Opinion

The disabled parking rort

Are you missing out? Sixteen of the 40 cars I passed in Newcastle's metered parking as I walked yesterday to buy a piece of fruit had a disabled parking permit announcing their entitlement to free, unlimited, fine-free parking. A month ago a Herald reporter counted eight such permits in 14 cars parked on the street outside Newcastle City Council offices, and a couple of years ago when I parked there, and put my money in the meter, five of the seven cars at the front of the council had the magic card. If you don't get one soon you won't get a park on the street in Newcastle or Sydney, and Newcastle council is feeling the financial squeeze already. That's why it has launched a crackdown against the fraudulent use of what are formally known as Mobility Parking Scheme permits, and in just over a month it has fined - drum roll please - two people for doing so. These people were using their mother's or their husband's permit, which is fraudulent, and while many people do this they're very hard to catch. Perhaps even more people have gained their permit fraudulently, with a good story to a friendly doctor, and they too are impossible to catch. You'll see their confidence as they stride out from the parked car.

No doubt about it, the Mobility Parking Scheme is rorted with gleeful ease, and while the notion of free parking for genuinely and seriously disabled people may have been nice a long time ago, it is no longer. In my column in The Herald today I propose that the only way to beat the handicap of not having a disabled parking permit, soon the only way to get an on-street park, is to get your own permit.

Alternatively, we can reconsider the need for what was once a nice gesture. I mean, why should the community provide free and unlimited parking to a disabled person who'd rather drive than take public transport into the city centre? And why, in any event, should parking in metered or timed areas be free and unlimited for someone simply because they have a disability? Yes, we should have specific and wider parking bays to allow wheelchair users to unload and reload the chair, but these don't need to be at the doorstep - the people I see using wheelchairs seem to get about pretty well. And is there any reason why these wider bays should be free and unlimited?

Posted By: Jeff Corbett on 6/08/2010 5:00:00 AM | Comments (69)

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Date: Newest first | Oldest first

I'm prepared to go to war on this one.I appeal to every able bodied non permit holding drivers to observe theese fraudsters as they park with the suction cup display in pride of place like a right of passage and stare down the the driver ,especially if they are alone.Question this whole shoddy scheme,even help them out the car and nurse them to the front door.There is only one thing more euphoric than a lotto win and thats finding that first space next to the disabled parking vacant.Oh the joy.And whats the deal on the parking at the special olympics......

Posted by horse, 6/08/2010 6:45:02 AM, on The Herald

every time, and i mean every time, i drive into the garden city car park or my local woolies car park there is always numerous vacant disabled parking spaces laughing at me while i drive around and around looking for a vacant park. i think i might have to limp into the doctors..... good advice. thanks JC.

Posted by judgedredd, 6/08/2010 8:56:20 AM, on The Herald

First.

Posted by Ben, 6/08/2010 9:21:47 AM, on The Herald

Again, the selfish are going to cruel it for the genuine disabled. I cannot see why the eagle-eyed Compliance Officers, so quick off the mark to nab normal 'illegal parkers' cannot take a bit more time to identify the rorters. Perhaps limited parking could be introduced and if a genuine Disabled Person gets nabbed, it will be up to that person to prove the genuine need that caused the booking. It may be a bit harsh on the Disabled Person but its better than losing the scheme altogether due to the selfish shonks.

Posted by MizJasper, 6/08/2010 9:25:41 AM, on The Herald

Jeff, there are many people issued with disabled parking permits because their ability to walk long distances is limited. This includes walking to bus stops, standing and waiting for a bus and then walking again at your destination. If you choose to drive, and this is what the permit is for, you then have to park your car and wander around to find the appropriate meter, pay, and then walk back to your car to display the ticket. Perhaps this is why permit holders don't have to pay. The RTA is responsible for the issue of parking permits so if anyone has evidence of someone rorting the permit system take it up with the RTA. Do a quick scan of the allocated disability parking spaces and count how many vehicles don't have a permit displayed, especially the John Hunters disability car parks. Rorting works both ways Jeff.

