Chapter 90 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2 the following subsection:-

Section 2 1/2. Purple Heart Vehicle Placards

(a) The registrar shall furnish without charge to owners of private passenger motor vehicles who are veterans as defined in said clause Forty-third of said section seven of said chapter four who have been awarded the Order of the Purple Heart and upon evidence deemed satisfactory by the registrar, distinctive registration placards bearing the words, ''ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT'' and the words ''COMBAT WOUNDED'' for one private passenger motor vehicle owned and principally used by such Purple Heart recipient or a distinctive emblem to be affixed to a ''VETERAN'' registration plate for a motorcycle or moped owned and principally used by such recipient; provided that the surviving spouse of a deceased recipient of the Purple Heart may elect to retain such distinctive registration placards or emblem for personal use upon payment of the established registration fee for private passenger motor vehicles or motorcycles and an additional annual twenty dollar fee until such time as such spouse remarries or fails to renew or cancels such registration.

(b) A person who is a recipient of the Purple Heart is exempt from the payment of municipal parking meter fees and Massachusetts State Parks when a Purple Heart recipient motor vehicle displays Purple Heart license plates or a placard issued by the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, unless the vehicle has been parked in one location for more than 24 hours. The exemption provided under this subsection shall apply only when the recipient of the Purple Heart to whom the special license plates or placards have been issued is either the driver or a passenger of the motor vehicle and shall not apply when the motor vehicle is parked for more than 24 hours at one location where the motor vehicle is subject to a municipal parking meter fee.