The DMV and Disabilities

The use of the term "handicap" or "handicapped" is no longer considered kosher. Since we had some difficult examples regarding parking for the disabled, I checked out the websites of some DMVs. It seems that DMVs lean one way or the other, but the term "handicap" is pretty common. States like California, Virginia, and the District of Columbia all seem to be hopping on the "accessible parking" wagon, but check out the images from different DMVs above. The left is from North Carolina's site and the right is from Nebraska's.
Interestingly enough, if you look up "handicapped" in Wikipedia, you are redirected to the page for "disability." And thus, the old term is slowly being pushed out of common use. I must note however, that if you look in the above screen shots, you will notice how "handicapped" is defined. North Carolina is looking for proof of permanence and Nebraska is looking for someone who applies to certain requirements:
"To qualify, the applicant must have a certified medical condition that limits personal mobility resulting in the applicant's inability to travel more than two hundred feet without assistance such as a wheelchair, crutch....."
So, we are working with multiple definitions here, and unfortunately for the RTC guidelines, there seems to be an inherent requirement for the government to define a severe disability. And yet, still I am wondering here how far off the concept of "disabled" is from "handicapped," especially since the "dis" part seems far more negative. How quickly can a term such as "handicapped" actually disappear from our culture? It's just takes so much time regardless of how much an organization fights for it.
Jessi