walking . is . overrated

A massive thanks to Honor for sending this through, I love contributions from other people! Why don’t you do the same? - Red

Been thinking lately on the subject of disabled carparks - not only from having had a few run-ins with people who felt it was necessary to park illegallly on them, but also (in fact, mostly) from being ticketed myself when I briefly left my car on a disabled carpark outside our local library without my card displayed. I remembered to go outside and put it on display, literally two minutes later, but Officer Plod must have been waiting in the bushes (or in whatever passes for a bush outside our local library), because when my husband took the car to work the next day, there, folded under the windscreen wiper, was a Parking Ticket. No, he wasn’t mad with me. Well, not very, anyway.

But what to do about the problem of people who, blatantly and blissfully, don’t care, and park in these spaces anyway? Who for some reason known only to themselves, feel that they can park wherever they please, be that in a disabled carpark or no? I’m not just talking about private citizens here, but courier companies, taxi companies, anyone, in fact, who sees this as their right, or, as the case may be, has no problem with parking on Mobility Carparks for ‘only two minutes’, while they drop something off?

It’s never just two minutes, however. Whether they just don’t think, or whether it comes from not realising they aren’t the only people in the Universe, what these people just don’t seem to get, is that no matter how quick they are in and out, someone else will always be along who also thinks they are entitled to their ‘two minutes’. Put together, these ‘two minute lawbreakers’ add up to one big problem (and even if they only stay for a short time, what they’re doing is still illegal).

I should mention here that not all people do this deliberately. Some just don’t think. I had a lovely woman, for instance, approach me in McDonald’s one time in response to a complaint I had just made to the staff there that somebody was parked illegally in one of their Mobility carparks. Realising it was her I was talking about, she apologised profusely, saying she just hadn’t realised the parking space she was in was meant for disabled people. She felt awful, she said, because she was a caregiver, and the issue of Mobility parking was important to her. Another time (in McDonald’s again, interestingly enough) a young girl and her partner said a very sincere ’sorry’ to us when we pointed out the Disabled Access sign on the carpark they were on. Also, I’m sure the general population doesn’t realise the difference between a disabled parking space and an ordinary one isn’t just the little yellow wheelchair painted on the ground, or necessity of having a wider carpark to get crutches, wheelchairs etc., out of the car. These mistakes I don’t have a problem with - it’s blatant, lazy, rude, don’t-care, abusive and sometimes even violent people to whom I’m addressing this issue.

The problem is, unless a public carpark is concerned, there is little one can do. Business owners may or may not care about the issue, believing that as long as they put in their business the minimum number of Mobility Carparks required, that that is the end of their legal obligation, and any reports of abuse by disabled customers may be met with anything from an attitude of deep concern (but helplessness) if you’re lucky, to total disinterest if you’re not. Either way, there is usually a reluctance on the part of the business owner to do anything about the problem, because a) s/he doesn’t want to offend a customer, b) disabled customers are usually unfortunately in the minority anyway and therefore not a great source of potential profit, c) they don’t want a confrontation, and d) the most obvious reason, they are usually too busy and are unable to spend the time correcting the problem.

These reasons only hold good, however, if the business owner concerned actually gives a darn. Many don’t, and I have seen shocking cases where the proprieter is obeying the letter of the law, but not the spirit, as in my own case a few years ago where I was told by the owner of the building, not to use the only Mobility Carparking space at my then workplace because the cleaner needed it. When I protested, I was told that if I did park there, he would have me towed. Unfortunately, on ringing the Human Rights Commission about this episode that night, I was told there was little that they could do. His carpark, his rules - even if they went against common decency, as it seemed to me then that they did.

My suggestion for a solution is to put security cameras on these carparks, monitored by traffic enforcement agencies in the same way red light cameras currently are, and subsidised by Government. This would mean a lot less human effort needed for policing them, and the threat of being photographed would probably be enough to keep all but the most hardy lawbreakers at bay. Certainly when the Government sees sense and raises the fine for this offence from the paltry $40 it is now, to a more appropriate sum, the extra revenue could fund this scheme. The outlook for an idea like this is bleak, though, as even in the recent past, CCS have been trying to negotiate with Government on this issue, so far with limited success. If such a scheme was successful, it would see New Zealand catch up with many countries in the rest of the developed world, who all show their care for their disabled citizens by levelling considerably high fines at those who commit this offence.

Meanwhile, though, I would like to see disabled people and those who care for them keeping up the pressure. Keep reporting businesses who transgress in this way, to their Head Offices. Ring *555 discreetly on your cellphone whenever you see a person parked illegally on a disabled carpark (though you might not want to always approach them). Take down Registration Numbers and report them to your local Council. Do something about these events wherever you see them happening, and if we make enough of a fuss, maybe one day, someone in authority might take the issue seriously.

- Honor K.