Accessible parking is designed to accommodate two groups of users: those who use mobility aids that require a greater amount of free space to be assembled or unloaded and those with mobility impairments, illnesses, or injuries who need to be close to an entry due to assisted mobility, fatigue, or limitation of movement. Both groups benefit from being away from passing traffic.
I have had three interesting experiences with accessible parking: vigilantism, mobility aid excursion and parking location.
Being a young, good-looking guy (self-assessed, I might add, on both fronts), I’ve experienced people questioning whether I should be parking in an accessible parking space. My response of ‘wait a moment’ gives me time to see the blood drain from their face when they realize I’m pulling a wheelchair out from my back seat.
Yes, I was concerned when an elderly gentleman got out of his car with a gym bag, obviously about to do some rehab on the dodgy hip, only to see him suit up for three sets of squash. Then there was the lady who said she was shopping for her mum even though her mum was at home drinking tea. The best was the antenna installation van, which occupied a space with a permit clearly displayed. I am sure there are many other stories.
Moral of the story – Invisible disability, impairment or illness are sometimes truly invisible.
Not long after my accident, I parked in a parallel parking space and assembled my chair. As I turned to get my backpack, my chair took off down the hill amongst traffic. Over its 50-metre journey, I don’t know what was funnier: seeing people’s faces as they watched the chair flying down the hill with no one in it or seeing the two good Samaritans hear my yells of ‘get the chair’, look at me, look at the chair, look at me again and then twig that the pursuit was on.
Moral of the story – Put your brakes on after you put the wheels on.
Lastly, a misguided lawyer with personalised plates parked in the shared zone between two legitimate parkers: myself and an elderly gentleman. I am sure many people who use chairs or mobility aids have had to ask a stranger to reverse their car out of a space because the shared space or parking space next to you no longer has the same gap when you arrived.
After getting my car out and taking a picture, I posted the situation to Facebook. Within two hours, I had a lawyer, who I might add specialises in representing people with personal injury, plead with me to take it down. He had clients cancel appointments and various attacks from people saying he was a serial offender.
Moral of the story – Make sure you insist on a bollard in the shared zone and don’t park in the shared zone with personalised plates.
Here are some recommendations for accessible parking from my personal experience.
- Natural surfaces are fine for parking, just make sure you add a 10% concrete stabilizer to the decomposed granite.
- Car stackers should not negate the provision of accessible parking, particularly in front of retail premises.
- Where parking is not required for a development, contact the council to provide street parking.
- Ensure the wheel blocks are far enough into the parking space so that when a twin cab ute with a tow bar (tradie ute) reverses into a space, it leaves more than 600mm.
- Parallel parking on main or busy roads should never be designed or installed. The duty of care or safety in design to ensure safe movement is our responsibility.
As I write this, my life has changed. Due to rupturing my bicep playing with my daughter, I have been in a rehab hospital for three weeks, with two more to go. I have gone from a very independent wheelchair user to a person who needs a hoist to get in and out of bed and on and off of a commode with staff assistance. My mobility is via an electric wheelchair. I know firsthand now why Changing Places facilities and drop-offs for rear loading vehicles are so vital in our community.
All the best, especially to those in lockdown and front-line medical or care staff.
