Maine program
Temporary accessible parking
A temporary disability placard can help when your child meets Maine’s mobility-related medical criteria.
What it is
A temporary disability placard can help when your child meets Maine’s mobility-related medical criteria.
Treatment can make walking from a distant parking space difficult. Maine looks at functional limitations, not a cancer diagnosis alone. A registered nurse is among the clinicians who can certify the form.
Eligibility rules
- Maine’s functional criteria include inability to walk 200 feet without resting.
- A physician, physician associate, nurse practitioner or registered nurse can certify.
What you get
- Up to six months of disability parking with no additional fee.
What the help includes
- The temporary placard applies for its approved period, up to the statutory maximum.
If you decide to apply
- Ask a clinic nurse or doctor whether your child meets the disability parking criteria.
- If appropriate, have the clinician certify the Bureau of Motor Vehicles application with the walking limitations described.
Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles; your clinic nurse or doctor · Official page ↗
After you ask
- The Bureau of Motor Vehicles reviews the signed application.
- BMV’s posted submission routes include a branch, mail to Disability Clerk, 29 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333-0029, or fax 207-624-9204. The contact number is 207-624-9000, extension 52149. BMV confirms the renewal steps for a temporary placard.
Good to know
The certification needs to explain what your child cannot safely do. The diagnosis alone does not establish eligibility.
Other details
- The form is PS-18. Qualifying limits include being unable to walk 200 feet without resting, needing a person or device to walk, or using portable oxygen. A doctor, physician associate, nurse practitioner or registered nurse can sign.
Official sources
“Do my child’s walking limitations qualify for a temporary parking placard? What limits apply, and could the clinic help with the application if appropriate?”
Why I’m asking: I want to make hospital trips easier when walking is difficult.
More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules
Who does what
The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.
You
Get the form signed at a clinic visit and send it in.
Your social worker
A clinic nurse or doctor certifies the functional limitation.
The care team
A registered nurse at the clinic can sign it, which most states do not allow.
- Who decides
- The Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
- Ask the care team
- “Can you sign a temporary disability placard application? My child cannot walk far without resting.”
How to apply
First step: Ask a clinic nurse to sign the placard application at the next visit.
- Ask the clinic nurse to sign the placard application at the next visit.
- Describe what the child cannot do, in function terms.
Official application / program page ↗
Where it starts: Ask a clinic nurse to certify the application and send it to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
What to gather
- The vehicle registration
- A description of what the child cannot do
How long: The placard lasts up to six months.
What a yes looks like
A placard in the post with an expiry date.
What a no looks like, and the next move
If refused, ask which functional criterion was not met and have the clinician restate it.
Watch out
- The test is what the child cannot do, not the diagnosis. Describe the walking.
- The linked form is a 2014 revision; check the current one.
Dates that change this
2014-08-01: The placard form still linked by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is an August 2014 revision and no newer one was found. Check the current form before filling it in.
The numbers and the rules
The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.
What it is worth
Up to six months of disability parking with no additional fee.
- $6 — Maximum length of a temporary placard
- $0 — Additional fee
Covers: Disability parking while the placard runs
What it costs the family: No additional fee.
The eligibility facts, as published
- Medical
- functional criteria, including being unable to walk 200 feet without resting
- Certifier
- a physician, physician associate, nurse practitioner or registered nurse
- Residency
- Maine
Expect friction on: It turns on function, not on the diagnosis
The trap: The test is functional, not the diagnosis. One of the listed grounds is being unable to walk 200 feet without resting, so describe what the child cannot do rather than naming leukaemia.
Where I read this
- 29-A MRS section 521, registration; disability registration plates and placards — Maine Legislature, read September 10, 2026
- Maine BMV: disability plates or placards — Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, read September 10, 2026
- PS-18 disability placard application — Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, read September 10, 2026