Texas Disabled Veteran License Plates

Transportation Code section 504.202 creates the Disabled Veteran specialty plate. The rating test is a service-connected disability of at least 50 percent, or 40 percent because of the amputation of a lower extremity, with compensation from the United States for that disability. The vehicle must be owned by the veteran and weigh 18,000 pounds or less, or be a motor home. The fee structure is unusual and worth reading closely. The fee for the first set of plates is $3. There is no fee for each additional set. Beyond that, a person entitled to plates under this section may register one vehicle without payment of any fee paid for or at the time of registration, except the fee for the plates themselves. So the first vehicle costs $3 and nothing else, and a second or third set of plates is free but the registration fee on those additional vehicles is not waived. Parking is the trap. A Disabled Veteran plate by itself no longer authorizes parking in a space reserved for people with disabilities. That requires the International Symbol of Access, and eligibility for that symbol is a mobility test rather than a rating test. Under subsection (b-1) a DV-eligible veteran who also qualifies for disabled plates under section 504.201 may have the symbol on the DV plates by sending the written statement 504.201(d) requires, and that veteran may then receive a disabled parking placard under section 681.004 for each set of plates (subsection (g)). A veteran who needs the parking privilege should ask for the symbol explicitly. The Department of Motor Vehicles adds that a DV plate and certain military honors plates are exempt from certain parking fees, and that Texas cities may give their own privileges, such as free airport parking. Apply with form VTR-615, Application for Disabled Veteran License Plates and Parking Placards, signed off by the Department of Veterans Affairs, or with a VA letter stating eligibility. Submit it to the county tax assessor-collector. Texas also issues Medal of Honor, Purple Heart and Gold Star family plates, among other military plates; each has its own section in chapter 504, its own fee rule and its own eligibility, and none requires a disability rating. A nonprofit that carries disabled veterans free may register its vehicle under subsection (c).