PRINTER'S NO. 1194
No. 1038 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY T. STEVENSON, BARRAR, BEBKO-JONES, BELFANTI, BOYD,
CALTAGIRONE, CAWLEY, CREIGHTON, FICHTER, GEIST, GOODMAN,
GRUCELA, HARHAI, HARPER, HASAY, HENNESSEY, JAMES, KOTIK,
LEACH, LEDERER, MANN, SHAPIRO, THOMAS, TIGUE, WANSACZ,
YOUNGBLOOD, ZUG, GABIG, LEVDANSKY, KIRKLAND, CURRY, BASTIAN
AND O'NEILL, MARCH 21, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 21, 2005
AN ACT
1 Providing for the creation of special parking spaces for
2 pregnant women and for a penalty.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Expectant
7 Mothers Parking Act.
8 Section 2. Designation.
9 The Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions may
10 permit the designation of specific parking spots to be reserved
11 for expectant mothers. Any parking spot designated as such shall
12 be required to have appropriate signage as prescribed by the
13 Department of Transportation.
14 Section 3. Placard.
15 (a) Application for placard.--An expectant mother may apply
16 for the temporary use of a special parking placard of such size
1 and design as the Department of Transportation shall specify on
2 a form prescribed by the department. An expectant mother
3 applying for a special parking placard shall present a
4 statement, certified by a physician licensed to practice in this
5 Commonwealth or in a contiguous state, that she is pregnant at
6 the time of the application.
7 (b) Duration.--A special parking placard shall become void
8 immediately upon the end of pregnancy by any means, shall not be
9 displayed on any vehicle and shall be returned to the
10 department.
11 Section 4. Use of placard.
12 (a) Use.--
13 (1) An expectant mother may use a special parking
14 placard obtained under section 3 (relating to placard) to
15 park in areas designated under section 2 (relating to
16 designation). When parking the designated vehicle, the
17 expectant mother parking placard shall be prominently
18 displayed in such a manner that it may be viewed from the
19 front and rear of the vehicle by hanging it from the front
20 windshield rearview mirror of a vehicle only when that
21 vehicle is utilizing a parking space reserved for expectant
22 mothers. When there is no rearview mirror, or the expectant
23 mother parking placard is not designed in such a manner to
24 accommodate hanging from a rearview mirror, the placard shall
25 be displayed on the dashboard.
26 (2) An expectant mother parking placard may also be
27 issued for use in a vehicle in which an expectant mother is
28 being transported.
29 (b) Prohibition.--
30 (1) Except for persons parking vehicles lawfully
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1 displaying an expectant mother parking placard when such
2 vehicles are being operated by or for the transportation of
3 an expectant mother, no person shall park a vehicle on public
4 or private property reserved for an expectant mother, which
5 property has been so posted in accordance with regulations of
6 the Department of Transportation which shall require a sign
7 stating the penalty amount indicated in subsection (e) and
8 that vehicles in violation of this subsection may be towed.
9 (2) Any vehicle which is unlawfully parked in a
10 designated expectant mother parking area may be removed from
11 that area by towing and may be reclaimed by the vehicle owner
12 upon payment of the towing costs.
13 (3) Local authorities shall have the power and may, by
14 ordinance or resolution, authorize expectant mothers to issue
15 statements to violators or violating vehicles for violation
16 of paragraph (1). The form of the statement shall be as
17 prescribed by the local authorities.
18 (c) Unauthorized use.--An operator of a vehicle displaying
19 an expectant mother parking placard shall not make use of the
20 parking privileges accorded to expectant mothers under this act
21 unless the operator is an expectant mother or unless the vehicle
22 is being operated for the transportation of an expectant mother.
23 (d) Signage.--Signs required to be posted under this section
24 shall be replaced when they become either obsolete or missing
25 with all costs to replace the necessary signs to be borne by the
26 persons responsible for signing the particular location.
27 (e) Penalty.--Any person violating this act commits a
28 summary offense and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay
29 a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $200.
30 Section 5. Regulations.
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1 The Department of Transportation shall promulgate such rules
2 and regulations as it deems necessary to carry out the
3 provisions of this act.
4 Section 6. Effective date.
5 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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