Nothing makes a person with a disability release their inner-Sheldon more than someone stealing our disability parking space. And every single New Zealander realises this now if they’d paid any attention to the news lately.
To put this story in a nutshell, a Facebook page was established and those with disabilities, or a brain, were encouraged to take photos of those who abused Mobility Parking Spaces and upload them onto this page. The intention was to discourage able-bodied motorists from stealing those prime parking spots from people who actually need them.
When I first heard about this page, I thought it was genius. This type of naming-and-shaming is a much bolder move than my personal tactic, which is to emotionally type passive-aggressive, Taylor Swift-esque Facebook statuses.
The amount of times people have stolen my spot is quite disgusting. The fact that people do this is not even the point. It’s the excuses they come up with to justify why they seem to think this type of selfishness is ok. My personal favourite that I’ve heard is “Oh, I’m disabled for the day”. To this person I would like to say, be careful what you wish for.
In saying this, I should give a message to those who think this is perfectly fine.
‘Oh, but I have the flu’ – not an excuse.
‘I’m only going to be a few minutes’ – not an excuse.
‘There’s another disability park they can use’ – no
‘There are no disabled people here and if they come, I’ll move’ – definitely not.
Oh, and your fake limp isn’t fooling anyone, either.
The important thing to note here is that the naming-and-shaming is actually working. Less able-bodied people have been parking in Mobility Parking spaces. While I was excited that this issue was making news, I was also questioning why it took an action such as this for people to actually change their parking habits. The parking fine isn’t enough. What’s slowing this offense down is the act of having his or her name and sometimes picture, put on a public forum for everyone to see.
That’s what I’m most annoyed about. While its a nice feeling having them ‘put to justice’, which is actually the whole point of a parking fine, it’s frustrating to me that they’re changing for the sake of their own reputation and not because it’s morally the right thing to do. Would the Lamborghini man have apologized if a picture of his car hadn’t made the front page of the Herald? If his main concern was the paint on his door, I find it hard to believe. I’ve always taken issue with those who guilt trip people into doing the right thing instead of explaining the principle behind it. But then again, when it comes to taking a park that is specifically set-aside for some one who legitimately needs it, it shouldn’t need explaining and this Facebook page shouldn’t have to exist.
If I had to give my opinion about whether this page is a good idea or not, I would say it’s a case of ‘desperate times calls for desperate measures’. If it has taken an act as extreme as this for people to come to their senses, then so be it. I just wish it didn’t take public humiliation for change to occur.
Fake limb… no way!
Excellent!
It is the height (or depth?) of selfishness that is the real reason why people park illegally in carparks reserved for those with disabilities.
Perhaps it’s a sign of the times; we have a culture which actively encourages self-centered behaviour; the Me First attitude, and Devil Take the Hindmost.
If it takes “naming and shaming” – so be it.
Like the messages for Drinking & Driving and Domestic Violence it’s quite simple; don’t in those space.
Great news that there is an organised movement around raising awareness of able bodies parking in mobility parks, and then taking them to task for it!
I hadn’t heard about this because I chose not to be on facebook and I don’t read the Herald (why would I, its a crap paper).
The kind of able bodied drivers that do nick mobility parks annoy me with their arrogance and selfishness, that why I approach them directly and have a chat with them about their choice of park when I see them doing it. If you talk loudly enough shoppers start to stare and this draws attention to the offending driver. Sometimes they will even back down and move their car to avoid the shame of everyone staring. Usually not though but its always worth a try.
Another tactic to use if there are camera’s in that area of the carpark, point to them, tell them you’re reporting them to the centre manager (if its a mall situation) and you’ll arrange to get them towed if they don’t move. This is ramping it up a bit and you have to be forearmed with some feistiness, especially if they look a bit menacing. You also need to be sure they haven’t seen which car is yours, in case of retaliation.
People that behave like this need to told otherwise they carry on thinking that what they’re doing is just fine, when its not.
Nothing like the direct approach!
The shame stare works – sometimes – or…
Or side swipe them with the wheelchair,
get the dog to pee on them,
slap there car with a cane,
smear your meds in with some coke on the bonnet,
stuff matches in their locks,
pull the mentally unhinged card and lie on their car moaning when they come back -then freak them out by yelling “they are just like Jesus” till they drive away… (only done this once – to a brand new BMW s series driver)
See the disabled community has so many more tools in the tool bag – Lets use them people!
Please add more disabled focus points, lets have some fun 🙂
Confiscate their cars and auction them, with the proceeds going to people injured in workplace accidents. Or crush them. I’ll accept either option.
Ovicula says:
“Confiscate their cars and auction them, with the proceeds going to people injured in workplace accidents. Or crush them. I’ll accept either option.”
Betterer still…confiscate their cars and auction them, with the proceeds going to people born with disabilities…ACC takes very good care of the injured!!
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