maybe he had one prosthetic leg or missing an arm can still get in a truck

Did it have a wheelchair lift?

That is a good point. The owner could be tall, and still handicapped. However, it could be someone else that is using the car, free loading off the medallion, posing as a handicapped person, hoping no one confronts him or her. I think in most situations, even complete strangers deserve the benefit of the doubt the first time around.

It's possible that the owner wasn't, but the passenger is handicapped.

MAYBE. But there are many handicaps that aren't that visible. As someone suggestions, missing a leg or arm, maybe a heart condition, maybe something else. I can walk some, and have a lift and scooter in the back of my van. Sometimes I wonder if people think, because I CAN walk, that I shouldn't have that tag, but when they see the scooter, change their minds. It could also be that another person (who could have ridden with them) in the household has the handicap. Then again, maybe they just "borrowed" the tag and are fine. Of course, if this is the case, and they are caught, the person who NEEDS the tag may lose it. Not good. Assume the other stuff. Do you want to be responsible for one who needs the tags losing them?

Of course the owner may not be handicapped. But he or she may also have bought that monster truck with a huge settlement they got from the accident.

A LOT of people abuse the system. That doesn't mean we should scrap the system though. I do, however get very annoyed to see people perfectly able to move still getting those placards. If you loose an arm and it doesn't effect your leg then why should anyone need one? I've had many people tell me to apply for disability for years, but as long as I'm able to work I probably won't even though I could easily qualify. Others will get disability for minor things that barely effect their lives simply because they're lazy and don't want to work. The handicapped placard system is no different. Just go through any busy parking lot and watch the idiots who will block an isle waiting for someone to move so they don't have to walk an extra 10 feet to the store. They floor me at times. If I happen to get a good spot and someone decides to sit waiting for me to move, blocking the lane I have just sat there till they give up and leave then give it to the next person stuck behind them. I figure if you can walk all the way through walmart an extra 10 feet in the parking lot isn't going to kill anyone, but if I see an elderly person having to walk across a huge parking lot it makes me want to go flatten tires of the lazy suckers in the front. All that aside, my mom is 83 and quite disabled. She can barely move yet in walmarts lot with all the handicapped spaces we usually end up parking far from them because the people who don't need them get out of their cars and skip along like children in a play ground. I could easily justify damaging their cars, but don't. Someone in a monster truck has to be abusing that system at some level. I agree with you.

Disabilities come in a variety, they are not always apparent to the eye. The person may have respiratory issues that prevents them from walking great distances or something like that. I have a car that is not typical for handicapped people some might say but I can't walk far due to pain and issues with my leg so I have a hang tag, my limp is not always evident! Although, there are people who abuse the tag. I know someone who has a tag because she transports her elderly grandmom but she uses it even when grandmom is not with her. She takes the chance of getting in trouble everytime.