Drivers with disabilities face big frustrations

Number of Marylanders who receive disability parking plates, placards skyrockets

Parking reserved for drivers with disabilities is supposed to make life a little easier, but sometimes that's not the case.

Donna Conneally, of Bel Air, found an angry handwritten note placed on the windshield of her van that read: "You are an inconsiderate (expletive), (expletive). Move this piece of (expletive) and save a parking place for other people you (expletive)."

"I was so upset. My sisters thought I was going to cry. I went home and I didn't leave the house for a week," Conneally said.

Conneally has been in a wheelchair for four years. She got the nasty note when she parked in a spot for disabled drivers but was forced to also use another space so she could get in and out. Finding parking is one of her biggest frustrations.

"I will go to stores, turn around and come home if there's not a place for me to park and I can't get out," Conneally said.

Part of the problem may be what the 11 News I-Team discovered: the number of people with disability parking plates or placards has skyrocketed. This year alone, the state issued more than 199,000 permanent and temporary placards. That's more than double the number issued 10 years ago.

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