Disability parking abusers labelled 'selfish and arrogant'

Rotorua's Bruce and Catherine Morrison are sick of able bodied people stealing disabled parking spots. Photo / Andrew Warner

Former New Zealander of the Year Dr Lance O'Sullivan made headlines this week after it was revealed he had been charged with intentionally damaging a car. In a subsequent Facebook post O'Sullivan said he threw a brick through a car window because it was parked in a disabled spot and that he regretted his actions. While not condoning such responses, there are many who understand his frustration. David Beck reports.

Bruce Morrison is fed up.

The Rotorua man is the caregiver for his wife Catherine Morrison, who uses a wheelchair, and says he can't count the number of times he has seen able-bodied people using disabled parking spots.

Morrison does not mind telling offenders they are in the wrong but says two years ago he was assaulted and knocked unconscious by a person who took offence to the message when he approached them outside a medical centre in Rotorua.

"When I brought it up with the people who were parked there without a permit, they knocked me out, left me on the ground and took off."

While he was speaking to the driver, two young people got out of the car. One pushed Morrison before the other punch him from behind, knocking him to the ground.

"I was taken into the medical centre and they made sure I didn't have a concussion, kept me there for an hour or so. There was massive bruising on the side of my face and a cut on the back of my head from where I hit the ground."

The Morrisons recorded the vehicle's number plate and called the police who dealt with the matter.

Morrison said it angered him to see people taking parks that others genuinely needed. He had even seen people who had borrowed a car with a permit from someone who was disabled.

"The big thing is, I need to get the wheelchair up to the passenger's door of the car. If I have to go to a normal park, there often isn't room to get the wheelchair between the two cars, open the door and get my wife out. The disability parks allow a bit more width for exactly that sort of thing.

"I don't mind wheeling the wheelchair half a mile, that's not the problem, it's being able to get in and out. But there are other people, little old ladies, who don't have a husband to look after them and they struggle if they're further away.

"These people don't have any regard for those who do have disabilities. You don't know how many people are being affected because they see a car there and just drive past. We pay for our permit, so it's not a freebie. This is something that nobody has ever taken by the throat and given a good shake," Morrison said.

Dr Lance O'Sullivan made headlines this week when he admitted throwing a brick through a car window because it was parked in a disabled spot. Photo / File

CCS Disability Action midland region general manager Colene Herbert said people using disabled parking spots illegally was an issue all over New Zealand, including in the Bay of Plenty.

"It's far too common and we really empathise with the frustration of those mobility cardholders because they pay for them. They pay for the right to have those parks and some of the people who hold those permits, parking somewhere else is just not an option for them.

"They really need the access for getting from the vehicle, off the road and up on to the footpath. They need all the barriers to be free to do that."

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Herbert said to take those parks when you did not need them was "arrogant and very selfish".

Two years ago CCS Disability Action developed a mobile app called Access Aware which encourages people to report those who use and abuse disability parks.

The app also allows users to report abuse in private disability car parks, see the location of disability car parks in the area and report to the app when a disability car park couldn't be found.

"It works extremely well and we're still chipping away, asking councils throughout the country to use it. It gives people who have paid to use the parks the ability to get help when there are obvious abuses of those car parks. We call it abuse because that's really what it is.

"The app also stops people taking matters into their own hands. I can feel [O'Sullivan's] frustration but we never condone direct action; we encourage people to make a note."

Rotorua Grey Power president Miriam Ruberl says drivers need to think about how it affects others when they wrongfully use a disabled parking spot. Photo / File

Rotorua Grey Power president Miriam Ruberl agreed that people abusing disability parking spots was far too common.

"It affects people in ways such as if they have a wheelchair or Zimmer frame to get out of the car, they don't have enough space in a normal park. It seriously affects the distances people are made to walk, not only towards something but if they have to carry something back to the car as well.

"There aren't nearly enough disability car parks either and someone needs to be policing who is using them. Those people are exercising an entitlement that is not theirs. You don't just decide you're entitled and disabled, you have to have a permit."

For advice and support, call SSC Disability Actions on 0800 227 2255.