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Motorists are using cunning methods to obtain disabled car park permits - including using those that belonged to relatives who have died.
There are also claims doctors are approving parking permits for recovering drug addicts and even blind people without a driving licence.
The abuse of the system follows a recent campaign by welfare group CCS aimed at keeping spaces free for mobility permit cardholders.
The $190,000 campaign - "If you block my space you block my day" - revealed that half the motorists in mobility parks had no right to be there and 10 per cent were using cards they were not entitled to.
Currently 87,000 cards across the country are being used, including 28,000 in Auckland. The cards - which require doctor sign-off - carry a serial number but no photograph.
The Herald on Sunday has uncovered widespread support for reform of the 30-year-old system - including a review of the $40 fine for parking in a disabled person's space. The fine compares with $2926 in England and Scotland, a maximum $545 in New South Wales and $784 in Chicago.
New Zealand Parking Association chairman Colin Waite said some doctors issued permits too willingly and some cards were "misused". There was anecdotal evidence that some recovering drug addicts had been issued with cards. "There are forgeries of the cards, temporary cards continue to be used after the disability is long gone and the person has restored back to fitness and in some cases the family member may be deceased but the family keep using the card."
Cards were also loaned to family members, he said. Waite labelled the results of new research into permit misuse as "conservative".
He said central government needed to introduce legislation to tighten the use and issue of permits.
Peter Foley, chairman of the Medical Association's general practitioners council, said the system required "modification". "Any system is open to being imperfect. The system is abused by people without a pass and also by those who have a lesser disability than the criteria sets out," Dr Foley said. He criticised the CCS system for having no auditing process or feedback and encouraged a review which would consult with doctors.
Disability Minister Ruth Dyson said the New Zealand parking system was being monitored against those overseas. "People do cheat the system and you would think people would be a little more responsible... the idea of these cards is for people who who can't walk down the street and if you can then you shouldn't be using them."
Parking officers have limited access to a centralised database which holds the details of all cardholders, but parking wardens spoken to last week said it was rarely used.
CCS is responsible for designing the forms and assisting to set the criteria that doctors use to determine who should receive a mobility pass. Once doctors complete the form the patient pays a fee and the card is issued by CCS.
CCS chief executive Viv Maidaborn conceded that stricter rules could improve public confidence in the system and said a public debate would be "useful". Because cardholders are sometimes permitted to drive as passengers, a photo identification system or listing a registration plate on the permit would be unworkable, Maidaborn said. "Misuse of the card is a tiny problem compared with the problem of people parking without a card at all."
