25 Investigates: ‘There are often delays’ for accessible parking placards in Mass.

A Gloucester man told 25 Investigates he waited nearly 2 months to receive a temporary accessible parking placard in the mail from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) and by time it arrived he no longer needed it.

Richard Messier is a registered nurse and married father of 4 children who underwent back surgery in early May to improve his mobility and reduce pain. Messier has spinal stenosis, a condition that occurs when the space around the spinal cord becomes too narrow and puts pressure on the nerves.

“They cut through muscle. It’s just the healing process, it’s long. It’s drawn out,” he said during an interview with investigative reporter Ted Daniel, “It really puts a lot of stress, strain, pain on just doing the simple things, like just going to the supermarket. You still have to live your life. You still have to do the activities of daily living.”

Messier said he mailed a completed application for a temporary accessible parking permit to the RMV’s Medical Affairs unit on April 8th, prior to his surgery, but he didn’t receive the placard until the end of May after his mobility had improved. He said it took 53 days to receive it.

The RMV provides temporary disability placards for free to qualified Massachusetts residents who meet eligibility requirements. A healthcare provider is required to sign off on the application to verify the applicant has a medical condition that restricts their mobility. Temporary placards are issued for a period between 2 and 24 months, according to the RMV’s website.

The RMV only accepts applications by mail or in person at an RMV service center.

Applicants are told to wait at least 30 business days for processing and ‘processing time varies based upon application volume.’

“There are often delays. They’re supposed to be getting it within one month and I think even that is too late sometimes,” said Asif A. Merchant, M.D., Chief of Geriatrics and Extended Care at Newton Wellesley Hospital.

Dr. Asif said he’s helped hundreds of patients obtain temporary accessible parking placards in his career and delays lead to frustration.

“People enjoy their independence. For some, it’s critical to get to the store, to get food, to get to the pharmacy, to get prescriptions. As they say, if you don’t use it, you lose it. You have to maintain a certain level of mobility so that you can just do your daily function,” Dr. Asif said.

25 Investigates wanted to know how many placards are processed each year and how long recent applicants have waited for them. Our team filed a public records request seeking the ‘duration (number of days) it took to issue each approved disability placard from the date the application was received to when the placard was issued/mailed to the recipient during the period beginning 6/1/23 through 7/1/24.’

An RMV Records Access Officer said the agency approved 85,769 temporary accessible parking placards in 2023 and more than 95,000 have been mailed out this year. As for recent turnaround times, he wrote, ‘…we do not have responsive records for that portion of your request. The website for the disability placards has a SLA (service level agreement) date of up to thirty (30) days, and we can confirm that this date was met or exceeded for all disability placards…'

An RMV spokesperson issued a conflicting response days later. The spokesperson provided the date Richard Messier’s placard arrived in the mail and the date his placard was mailed out. According to the spokesperson, ‘the application was processed 32 business days from receipt (factoring in the Patriots Day holiday on 4/15 and Memorial Day on 5/27), and then mailed to the customer.’

The spokesperson later told 25 Investigates that individual placard wait times can be determined manually on a case-by-case basis.

Messier said the process would be easier and quicker if it could be completed online instead of by mail or visiting an RMV branch.

“When I eventually got it, I kind of didn’t really need it. I kind of gave up, actually, looking for it. It kind of defeated the purpose,” he said.

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