KEY POINTS:
Questions are being asked after the Prime Minister's motorcade blocked off disabled parking bays in central Christchurch.
That caused an 81-year-old Parkinson's patient to struggle 200 metres down a wet street after attending a concert in the Town Hall.
Marshall Leaf's wife Elizabeth tried to use a disabled space but a young policeman demanded she move on, and threatened to arrest her if she did not get out the way.
She says getting to the car was a real battle for her frail husband, and she thinks the attitude of the security detail was unacceptable.
Elizabeth Leaf says if it had not been for kind ushers at the Town Hall who helped look after her husband, the night could have turned out much worse.
Ms Leaf says what annoyed her most was Helen Clark's cars were sitting around with no-one in them.
The controversy follows Thursday's introduction of a new law under which drivers who do not display a valid Disability Action permit will be fined $150, up from $40, for parking or blocking a disabled parking spot.
Mobility Parking Permit Scheme manager Peter Wilson told the New Zealand Herald the new law "will change the behaviour of some of the people who are misusing the parks."
Research commissioned by CCS Disability Action had previously found 50 per cent of vehicles parked in spaces reserved for permit holders were parked illegally.
New Zealand Parking Association chairman Colin Waite said: "It is infuriating for disabled people to see people abusing these special parking spaces and the tougher fine should significantly reduce the problem for them."
There was no indication if any fines would be issued over today's incident.
- NEWSTALK ZB, NZ HERALD STAFF
