Handicapped parking hang tag Sicily/ Italy

Define valid. Probably not, but you might get away with it. I once answered this with a snarky comment to the effect that, if a little blue cardboard hang-tag was all you needed to park anywhere you wanted, every Italian driver would have one printed out at Office Max and hang it from his rear-view mirror.

You'll need International Drivers Permit for driving in Italy. You get them at AAA. While you are are there, ask them if they have any knowledge about getting a handicapped parking tag for Italy. Oh, and I used that term out loud at the airport a few weeks ago, and the gate agent came over to me and told me that the correct word was "disabled". So watch your language.

Correct term in the US is Disabled Placard.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/disabled

Here, let me google that for you...

http://www.disabledmotorists.eu/en/world_map/europe/italy.htm

Cut to the chase: your "hang tag" (as you describe it) may or may not work in Italy.

The money shot: "(If you are a) Visitor from outside the EU / EEA your Parking Card *may not be accepted in parts of Italy – you should check locally*"

paese che vai, usanza che trovi
this is an old Italian motto attesting how different laws and habitudes could be in Italy because of its fragmented history until late 19th century when Italy was reunited under a unique reign by the Savoy clown.
Apart from history please check locally especially when getting into limited traffic areas normally town center. Parking in dedicated park slots showing an intl recognized Pass would be accettable. Parking outside such slots in paying slots without receipt may cause trouve depending on local police tolerance. Have a nice stay

In particular be sure to check before travel about any ZTL and how the card will be accepted or not there. If the car is not registered with the police it is a fair chance that you will get an expensive ticket some months later. The cameras which patrol ZTL areas don't see a card hanging on the mirror, only the number plates.

There's not a huge amount of enforcement of disabled/handicapped parking regs that I've observed in Liguria. At our local super market, I'd say a full half of the cars parked in such spaces display nothing. I've also seen individual spaces in some cities that are reserved for cars with a specifically numbered handicap placard. I think most police would cut you some slack seeing the hang tag, but I also think a persnickety cop would know that it wasn't valid in the EU and write you up.

If we want to promote total correctness, let's go bilingual. In Italian law, the reference to a disabled/handicapped person is 'persona con handicap' (art. 3 comma 1, Legge 104/1992). One also sees reference to 'portatore di handicap' as used for example by the Cinque Terre ferry consortium. The placard is a 'contrssegno disabili' and since 2012 the national placards have been standardized and are valid throughout the EU. http://www.aci.it/i-servizi/per-la-mobilita/aci-per-il-sociale/contrassegno-disabili.html

Mike, are you speaking of the lack of enforcement in Boston or in Italy?

In Liguria. Thanks, I edited to clarify.