People who misuse disabled parking placards could face a $1,000 fine (10 times the current penalty) under a state bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco. Ma said her aim is to take on ''the rampant abuse of disabled parking placards.''

The placards allow people to park in specially designated blue zones and for free at meters. AB 144 sailed through the Assembly May 18 on a vote of 73 to 3, and now heads to the Senate Transportation Committee on June 23. If approved and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, people caught fraudulently using a disabled parking placard could be fined $250 to $1,000. Local jurisdictions would set the amount.

San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who joined Ma at a press conference on the steps of City Hall, said he favors an initial fine of $250 and then jumping to the maximum for repeat offenders. ''I think high is good,'' said Dufty, hoping that the threat of a big fine would deter errant behavior.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has a special detail of parking control officers to find offenders. In the last fiscal year, 1,088 misused disabled parking placards were confiscated. In the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, 1,520 were taken away from scofflaws suspected of using expired, altered or stolen placards, or placards issued to other people.

By the way, a jaw-dropping 52,600 disabled parking placards were issued in San Francisco, as of February. That's one for almost every 15 residents.