The Minister for Disability Issues Louise Upston says misusing car parks for disabled people is the “epitome of arrogance” and the penalty will rise from $150 to $750.
Police are investigating after a disabled woman’s tyres were deflated for legally parking in a disability space.
Jo, who has multiple conditions causing chronic pain and spasms, found a note on her car accusing her of not being disabled, despite displaying a disability permit.
She has called for people to mind their own business or use official channels, rather than take matters into their own hands.
Police are investigating a “dangerous” act of vigilante behaviour after a disabled woman discovered someone had deflated two of her tyres for legally parking in a disability space.
The perpetrator left a “nasty” note telling her not to use the space if she wasn’t disabled, despite her parking permit being clearly displayed in her windscreen.
Jo, who only wanted her first name used, said the incident in Wellington this morning could have had serious or even fatal consequences had she driven on the motorway, as she only noticed the second deflated tyre when she was driving with three children in the car.
“I was parked outside of the BNZ centre about quarter to nine in the disability spot right outside the doors,” Jo told the Herald.
She had three children aged between 8 and 10 with her, and when they returned to the car about 10am, they noticed a hissing sound coming from the front passenger side tyre.
The tyre was partially flat but still useable, and stopped leaking air once Jo screwed the cap back on the air valve.
The note was left on Jo's car, despite her disability parking permit being clearly displayed.
She then noticed a note stuck on her windscreen, which read: “Dont [sic] park in a disability park if you are not disabled bitch.”
“I thought ‘oh, well that’s disappointing and crappy because obviously they have been watching me.’”
Her children were “really upset” about the note, saying: “They don’t know you Mum, they don’t know what you’ve got.”
Jo suffers from arthritis in her spine, symphysis pubis dysfunction, sciatica and experiences back spasms.
“My back just seizes up sometimes, I can’t walk upright.”
When she is with her kids, she can often lean on them when this happens but if she is out by herself, she often carries a walking stick. If she had a day where her symptoms were not too severe or she was using a great deal of painkillers, strangers might not realise she was disabled, she said.
Jo believes the note-writer was one such person who did not believe she should have her disability parking permit.
When she realised they must have let the air out on her tyre, she went back to the BNZ building to request security footage.
“I got back to the car, drove off thinking ‘oh that’s fine, we caught it’, but then as I went through Wellington ... I heard the sound of a flat tyre. I managed to get the car safely off the road into, funnily enough, another disability park. My driver’s side tyre was completely and utterly flat.”
Jo said it was fortunate she had not driven on to the motorway yet to head home to Lower Hutt, as the flat tyre might have caused a crash or she might have been stuck in a more dangerous spot with children in the car.
It is one of multiple incidents Jo has faced while using disability parks.
She was able to get the help of some passing police officers, who organised a tow truck for her and a ride in a patrol car to Bridgestone, where the staff pumped her tyres back up. Jo said neither the staff nor the tow truck driver charged her for the help.
She gave a statement to the officers, who told her they would handle requesting the security camera footage from BNZ.
Jo said the note-writer must have been in “a really nasty mindset”.
“It’s one thing to let people know your opinion because you think certain things, but you don’t go and do stupid things like tampering with tyres and putting people’s safety at risk. Just think it through.”
Jo has had multiple incidents with people abusing her for using a disability park, including one where a man followed her in his car and slammed his fist on her bonnet when she pulled over to let him past.
“It’s really horrible that complete strangers think that they can abuse you,” she said.
The extra step in this case of the person deflating her tyres “beggars belief”.
Jo’s experiences highlighted the difficulties people with less visible disabilities face.
“The message I really want to put out is: just leave people alone, just mind your own business. If somebody is using a card and you don’t think they should be using a card, there are ways to report that to the people that issue the cards,” she said.
“This is unjustified vigilante action and it was stupid and dangerous. It could have put lives at risk. Don’t do it.”
A police spokesman confirmed officers were making inquiries into the incident.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
