Call for harsher fines Claire leading the battle to stop mobility park abusers

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Author: Rebecca Mauger
• Publication title: Katikati Advertiser

Claire Dale is a mobility parking permit holder and it makes her “blood boil” when she sees drivers taking advantage of the spaces that are clearly for use by those who particularly need them

Disability parking spaces are marked by yellow lines with a disability logo, or sometimes the whole space is painted blue. The fine for parking in a disability or mobility parking space without a permit is $150.

When mobility parks are taken, permit holders “will drive by”, Dale said.

“People will miss doctors’ appointments if they can’t park close or not do their weekly grocery shopping ... if they don’t get a park they will just turn around and go home,” she said.

“It is a human rights issue.”

She presented a petition to Parliament in 2022 for mobility parking fines to be substantially increased, for private carparks (such as shopping centres and supermarkets) to have the same fine and enforcement standards as public roads, and for an educational campaign to start.

Dale is a permit holder after having a number of operations on her spine throughout her life and she walks with a cane. On “good days” she can park elsewhere but sometimes needs the mobility parks.

She said she regularly saw offending at the local supermarket and at the space in front of the ANZ Bank along Main Rd.

“If people [who abuse the parks] think, ‘I’m just here for a minute, it won’t hurt anyone’ ... the harm is very real.”

Offending on public roads brings a fine of $150, with a $100...