What happens when drivers park in disabled spaces
You’ve really got to be a certain kind of someone to park in a disabled space when you don’t have a valid permit, and figures reported by Fairfax suggest there’s an increasing number of these people out there on our roads.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that over 15,000 incidents of selfish motorists parking in disabled spaces were recorded across NSW alone last year.
And it’s not just drivers. Businesses are now increasingly using disabled spaces to store trolleys, skip bins and other items, just because the area seems convenient.
A growing concern
Physical Disability Council NSW chief executive Serena Ovens believes in the end of the day, taking disabled parking spaces illegally comes down to “pure selfishness”.
“Basically 20 per cent of the NSW community have a disability (the 2016 census reported 18.5 per cent). Not all of those people will have the need for an accessible space, but everybody has the right to access all of their community and to do that safely,” she said.
“People need to understand and appreciate why accessible car spaces are so important and think twice. So many people will only use a space for two minutes, but if everyone thinks that way, then there are never going to be spaces available.”
A change in approach
The inappropriate use of disability spaces has become such a problem, some experts are calling for a change in approach through a mobility parking scheme that’s more nuanced.
UTS professor Simon Darcy, a quadriplegic who drives to work in a custom vehicle, is one of the figures calling for new ideas into how these spaces are distributed.
“There needs to be a recognition about the difference between wheelchair accessible parking as opposed to people who might have an ambulant disability,” Professor Darcy said.
“For some people, there’s a critical need for extra side space. In my case I’m a power wheelchair user. We’ve got a modified vehicle, with a ramp that comes out the side and I drive into the vehicle and drive off so hence, when you’re parking, that side space is important.”
Are the penalties big enough?
Local councils are responsible for determining the number of disabled parking spaces and police are entitled to confiscate permits if they feel they’re being misused.
The find for misusing a disability parking permit in NSW is $659, the highest in Australia, and parking in a disability space without a permit is $549 with one demerit point. With this not appearing as enough of a deterrence for some motorists, it does raise the question as to whether the penalties for this behaviour are big enough.
What are your thoughts?