I use my permit rarely as I only use it when I absolutely need it. I get affected by the cold and mainly only use it then. I am often out early in the morning and have my favourite good spots pretty close to the places I regularly visit. Perhaps those who can could hang their permit from the mirror like a pair of fuzzy dice when they park, it would make it a lot more visible. I have never had a problem with the wardens but good on them for doing their jobs more vigorously. Isn't that what we wanted them to do? I have had a problem with a presumably disabled person putting their 2 cents worth on a note bleating on about me parking in a disabled park when if they had taken a look on the OTHER side of my windscreen they would have noticed a correctly displayed valid permit. I do think they should have more discretion removing the clamps although I bet those who have displayed incorrectly and been clamped won't do it again . If people were to display their permits correctly it would hopefully help the wardens in doing their job and eliminate mistakes. If you can't see it from the outside then it is wrong. They do the same with warrants or registrations. It isn't if you don't have one that counts, just that they can't see it.

Long Term Disability= Five year term @ $45

AND we have to have part of the form filled out by our Dr at extra cost on top of the permit cost re type of disability and if it's long term or short term. This reminds me of the Disability Allowance where we needed the Dr to fill in the form to prove it was a long term disability 'every year' and again it added extra cost.

I thought long term meant 'lifetime' so why should we need a Dr to fill part of the form out every five years.

What's that $30 comment about?

Matt: My comments about the "handful" wasn't a dig at you or meant to be flippant in any way – it was more a comment at the oversensational way that the media have portrayed this story, hope you understand this and sorry if offence was taken.

No-one should feel that they are being forced into parting with their money or feel that they are going to have their vehicle removed.

I think that the clamping companies need to be clearer in their operation. Regulation of that industry is something that CCS Disability Action strongly supports.

These are the things we are working on with clamping companies to ensure that they present themselves and their operation fairly and that genuine permit holders aren't victimised.

Is the $30 issue fee that critical?

After 20yrs of being in a chair I think the situation sux bigtime and so does saying things like "only a handful were affected"

Again I'll state I have no problem being fined for an expired card, its the process or method they use, took over 50mins, my leg bag only hold so much, they hold you till you pay & God help you if you can't as they tow your car, I suppose I could wheel home, with shopping, dog & all, But seriously I think its extortion!

Really hate the reporting around the "pregnant paraplegic" story. Very bad use of language and very sensationalised. I understand it was a very stressful experience for the lady concerned and the guy doing the clamping.

I guess from a CCS Disability Action point of view we need to keep parking spaces free for genuine permit holders.

We've worked hard to get the fine increase for people abusing the public car parks.

Unfortunately private car parks aren't covered by the Road User Rules so we are working with private car park providers like supermarkets, malls, etc to enforce the abuse there. The tools to deter misuse there being clamping and towing.

The permit is usually valid for 5 years so there's plenty of time to sort out a new card in time.

We did a mail-out earlier in the year to all 97,000 permit holders reminding them of their entitlements and responsibilities.

Each and every permit has the following words in bold: PLEASE DISPLAY CLEARLY ON DASHBOARD.

I understand that no-one likes getting clamped but if your permit number is obscured, out of date or not displayed at all, the parking wardens, clampers, towing companies do not know if the person using the park is genuine or not.

The media has jumped all over the clamping story because, as we see time and time again, the media only seems to dip it's toes into disability waters when there is a "victim" or a "hero" to report on.

I'm sorry to hear Matt's story above but the reality is that out of almost 100,000 permit holders only a hand full of people have been affected.

Remember clamping companies and parking wardens are a necessary part of the system if we want to stem the abuse of mobility car parking spaces.

That's the official spiel out of the way and

I guess I'd just like to end on a positive note:

Getting back to the issue at hand, we have been working with the clamping companies to show some discretion when those rare instances arise and genuine permit holders get clamped.

Details around this was something that we were hoping to share on Campbell Live but we got bumped