Motorists ignore disabled signs

ONE COULD probably understand it in urban areas where parking space for vehicles is at a premium. But in Vryheid, in our supermarkets’ parking areas, is there any real excuse?

Is there any other reason besides laziness or ignorance, and possibly arrogance, that sees perfectly able-bodied drivers parking their vehicles in spaces reserved for disabled drivers?There are not known to be any reserved parking bays in the streets of Vryheid. These would have been demarcated by the municipality. Part of the problem is that supermarkets’ parking areas are private property – traffic officials have in effect no jurisdiction in them when it comes to parking infringements. The arrogant drivers might realise this.

So the issue of parking permits by the municipality, a possibility that has been put forwards in the past, runs into a snag on this private property. And whether the shopping centre owner can levy a penalty is a moot point.

For the convenience and safety of disabled drivers, shopping centres and supermarkets reserve selected parking bays near their main entrances. They are usually wider than the standard bays, to allow the driver’s and passenger’s doors to fully open, and to allow a wheelchair in next to the vehicle if required.

The bays are usually marked with a disabled/wheelchair sign on the road surface of the bay, and sometimes, as at AbaQulusi Spar in President Street, the sign is repeated on the wall facing the bay(s).

Spar goes further and places red traffic cones at the entrance of the space, although this did not deter one driver who then parked between the cones in the middle of the two reserved bays.

The only solution to the problem would appear to be education which in adult terms is called an awareness campaign. One of the problems reported in this regard is that when the infringing driver is of one colour, and his/her infringement is pointed out to him/her, however politely, by a person of a different colour, we have heard that it inevitably becomes a racial issue, quite often ending in a heated argument.

Perhaps supermarkets should have advisory pamphlets available, and when a un-handicapped driver is seen parking in a reserved parking, a pamphlet should be tucked under his windscreen wiper. It could politely point out his/her misdemeanour and ask him/her to park more wisely next time.

Or they could just let his/her tyres down…