to avoid paying, they pretend to be people with disabilities

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Fraud is often immoral, this one is proof of that. In Paris, more and more motorists do not hesitate to pass themselves off as people with disabilities in order to to avoid paying for their parking space. The process is simple and known to the authorities but is still one of the most widespread frauds in the capital.

As revealed The Parisian, several tens of thousands of people would use this trick every week. We take stock.

How is this possible?

The price of parking in Paris varies according to several criteria: vehicle category, fuel consumption, mass in service, place of residence of the user, whether he is a professional or if he has a disability, etc. In the latter case , motorists benefit from a specific right making their parking free.

In addition to the sky blue seats reserved for them, they can also benefit froma paid location made free by using a specific ticket: the Handi ticket. Users must then affix their inclusion mobility card (CMI) behind their windshield to justify taking this ticket.

Except that, since the deployment of automatic parking control cars (or Lapi) in 2018, almost no one checks the motorist's proof of disability document. In fact, malicious people take advantage of this loophole to take a ticket dedicated to people with disabilities without justifying anything.

How to fight this scam?

Automatic vehicle inspections, entrusted to private companies, allow fraudsters to pass between the cracks. On the one hand, the City wants to penalize them but on the other, it fears that this will fall on people with disabilities. This could “complicate” their parking, according to David Belliard, deputy to the City of Paris (EELV) responsible for the transformation of public space, transport, mobility, the Street Code and roads.

“The whole problem comes from the automation of this verbalization system. Before, with periwinkles, these problems did not exist », had also underlined Me Sébastien Dufour toactu.fr. Lawyer at the Paris bar, specialist in the defense of motorists, he also recalls that the legislative texts were written before the Lapi system.

Furthermore, since 2022, a platform allows people with disabilities to list up to two vehicles. With this system, called Handi'Stat, they no longer have to go through the parking meter box to get a ticket.

As recalled The Parisianthis tool was put in place after a shower of fines wrongly fell on disabled cardholders.

Can we estimate the scale of the scam?

According to our colleagues' calculations, several tens of thousands of people are taking advantage of this loophole to avoid paying for their parking space. There could be between 120,000 and 200,000 ticketsfor people with disabilities delivered every week, compared to 500,000 in total in Paris.

“PV sulphators” are still a source of many flaws. Recently, on November 18, 2024, a resident of Paris managed to have her parking fines canceled. Due to the imprecise geolocation, she managed to win her case against municipal agents who were unable to prove whether her parking was on the even or odd side of the street.

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