As crimes go, misuse of handicap parking placards barely registers. But it’s still wrong.

Seeing an able-bodied person walk to or from their car sporting a blue handicap parking placard is an irritation. It’s true that not all handicaps are easily visible, but in most cases, it’s clear when a person using a handicap parking space has the need.

Anecdotal evidence says lots of people have seen the abuse of a handicap permit. It happens at handicap parking spaces near the county government center and near the entrance of local malls and grocery stores.

It’s not uncommon to see someone casually walk to a car with a handicap parking placard hanging from the rearview mirror, get in and drive away. The driver displays no disability, yet brazenly parks in spots reserved for people with physical limitations.

There is clearly abuse of handicap parking privileges here and across the country. Some states and cities are trying to crack down.

At least three states now require that handicap parking placards also include a photograph of the person who was issued the permit. This is intended to prevent people using a placard issued to a spouse, parent, grandparent, or even someone who has died since the permit was issued.

Another approach to curbing misuse of parking placards involves adding a bar code to the placard so police officers can quickly scan to match the license of the car’s driver with the person who received the handicap parking placard.

Requiring people to reapply every six months is another effort to stop the practice of people with a temporary disability from abusing preferred packing status after their health has improved.

In large cities, abuse of handicap parking placards seems to come down to money, because parking is expensive. People using placards for free parking cost the city parking revenue. In some cities, thieves have broken into cars to steal the blue handicap placards, which are then sold on the black market.

Some states have beefed up penalties for misuse of handicap parking placards, increasing the penalty to $500. PennDOT’s form for disability parking placards states above the signature line that violation could result in a $5,000 fine and/or two years in prison. But tough talk is meaningless without enforcement — and there is little evidence of enforcement, despite widespread abuse.

Whatever approach is taken, it’s past time to start cracking down on misuse of the placards.

It’s wrong for an able-bodied person to take a convenient parking space reserved for someone with a physical disability.

Authorities in some cities reporting that a majority of cars parked in certain neighborhoods display handicap parking placards.

Maybe if handicap parking abusers are questioned or confronted by a person with actual disabilities, the shame factor could cause them to stop abusing the parking permits. But shame might have no impact on anyone shameless enough to use a handicap parking permit when they are perfectly capable of walking from a regular parking spot.

Admittedly, this crime does not rise to the level of a DUI, wreckless driving or dangerous speeding. And some handicaps, such as a weak heart or lung disease, are not in plain view. But abuses are morally wrong — and the public should expect something to be done to stop them.

It’s a matter of making sure that the special parking spaces are being used by people with a real need, a real disability.