a renewal notice 45 days before your expiration date. Renewal still requires a fresh medical certification: your provider fills out the healthcare section of the renewal notice and gives you a new original signed prescription. Photocopies are not accepted.²

There is no online renewal. Submit the renewal notice and prescription by mail to the Special Plate Unit or in person at a vehicle licensing office. If the privilege lapses, the renewal form no longer works and you have to start fresh with a new application.

Replacing a Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Placard

Fill out the Disabled Parking Replacement form (Form 420076) and submit it to the department. You do not need a new medical certification for a replacement as long as your parking privilege is still active. Once the privilege has expired, the replacement form is no longer an option; you need a full new application with fresh provider authorization.²

Using the Placard Correctly

Hang the placard from your rearview mirror so it is fully visible through the windshield when you park. If the vehicle has no rearview mirror, lay it on the dashboard. Take it down before driving, because an object hanging from the mirror can obstruct your view and prompt a traffic stop.¹

Carry your identification card whenever the placard is in use. The permit holder also has to be in the vehicle. You cannot send someone else to park using your placard while you stay home.⁵

One benefit many permit holders miss: under RCW 46.61.582, a valid placard or disabled plates let you park for free and for unlimited time at meters and in time-restricted zones. The exceptions are areas where all parking is prohibited, such as fire lanes and no-parking zones, and spaces reserved for specific vehicle types.⁶

The placard does not override every restriction. You still cannot park in fire lanes, loading zones, or areas where stopping is prohibited for all vehicles. The striped access aisles next to reserved spaces are off-limits to everyone, including placard holders. They exist for wheelchair ramps and lifts. Blocking one carries a $250 fine plus a $200 assessment.⁷

Penalties for Misuse

Most placard-related violations in Washington carry a $250 fine plus a mandatory $200 assessment, for an effective penalty of $450. That applies to using someone else’s placard, parking in a reserved space without a permit, failing to display the placard properly, and blocking an access aisle. Lying on the application is a gross misdemeanor, and illegally obtaining or selling a placard is a misdemeanor. A judge can also order the violator to surrender the placard, plates, or identification card.⁵

When a permit holder dies, the placard and identification card have to be returned to the department. The department cross-references its permit database against death records at least once a year, and using a deceased person’s placard carries the same $450 penalty as any other unauthorized use.¹

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 46.19 – Special Parking Privileges for Persons with Disabilities
2
Washington State Department of Licensing. Get or Renew Disabled Parking Permits
3
Douglas County, Washington. Disabled Parking Application for Individuals
4
Washington State Department of Licensing. Disabled Veteran Parking
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 46.19.050 – Restrictions, Prohibitions, Violations, Penalties
6
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 46.61.582
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 19.27.550 – Accessible Parking Space Access Aisles