Handicap Parking in France
We have a handicap permit here in the states. We will be renting a car and driving in France, but once we get to Paris, we will not have our car. Are there handicap spaces throughout the country?
Douglas
Diamond Bar, CA United States 6/6/10
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I contacted the automobile associations of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands in pursuit of this question, with the following results:
The Belgian response was "Knowing that the logo signaling an handicaped person is exactly the same as in Europe, you only need to highlight it under your windshield to fully enjoy the avantages and places marked out for handicaped persons."
The Dutch response told me how to apply for a placard recognized by all EU countries. I sent (by regular air mail) a copy of the drivers license, the passport photo page, and a photocopy of the placard my state issued to:
CBR
Divisie Rijgeschiktheid
To mr. C. Susana
P.O. Box 3012
2280 GA Rijswijk ZH
The Netherlands
About a month later I received a placard!
The cover letter and a brochure was all in Dutch, so I did some Google translating to learn that the different countries do have slightly different regulations about whether this placard entitles us to ignore parking time limits, but that's OK, we'll just try to read the signs and plan to obey them.
No response from the French
We've used a U.S. handicap parking placard in France, Belgium, Ireland, and the UK with no problems.
This thread is from June 2010.