Iowa and Illinois define a "Handicapped Person" for the purpose of qualifying for preferential parking privileges, as a person with a disability that limits or impairs the person's ability to walk. A person shall be considered handicapped for purposes of handicap parking privileges under the following circumstances:

• The person cannot walk two hundred feet without stopping to rest.
• The person cannot walk without the use of, or assistance from, a brace, cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device.
• The person is restricted by lung disease to such an extent that the person's forced expiratory volume for one second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest.
• The person uses portable oxygen.
• The person has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as class III or class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association.
• The person is severely limited in their ability to walk due to an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition.

Mark E. Wilkinson, OD, Director, Vision Rehabilitation Services, suggests that eye care providers decline filling out handicap parking applications. Individuals seeking a handicapped parking placard should ask their primary care provider to provide the necessary documents. False information can result in a $300.00 civil fine.