Able-bodied people who leave their cars ‘‘for a few minutes'' in disabled car parks could soon find themselves landed with a $150 fine.
Previously, infringements concerning public mobility car parks were dealt with under local authority bylaws, but amendments to land transport rules have created a new offence, allowing higher penalties for infringements.
CCS mobility parking permit scheme manager Peter Wilson said the organisation had been working with the Ministry of Transport since 2006 to establish new rules and increase the penalty for an infringement, at present set at $40.
Mr Wilson said the fine was expected to rise to $150 in April, and he would have preferred the Government to have raised it even higher as a greater deterrent to people who abused the system.
‘‘It needs to be enforced with increased fines, because often the local authority doesn't bother.'' In places such as England and Scotland, the penalty was a hefty $2900, and in New South Wales transgressors were fined $454.
‘‘We wanted to go for around $500, but the new changes are a step in the right direction,'' Mr Wilson said. Legally blind permit-holder Julie Woods, of Dunedin, welcomed the news the New Zealand fine was rising.
‘‘I think it will make a difference from people parking where they shouldn't be,'' she said.
While she did not drive, Ms Woods said the permit enabled whoever was driving her to park in a mobility park, which were often near amenities.
Ms Woods said her partner got upset when drivers without permits parked in mobility parks, ‘‘because these parks are there for a reason.''
‘‘It is not fair when people park in them without a permit.'' The CCS regional manager for Otago, Waitaki and Southland, Paul Martin, said the increase would be welcomed by the region's approximately 3500 permit-holders, who often had trouble finding disabled car parks.
‘‘The message we get from our members and people in the community is that people who say ‘We will just be a few minutes', but actually take five minutes, are often the cause of the problem. We have people who need that park.
Mr Martin said disabled car park enforcement by councils appeared to be a low priority ‘‘but we hope the increase will change this''.
