The Otago Daily Times has recently reported on people complaining after getting $750 fines for stopping in mobility spots while dropping people off.
Last week, Dunedin City Council officers were accused of conducting a parking "sting" outside Dunedin Hospital to fine able-bodied motorists who were using mobility parking spaces to drop off staff.
The week before, a woman who suffers from back pain and other medical issues complained she received a fine when she was being picked up from Moana Pool on a wet day.
Disabled Persons Assembly policy adviser Chris Ford said while almost everyone faced parking pressures, disabled people faced greater barriers trying to find spots.
He said spaces designated for disabled people should be respected.
Mobility parking spaces were "few and far between" in Dunedin and it was already difficult for people to access them.
He said the spaces were very important to the day-to-day life of disabled people, giving them access to shops and public places.
There was no leeway for able-bodied people to use the carparks even for a short while for pick-up or drop-off purposes, he said.
"There isn’t leeway, I’m afraid; we may need those spots at any time."
Able-bodied people could park anywhere at any time and did not have the same accessibility issues disabled people had, he said.
"We don’t have a choice. We have very few options in terms of accessing our communities."
If able-bodied people did not want to get fined for stopping in a mobility park they should avoid them.
"The simple message is, if you don’t want a $750 fine, don’t park in a mobility space."
While there could always be more mobility spaces around the city, a good first step was to leave the ones already there for the disabled community, he said.
