Michael Parking tickets in America are much more expensive than in Germany, but if any of you want to experience a really hefty fine, I have two tips for you here: parking at a bus stop or in a disabled parking space - that costs almost a thousand dollars in fines. Even if you only stop briefly and an official, i.e. a policeman or meter maid sees this, you'll be hit with a monster ticket.

As you know, only vehicles displaying a disabled parking permit may park in disabled parking spaces, but as a neutral observer, I often notice that there are people emerging from these cars with astonishing mobility. This made me wonder: Who hands these people handicapped parking permits anyway?

But what do you know, last summer I unexpectedly had the opportunity to explore this question, because after a bad football accident, I could only walk with crutches, even after knee surgery. Every location that was more than 30 feet away became a burden, and so I thought, I'll give it a try, maybe I'll get a plaque and can then park in the first row at the supermarket entrance, so I don't have to torture myself so much.

So I called the doctor's office where I was in treatment for the knee, and asked about a disability permit. The receptionist knew immediately what to do and sent me an email with a filled-out PDF form number 150 issued by the California DMV. On it, the doctor had confirmed that due to my knee injury I suffered from restricted mobility. I went ahead and filled in the remaining form data, driver's license number and address, and signed to confirm. The receptionist had also warned me that the DMV sometimes requires the original form with the doctor's ink, but I just gave it a try and filed an online application with the DMV, and uploaded scans of my driver's license and the doctor's confirmation on the form.

After a few days, I received confirmation via email that a fee of $6 was required to proceed with the application, which I promptly paid online using my credit card. A few days later, I received approval via email, and a week later, a letter from the DMV arrived with the red plastic placard shown in image 3. Accompanying it was the officially stamped certificate from image 4, which must be carried while displaying the plaque hanging from the rearview mirror, while parking the car in restricted spot.

With the placard, one can actually not only park in disabled parking spaces, but also in neighborhoods with residental parking, and even at parking meters, as long as one likes, without paying a dime! And since the temporary plaque is issued for six months, it remains valid even if the patient has recovered in the meantime.

However, you can't use it to park illegally, such as in no-stopping zones or in front of a driveway, where the vehicle will still be towed away regardless. And the permit may only be displayed hanging from the rearview mirror if the person with mobility impairments was transported by the car. Violations and general misuse of the permit can result in even harsher penalties, up to $4,200 in fines.

On my red plastic placard, the word "Temporary" is written in large and bold letters, so it expires in my case after six months, and must then be renewed with a new medical certificate if required. Instead of the tranferable placard, there are also special license plates with the blue disabled symbol, which are permanent and attached to the respective vehicle, and (probably) checked more strictly by the DMV.

Ironically, it also states on the certificate that at service stations with full service, the attendant must fill up the vehicle of a disabled person at the self-service price. I would have liked to test this out for our newsletter readers, but unfortunately, I am not aware of any service stations around here where there are still attendants, except maybe in the state of Oregon.

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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Angelika's New Job
  	Dynamic Toll on Freeway Express Lanes
  	How can German emigrants renew their passports?
  	Drama Finding a New Primary Care Doctor
  	Shopping Tax Free in Europe
  	Top product: Cheap Bike Rack