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ACT parking officers have launched a crackdown on drivers misusing disability permits, after almost 600 fines were issued since February. In the four months to June 15, 579 infringements were issued to drivers for using lost, stolen or invalid disability permits. Director of parking operations for Access Canberra Chris Seddon said 272 of the infringements were handed out in the month-long period between February 15 and March 15. He said there had been a large increase in the number of people who weren't eligible for a disability parking sticker to use the permit of someone else. "Most of the fraudulent use is due to people, other than the permit holder, using the permit when the permit holder is not in the vehicle," Mr Seddon said. "Disability parking permits are issued to the person with the disability, not the vehicle. "If a driver drops off a permit holder in Woden, the driver is not entitled to use the permit in Civic without the permit holder being with them." Mr Seddon said there had been several instances where drivers were using the permits of people who had died. As part of the crackdown, new technology is being used by parking inspectors to check disability permits in cars on the spot. The technology also allows for inspectors to see if the permits had been reported lost or stolen. "This is good news for those genuinely seeking a disabled car park, who often find car spaces occupied by illegally parked vehicles," Mr Seddon said. Mr Seddon said drivers could be hit with a $600 fine if a car was parked in a disabled car space with a lost, stolen, expired or deceased person's permit. "If permit holders report a parking permit as lost and then find it later, they should hand in the lost permit at an Access Canberra service centre, because anyone found displaying a lost permit will be issued with a parking fine," Mr Seddon said. "It's recommended that when permit holders are not travelling in a vehicle, they keep their disability parking permits." A $120 fine applies if the car is parked with an illegally-used permit in a timed or paid-parking bay.

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