DPA and disability car parking
Wednesday, 6 September 2006
I returned from a council workshop tonight to find tomorrow’s Guardian newspaper in my letterbox. On the front page, I am quoted as saying I am embarrassed that Palmerston North features on caughtya.org, “the international “hall of shame” website to expose people parking illegally in disability and mobility parking spaces”. The reported comment is accurate - I do find it embarrassing for the city that the single largest number of entries on that website are from Palmerston North.
I have a real problem, however, with my comment being inside a box, within an article about the latest DPA (Disabled Persons Assembly) campaign. The DPA has printed large yellow stickers that are to be placed on car windscreens on the driver’s side. They say these stickers are difficult to remove. They also say they know this is against the law, but they are prepared to break the law in order to get their message across. While I have sympathy for their intentions, I do not condone their actions. It seems to me to be a strange thing to do, to break the law in order to punish drivers for breaking the law.
Another concerning aspect of this campaign is that a member of the DPA told me that they intend to target not just those vehicles that do not display the parking permit, but also those where, in their opinion, the occupant(s) of the vehicle are not disabled. While I am sure we all realise that disability parking permits are sometimes abused by family members or others using them, nobody can judge whether a person is legally entitled to use the permit or not. A disability parking permit is issued by CCS upon payment of a fee and after production of a doctor’s letter certifying that the person applying has a disability that necessitates using disability parking. While wheelchairs are visible evidence of a disability, the person with a heart condition that makes walking any distance risky cannot be visually distinguished from an able-bodied person getting out of a car. I feel society gets into dangerous territory when people who are disabled start making judgement calls about other people’s disabilities based purely on what they observe. It is bad enough that non-disabled folk in our communities do this.
People are people, and while I wholeheartedly endorse awareness-raising campaigns, I am opposed to any actions that impinge on the freedoms of others. Placing a sticker that blocks a drivers view is illegal. It also keeps the offending vehicle in the park for a longer period of time while the offender finds the means to remove the sticker. People also sometimes forget to place their permit in their car window. What happens if a wheelchair user forgets, and gets slammed with a sticker? Or someone with a disability that makes reaching the window, stretching across, and physically scraping the sticker off impossible? The person then has to get someone to help. While this is happening, the car park is unavailable to other permitted drivers.
It is for this reason that I am also opposed to the calls for wheel clamping. An illegally parked car that gets clamped then becomes an illegally parked car that is parked there for some considerable time.
Every action has a reaction. In taking illegal actions against vehicles that park illegally in disability car parks, the reaction is likely to be not awareness, not greater consideration in the future, but anger. Inconsiderate drivers are not taught to be considerate by other inconsiderate actions. And while angry drivers try to clean stickers off their windows, drivers who are disabled and need those parks will find them taken by people who may have left some time before, if only they could.
UPDATE: It seems that my thinking on this topic is not dissimilar to the people behind caughtya.org. It appears someone has sent them a copy of the Guardian article. They have some interesting comments about it.
No. 1 — September 7th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Since when have you become an expert on disability? People like you make me sick you dont have a clue what its like to be disabled yet you preach to us about the morality of taking action against drivers who take our parking spaces. You have never attended a DPA meeting and have never done anything in this city for the disabled. You were elected to represent everyone well I have news for you lady. Everyone means the handicapped as well!
No. 2 — September 7th, 2006 at 5:01 pm
MickeyM, I have never claimed to be an expert on disability, nor am I “preaching”. I am stating my opinion which, of course, you are perfectly entitled to agree or disagree with. I do not condone breaking the law, either by drivers or by the DPA.
Your comment that I have never attended a DPA meeting is wrong, as is your comment that I have never done anything in the city for people who are disabled. I raised with council staff my concerns over the lack of disability parking at the Milson and Hokowhitu shopping centres. I advocated for the installation of these parking spaces and as a result, the people who need disability parking in those two shopping centres now have it. My interest in, and awareness of, disability parking needs is not new and those parking spaces have now been there for a couple of years. Long enough perhaps for some to have forgotten that there was no provision for disability parking there prior to my involvement.
I am disappointed and surprised by your last comment. I have never heard any person with a disability in this country refer to themselves as handicapped. While I realise it is a term used commonly in some countries overseas (and at the risk of annoying you more with my opinions), handicaps belong in horse races and in my opinion, have no relevance to people. I find the term offensive and request that if you add further comment to my site, that you refrain from using it.
No. 3 — September 7th, 2006 at 6:24 pm
I have a disability. I live in Palmerston North. I have several friends with various disabilities. And the DPA has never done anything for me. The DPA does NOT represent people with disabilities in Palmerston North. They represent a small segment of that community.
I have known Councillor Pope for several years. I guarantee you that she has a keen and accurate understanding of disability issues and has in fact done a lot for people with disabilities in this city and elsewhere. She has been active on the Board of Directors of the Stewart Centre and Age Concerns (while aging is not a disability, many of our elders do have disabilities). She has upheld disability rights with city council staff and at council meetings. She is an active advocate of web accessibility. I also believe her fiance is a wheelchair user.
Get to know people before you accuse them. And FWIW, I couldn’t agree more with her opinion that putting stickers and clamping wheels is a bad idea, because it would block the parking spaces even longer than they would be otherwise.
No. 4 — April 4th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Well done I say for this to issue to be highlighted and being openly discussed.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion/s.
I do have to put my 10 cents in, mind you and say that I totally agree with what has been said by Lynne and good on her for addressing these issues.
It is important to not condone illegal activity no matter how much someone annoys you.
I can totally understand the anger and frustration surrounding the unnessessary use of these carparks.
I do not have a disability. However, my eldest son has just sustained a broken neck and damaged spinal cord and has a month ago , just been diagnosed as being a tetraplegic and its amazing how much I NOW notice wheelchairs in the street, how much attention I NOW take to the state of the footpaths and the accessibilty for wheelchairs in shop and house entrances. I kick myself for not paying attention before.
I have always noticed people who shouldnt be parked in disability carparks and also too, have been annoyed with able bodied peson/s hopping out of cars. but it is not my place to judge because simply I do not know if they have a disability or not. Nor is it anyones place to lop a gret big sticker on their windscreen to hinder any drivers view.
The drivers who are using that carpark when not given permission to do so, would have it on their conscience- Im sure, as soon as they use that carpark.
You never know what life will throw at you, you never know what loved one or even if your life will be changed by suddenly having a disability. Tomorrow can be completely different than today and it was that way for us…people need to spend a day observing the life of a disabled person. Everyone who hasnt got a disability needs to imagine what it would be like having a wheelchair instead of the use of your own legs. Then I am certain that the disability parking would be just that, left alone by the people who do not need them and respect given to those that do.
Also to the people that get angry at other peoples viewpoints, dont ….freedom of speech is what everyone else is entitled to just as much as you.