$750 fine for parking is disabled parks

The Herald reports:

The Government wants to “get tough” on the “selfish behaviour” of people who misuse car parks reserved for disabled people by hiking the fine by 400%.

Towage and impoundment fees and parking infringement fees are also going up. Some haven’t been updated since 2004 and the minister said it can now be cheaper to pay a parking ticket rather than paying for parking in Auckland.

Louise Upston, the Minister for Disability Issues, today said misusing car parks for disabled people was the “epitome of arrogance” and the financial penalty will increase from $150 to $750.

I think this is a good move. $150 is not enough of a deterrent.

It does remind me of one of the funniest stories I have heard from a friend of mine some years ago. He was driving from Auckland to Wellington and stopped in Taihape for a toilet stop. The public toilets had a huge carpark with no cars in them, so he parked in the space next to the toilet, even though it was marked as a disabled park. He thought that as it was a Sunday afternoon in Taihape with an empty carpark, the chance of it inconveniencing anyone was close to zero.

However as he came out of the toilet he was horrified to see a bus parked next to his car. A bus for disabled kids, with a dozen kids on board who were being helped out of the into their wheelchairs etc. And all 12 kids were staring at this guy who was parked in their park! Safe to say he slunk away and never did it again 🙂