Massachusetts Gives Blind Drivers Tax Break On Cars!

[slackmaster]

Automobile Excise Tax Exemption

In Massachusetts, a legally blind person is eligible for an excise tax exemption on a vehicle registered in his/her name. Application for this exemption should be made through the local tax department. A current Certificate of Legal Blindness is required for this exemption.

Not only can a blind person drive in Massachusetts, a blind driver automatically qualifies for HANDICAP PARKING SPACES!

Disabled Plates or Placard

A legally blind person may apply to the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles for either a Disabled Plate or Disabled Placard. The Plate or Placard allows parking in designated Handicap Parking Areas. In order to obtain disabled plates, the vehicle must be registered in the blind person's name....

See http://www.mass.gov/mcb/benefits.html

[sam sarrha]

1. some blind people have caretakers that will drive for them... dont get a

mindset and mouth like Lippbaugh, please... tho is does come across strange..

[slackmaster]

2. Have you seen the minimum vision requirements for MA?

From http://www.state.ma.us/rmv/forms/20750.pdf - This certificate is required for anyone who gets a normal Joe Blow driver's license or motorcycle license. See the very bottom of the form:

FOR BIOPTIC TELESCOPIC LENS WEARERS: AT LEAST 20/40 DISTANT VISUAL ACUITY (SNELLEN) THROUGH THE TELESCOPE, AT LEAST 20/100 DISTANT VISUAL ACUITY (SNELLEN) THROUGH THE CARRIER LENS, AT LEAST 20/100 DISTANT VISUAL ACUITY (SNELLEN) THROUGH THE OTHER LENS, AND NOT LESS THAN 120 DEGREES COMBINED HORIZONTAL PERIPHERAL FIELD OF VISION: ELIGIBLE FOR A LICENSE WITH A “DAYLIGHT ONLY” RESTRICTION, PROVIDED THE BIOPTIC TELESCOPIC LENS MEETS THE CRITERIA DESCRIBED ON THE FRONT OF THIS DOCUMENT.

Are you familiar with a bioptic telescopic lens? Would you want someone with a bioptic telescopic lens driving on the same road as you and your children?

[slackmaster]

3. Wow, Virginia lets people who are borderline legally blind drive

http://www.dmv.state.va.us/webdoc/pdf/med44.pdf

[happyslug]

5. Did you see California restritions, limit is 20/200

"Minimum visual acuity is 20/200 (best corrected) in at least one eye, as verified by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. Bioptic lenses are permitted for driving, but may not be used to meet 20/200 acuity standard."

20/200!!!! That is Legally blind.

[slackmaster]

10. Yes, California is one of the most lenient in terms of visual acuity

I think federal regs say "cannot see better than 20/200 in both eyes" to get the tax deduction, so someone who tests exactly 20/200 could be "legally blind" and get a California Driver License.

On edit: AND get a handicap parking placard in Massachusetts while visiting there.

:evilgrin:

[MrSandman]

8. A

[slackmaster]

4. Check this out - Requirements for driving in all states

Context is requirements for "older" drivers - Check out minimum vision requirements. I'm stunned by how broadly they vary, yet we have driver's license reciprocity across all 50 states.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/olddrive/modeldriver/3_app_b.htm

[happyslug]

6. Here a site with a picture of a Bioptic lens

http://www.biopticdriving.org/

[slackmaster]

9. They've got their own .org?

Saints preserve us.

[iverglas]

7. now that we've sorted that out

... a blind driver automatically qualifies for HANDICAP PARKING SPACES!

I mean, I'd say a blind car owner qualifies for handicapped parking spaces.

Up here, medical qualifications for driver's licences, including visual acuity standards, do seem to be a fair bit more stringent than some of the ones cited here. Ontario says:

Medical Qualifications

Regulation 340/94 sets out medical qualifications required for particular classes of drivers' licences.

Section 14 of Regulation 340/94 applies to the holders of all classes of drivers’ licences:

14. An applicant for or a holder of a driver's licence must not,

(a) suffer from any mental, emotional, nervous or physical disability likely to significantly interfere with his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle of the applicable class safely; and

(b) be addicted to the use of alcohol or a drug to an extent likely to significantly interfere with his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle safely.

Section 17 of Regulation 340/94 applies to the holders of a class A, B, C, D, E and F driver's licence:

17. (1) Qualifications required by an applicant for a holder of a Class A, B, C, D, E or F driver's licence are that the applicant or holder,

(a) has no history or clinical diagnosis of diabetes that requires insulin for control;

(b) is not taking any drug that could, in the dosage prescribed or in the dosage recommended by the manufacturer, impair his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle of the applicable class safely;

(c) has no established medical history of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary insufficiency or thrombosis;

(d) has no established medical history of heart disease including arrhythmia or of respiratory dysfunction likely to interfere with the safe driving of a motor vehicle of the applicable class;

(e) is not suffering from an aortic aneurysm, whether resected or not;

(f) is not suffering from hypertension accompanied by postural hypotension resulting in giddiness when under treatment;

(g) has no established medical history of loss of consciousness or awareness due to a chronic or recurring condition;

(h) has no established medical history of a disorder of the musculoskeletal or nervous system that may interfere with the safe driving of a motor vehicle of the applicable class;

(i) has no established medical history of an intractable psychotic or psychoneurotic disorder, having particular regard for sustained hostile, aggressive, paranoid, suicidal or other destructive tendencies or depression unless it is medically determined that the condition from which the person has suffered is corrected or controlled;

(j) has a visual acuity by Snellen Rating, with or without the aid of corrective lenses, no poorer than 20/30 in the better eye and 20/50 in the weaker eye; and

(k) has a horizontal visual field of at least 120 degrees in each eye as measured by confrontation tests.

Maybe there's a reason for all the tailgating I notice when driving in the US ... and here I'd thought it was just because I was speeding and attracting barnacles ...

.