Airport waived $183,861 in parking fees for those with handicap placards and plates. Are some cheating?

Earlier this year, investigators at Miami International Airport staked out their parking garages, looking for people who misuse handicap placards. They found one cheater after another.

One seemingly fit employee saved more than $12,000 parking fees by using the placard.

How about the Charleston International Airport?

Watchdog reporters recently visited the lot and garage and found several cases of misuse.

One vehicle in a disabled spot near the terminal didn't have a placard visible at all.

One placard didn't have an expiration date.

Six vehicles had placards assigned to other cars. That can mean a disabled person is simply using another vehicle - or as The Post and Courier found in downtown Charleston - that a friend or relative is using it instead.

But just looking at cars in disabled parking spots is deceptive. Cheaters can easily keep their placards in the glove compartment and present it to the cashier when they leave.

Last year, the airport waived $183,861 in parking fees from people who had disabled placards or license plates, said Becky Beaman, spokeswoman for the Charleston Aviation Authority. That's about 3 percent of the authority's total parking revenue of $6.1 million.

Airport employees aren't likely to be involved in placard cheating here, because there's plenty of free employee parking near the terminal, Beaman said.

The authority hasn't checked to see whether able-bodied people are using them as free parking passes when go to the cashier, she added.

But parking attendants do take down a motorist's placard number, date of birth and license tag number when they go through the cashier station. Beyond that, it would be difficult to ferret out cheaters because of all the federal medical privacy laws, she said.

Wilma Maiers, who has a disabled placard, said airport officials recently gave her a form asking for her placard number, photo ID and information. "While this all takes a little more time, I am glad to do it because it will help curb abuse and help make sure the (handicap) law is not removed from the books."