Life is difficult enough for Debbie McQuillan and her husband Greg, who is confined to a wheelchair after an accident in 2008.
However, an altercation over a mobility car park in Blockhouse Bay last week, means the couple won't be returning to the shops.
"Some people when you approach them respond well," says Debbie, about able-bodied people parking in mobility spaces.
However, this was not the case last Wednesday evening when Debbie approached the driver of a vehicle without a permit, parked in the only mobility space available at the shops.
The driver claimed his wife, inside the shops, was disabled after undergoing elbow surgery. But, an altercation started over the space, which Debbie says resulted in the man's wife returning to the car and opening the door into her leg and hip.
Debbie suffered severe bruising to her shin and claims when the woman opened the door a second time into her hip, it was so hard it dented the car door.
"If it’s me that feels intimidated and I'm able-bodied I'd hate to think what it would be like for people who do have physical or other disabilities that have to ask people to move to get their space," says Debbie.
Events escalated quickly, as Debbie recalls being pulled backwards by her arm. She turned around to see a crowd of 10 or 15 people had gathered, making her feel like a "caged animal."
Members of the public shouted at Debbie, as they thought she was abusing the couple in the vehicle, who she says were in their 60s.
"I was made to feel like a bully," she says, for trying to help her husband.
The couple has no financial support from ACC and Debbie says mobility parking is the only help they get.
"This is the one little freedom [Greg] has."
The older couple fled the scene and police were called, but Debbie says nothing was done despite the bruising on her shin.
Unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened to Debbie. In January she was repeatedly hit by an elderly woman with a walking stick, after her taxi driver parked in the wrong space while he ducked into the shops.
"It's scary and degrading and it feels like something that we shouldn't have to do," says Debbie, who is constantly forced to ask able-bodied drivers to move their cars.
Incidents such as these are so common in fact, that a Facebook page has been dedicated to the issue.
The page, 'You've got my park, want my disability too?' features a number of posts from drivers in need of mobility parks – mostly photos publicly shaming those parking without permits.
"Nobody's trying to get in peoples faces, it's all just about hey, this is something we don’t have a right to either, we have to get the appropriate documents in place to show that we are entitled to it. So let's all play fair," says Debbie.
Auckland Transport: 'Zero tolerance'
Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan says the organisation has a zero tolerance policy for people parking without permits.
"Basically if anyone is in a mobility park space and they don't have a permit, they will be ticketed," says Mr Hannan. "But I think you know, 99 percent of people know that you do not park in a mobility park, not even to drop someone off."
Auckland Transport encourages people to make complaints about drivers using mobility spaces, but Mr Hannan says photographic proof of offences isn't easy to follow up.
"It's a bit difficult because of course you can Photoshop number plates and that quite easily. So, you know, we have to be a bit careful about that sort of thing," he says. "There is no harm in people sending stuff to us on that basis, but whether it is enforceable is another matter."
However, Debbie says Auckland Transport, who she says last visited the Blockhouse Bay shops on April 12, needs to patrol car parks more frequently.
"I think local councils enforcing these mobility parking spaces, local businesses taking more responsibility for them and also the police having some form of involvement rather than just saying, 'It's not our problem'."
Mr Hannan says parking officers are patrolling areas in Auckland all the time.
"All we can do is basically enforce where we see it happening and I would hope that motorists would have common decency not to park or to stop in mobility spaces," he says.
Despite last week's incident, Debbie says she will continue to approach drivers abusing mobility parks.
"I'll always continue to complain to Auckland Transport and go to Auckland Council and I'll always continue to approach the people parking in the car park. Education is the best way to work on it.
"The kind of response we had last week is few and far between when you look at the good results you get," she says. "We get a lot more of those than we do the physical ones like occurred last week."
Debbie says she and her husband Greg are currently looking to move out of the Blockhouse Bay area.
3 News
source: newshub archive
