Misusing privileges

The Registry of Motor Vehicles is finally cracking down on the misuse of handicapped placards that allow one to park in spots reserved for the handicapped. Today's Boston Globe cited some of the more egregious uses of the placard:

A Brockton woman who inherited her well-worn placard from her mother, who got it from her now-deceased mother.

The operators of a spa on the first block of Newbury Street who left their vehicle for hours at meters near the spa using a placard issued to a 78-year-old relative. They were spotted by investigators 10 times.

A career planning specialist at the Blaine School of Cosmetology, who swore she used someone else's placard just twice -- the two times troopers spotted her vehicle parked in a handicapped zone near the school's Downtown Crossing location.