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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ken Smith |
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Smith to introduce bill to include optometrists on list of medical providers who can certify need for handicapped placards or license plates
HARRISBURG, March 16 – State Rep. Ken Smith, D-Lackawanna, plans to introduce legislation that would include optometrists on the list of medical providers who may say whether a disabled Pennsylvanian needs a handicapped license plate or placard.
Smith said in order to obtain a license plate or placard for a person with a disability, an individual must submit an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Currently, the application must be accompanied by a statement of disability certified by a physician, podiatrist, chiropractor, physician's assistant or certified registered nurse practitioner licensed or certified to practice in Pennsylvania.
"The law needs to be changed to include optometrists to the list of medical providers since blindness is included in the list of disabilities that can make a person qualify for a handicapped placard or plate," Smith said. "Optometrists are best suited to make that diagnosis, so it is important for them to be allowed to do so."
Smith said individuals who are legally blind may be unable to operate a vehicle, but may need the placard for use in another person's vehicle or for use in their own vehicle with another driver.
"People who are blind can have another driver transport them and still have the benefit of a handicapped parking spot when they reach their destination," Smith said. "In order to expedite the process of obtaining these sometimes much-needed placards, a person's optometrist should be able to provide a certification for blindness that will get that person the placard."
Smith is a member of the House Health and Human Services Committee.