Put an end to parking lurks Date: 08/03/2006 Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
THE State Government put on its serious look when the Herald revealed that able-bodied motorists were abusing disabled parking privileges. But now it has shrugged its shoulders and walked away. Its only response to the problem has been to make the situation worse: disabled stickers will be valid for five years, not three. No action has been taken against those who feign a disability to park free in paid spaces. The Roads and Traffic Authority claims it has referred doctors to the Medical Board for wrongly issuing medical certificates entitling people to disabled parking cards, but the board itself said this apparent crackdown is less than it seems. The doctors had simply made mistakes when they filled in permit forms; there is no sign that doctors are issuing bogus certificates.
This ineffectual response does the genuinely disabled a serious disservice. At present the attitude in NSW seems to be: better that 100 scammers should park illegally than that one disabled person should go without a permit. This generosity relies on the decency and sense of fair play of other drivers. Those sentiments are present in most, but by no means in all. As the Herald has shown, many are willing to rort the system. Making disabled permits easily available and of long validity invites abuse and is self-defeating: the rorters soon outnumber the genuinely needy and push them out of the parking spaces they need.
The system must be tightened, both when permits are issued, and on the street. The traffic authority should reverse its decision and issue permits for three years only - and then only to those with a permanent disability. If a condition is temporary, a permit should be renewed annually. Minor disabilities which do not justify privileged access to parking can be exaggerated to fool the issuing bureaucrats. If those who hold disabled parking permits can walk 100 metres and do not need a wheelchair they are, to all intents and purposes, able-bodied. Why should they be privileged over other drivers? The eligibility criteria should be tightened to ensure only those who genuinely need the privilege obtain it.
Enforcement should be tightened, too. Parking police must do their job. If the Herald can find the parking rorters and interview them about their supposed disability, parking police can, too. If drivers appear able-bodied, they are able-bodied; unless they are ferrying a disabled passenger - and that, surely, parking police can ascertain - they have no cause to use a disabled permit, and should be subject to normal parking rules.