Posted by JB, 6/08/2010 9:27:29 AM, on The Herald

Well, it's supposed to be that they can't walk more than 100 metres without endangering life, JB, not long distances. And even if a permit has gone to a person who deserves one, why should the parking then be free?

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 6/08/2010 9:58:36 AM

It's like anything some people 'will spoil it for others' by rorting the system. My Dad is on a walking frame and can barely walk from the car to the house let alone any further. It takes a good 10 minutes just to get him to the car and then another 10 to get him in it and the walker and wheel chair. Mum is his full time carer and has her own problems. Dad has a permit and it has his photograph, so it's pretty hard to use it illegally!! He is 95 with an eye patch..... To be honest if they had to pay for parking, they would, and they most probably do. Although Mum has a huge responsibility and I wouldn't be suprised if she would forget to pay. She has so much to do and remember and she does get forgetful, so one less stress would be a good thing for her. Although Dad would remind her! Her load of responsibilities is HUGE and I'm sure anyone with a disabled relative or friend would know that. Even though she has back problems and has trouble walking at times, she has never used the disabled parking when Dad isn't with her. And having wider spaces is very important. You try getting someone out of a car and into a wheelchair!

Posted by leahkf, 6/08/2010 9:31:20 AM, on The Herald

As one of the 23 people in Newcastle who lacks a disabled parking permit, I've long advocated special "able bodied parking spaces" - places reserved exclusively for those of us who can get about with no drama. We are, after all, clearly a minority and therefore deserving of special treatment. As annoying as this rort is for the likes of you and I Jeff, can you imagine how pissed off the genuinely disabled must be? Being wheelchair-bound or relying on a prosthetic leg to get about would be a bitter enough pill - having to cruise around looking for a parking space, while some malingerer whose Nana had a sore knee once lingers in a disabled parking space must shit them to tears. I'd scrap the whole system, and issue special plates only to those with a profound physical impairment. People who whinge about having a heart problem, breathing difficulty or some other lark that prevents them from walking 100m have no place behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. They're easy enough to spot - just like a planeload of poms you can still hear the whining long after the engine has stopped.

Posted by Scott Hillard, 6/08/2010 9:38:11 AM, on The Herald

And anyone with a disabililty caused by smoking, as in emphysema, or gluttony, as in obesity, shouldn he not be eligible for a parking permit.

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 6/08/2010 10:02:24 AM

Get rid of all the pathetic shonks. The real issue is that genuine people with disabilities cannot get a disabled park at a shopping centre or near medical centres because they are taken by self entitled shonks. we all have stories, I watched a man his wife and four kids park with a permit in a disabled park right outside the entrance to westfields. The kid ran around as kids do and the man and woman chased them, all happily walked in2 the building to shop. I have also heard first hand from workers that they drive vans with four disabled passengers looking for a close park and then leave because they cannot get close enough for their disabled needs. The disabled people miss out because of shonks. I could not do it.

Posted by deathwarmedup, 6/08/2010 9:40:44 AM, on The Herald

Before retirement, I knew of several people with 'disabled' permits,who worked full time, (in the Civic precent) and had no problem getting up to the hunter st mall at lunch time, (or joining in work related sporting activities) ...while leaving their cars in the free all day parking spot. Their advantage in parking saved them a lot of flexitime and money, and clearly they did not mind boasting of their good fortune as many knew about it.

Posted by huey, 6/08/2010 9:56:10 AM, on The Herald

I regularly see people who I know have parking permits in Hunter St buying lunch, and they're well over 100 metres from their workplace. There is still hope in Newcastle of finding a street park without a permit, although the fine-free guarantee of a permit is a wonderful bonus, but in Sydney, of course, a disabled parking permit is required. Can you buy them on the net?

Posted by Jeff Corbett on 6/08/2010 10:06:19 AM

@ Scott Hillard. I am offended by your comment. You have left me right out of your Equation There at at least 24 persons as I dont have one either.

Posted by MizJasper, 6/08/2010 10:34:14 AM, on The Herald