Kokua Line: What should I do with deceased person's disability parking permit?

Christine Donnelly, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Updated ·4 min read

Nov. 14—Question : What do we do with a disability parking placard after the handicapped person dies ? Do we destroy it or send it back ? It doesn't expire for a few more years.

Question : What do we do with a disability parking placard after the handicapped person dies ? Do we destroy it or send it back ? It doesn't expire for a few more years.

Answer : Mail it to the state Disability and Communication Access Board or drop it off at any satellite city hall. Kirby L. Shaw, DCAB's executive director, explains :

"Hawaii Administrative Rules §11-219-8 states that a disability parking placard and ID card shall be returned to the issuing agency upon the death of the permittee. Therefore, placards may be dropped off at any county issuing site with no appointment necessary, or mailed to DCAB at 1010 Richards Street #118, Honolulu, HI 96813. In addition, the administrative rules state that special license plates shall be returned to the county upon the death of the permittee.

"DCAB performs an annual cross check with the Department of Health's Office of Vital Records to flag any deceased permittees and generates letters to the estates of deceased permittees requesting the return of the disability parking placard. The latest round of letters should be mailed by the end of this year.

"DCAB reminds the public that anyone who uses a disability parking permit issued to someone else is subject to a fine of up to $500 and confiscation of the permit. If a household or family member has a qualifying mobility disability, that person should apply for their own disability parking permit and refrain from using a permit that was issued to someone else."

Other readers have asked what to do with a long-term disability parking permit they no longer need ; they would not qualify for renewal and should return the placard as described.

Q : It was announced a while ago that Hawaii would support Apple's digital driver's licenses on the iPhones. Is there any update on when this support might actually happen ?

A : No, not yet. In March 2022, Apple announced that Hawaii would "soon " be among the U.S. states to support driver's licenses and state IDs in Apple Wallet, but there's been no public status update in the nearly 20 months since. We asked Thursday for an implementation timeline and how such digital IDs would be used, but received no new information. A city spokesperson declined to provide details, a state Department of Transportation spokesperson deferred to the city and Apple did not respond.

"The City and County of Honolulu is thrilled to be working with Apple on this exciting project. We are looking forward to sharing the details with everyone but due to our partnership agreement with Apple and the complex nature of this initiative, we cannot yet release information regarding a timeline or the functions. We appreciate everyone's patience as we continue to innovate with cutting-edge technology to improve the lives of the residents of Hono ­lulu, " Ryan Wilson, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, said Thursday in an email. In answer to a follow-up question, he declined to say even when details might be forthcoming.

DOT spokesperson Shelly Kunishige deferred to the city, "as software integration for digital IDs would be administered by DIT, " which is the city's Department of Information Technology. Media questions for that department are funneled through the mayor's communications team.

Auwe We have a neighbor who lets their cats roam free. We noticed cat poop in our front yard where our grandsons play. My neighbor had an animal trap that he let us use. We set it up and trapped a cat. I took it to the Hawaiian Humane Society, where they checked for a microchip, which it did have. Three days later the cat is back in the neighborhood roaming around. There should be a law like the dog-on-a-leash law. Owned cats that are microchipped and the owner lets roam in other people's yards should be slapped with a huge fine !—G.F.------Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813 ; call 808-529-4773 ; or email kokualine @staradvertiser.com.------Correction : An earlier version of this story included the wrong unit number in DCAB's mailing address.