Why would someone get a fine when using a disabled parking space when the disabled person is not in the car?
<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-lopez-disabled-placard-20171108-story.html" rel="noreferrer">An article in LA Times</a> about someone parking on a disabled parking space without the disabled person being in the car:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(...) I saw a woman pull into a disabled parking space and begin to
  exit her car.</p>
  
  <p>Two men in plain clothes flashed badges as they approached the car.
  One of them asked to see the registration slip that went with the
  disabled placard that hung from the driver’s rearview mirror.</p>
  
  <p>It turned out that the placard was in the name of her son, but he
  wasn’t in the car. So the officers confiscated the placard, which her
  son will have to reapply for, and wrote her a citation.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I have a hard time understanding how one can get a citation for this? My wife is disabled (in France, so the laws may vary) and I sometimes park, alone, in the disabled spot <strong>in order to bring her to the car (or wait for her to come)</strong>. </p>

<p>The disabled parking space is there to help disabled people, when they arrive to the place, but also when they leave from it. Both do not always happen in sequence (I can drop someone off, or wait for someone to get to the car).</p>

<p>I would be ideally interested in a French (or EU) perspective (but still keeping it open as the article is from the US)</p>

<p>There isn't any indication in that news story that the disabled son was anywhere nearby. I agree the situation you describe sounds like a legitimate use of the placard, but it seems in this situation, the placard was being used in a manner totally unrelated to the transport of a disabled person. My guess is that the cops cited her because the son wasn't in the car, and was not inside the establishment at which she parked.</p>

<p>California code has this to say:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A person to whom a disabled person placard has been issued may permit
  another person to use the placard only while in the presence or
  reasonable proximity of the disabled person for the purpose of
  transporting the disabled person.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So as long as the disabled person is within a "reasonable proximity", and the placard is being used to transport them, they do not have to be inside the car to make using the placard legitimate. In this case, the woman was just transporting herself and using the placard anyway, which is illegal.</p>

<p>Had the driver been able to prove that they were picking up the disabled person, the ticket should never have been issued and the permit never confiscated. It would have made sense if the disabled person was proved to be somewhere else at that time. I think in most countries the pass isn't necessarily for the <em>driver</em>, but for the vehicle to be used to transport a disabled person, in order they can get out and visit shops, etc.As in the card is for the <em>person</em>, who can use it in whichever vehicle they are being ferried round in.</p>

<p>What I can't understand is a vehicle with a disabled badge carrying the disabled person, parking in a disabled bay, and the driver doing the shopping while the disabled person sits in the car.</p>

<p>In England, it's common for abuse of disabled parking spaces, and nothing appears to be done. In France, it's extremely rare to see them abused. Folklore has it that large stickers can be put on the windscreen of those who shouldn't be using them.</p>

united-states driving france disabilities