Senator: Clamp, tow disabled parking abusers

Government Senator Lisa Cummins has proposed amending the Road Traffic Act to include clamping and towing measures for able-bodied individuals who unlawfully park in spaces designated for persons with disabilities.

The call comes amid growing concerns over the persistent misuse of accessible parking spots.

During Wednesday’s Senate debate on the Resolution: National Policy for Improving the Lives of Persons with Disabilities, Senator Cummins said while she proudly supported the amendment to the Road Traffic Act to raise the penalty for illegal parking in disabled parking spaces from $500 to $5 000, she believed that legislation needed to go further to crack down on indiscriminate drivers.

She noted that able-bodied persons parking in disabled spots remained a great issue of concern to lawmakers, stating that she has personally witnessed occasions where motorists parked in a disabled spot without hesitation despite having several open spots available to them.

She said: “I thought to myself, if some person comes and they have a disability of some kind, if they have to get out of a vehicle with a wheelchair, if they have to be assisted [because] the parking spaces and the parking bays are bigger, it takes nothing off Barbadians to park in areas where you can make to the storefront with no difficulty, instead of parking in a space that is specifically reserved for a person who needs the access.”

The senator said that given the callous nature of these drivers, it was time for legislation to go further.

“Take the extra two, three, five, ten steps, and park in areas that are available, and stop parking in spaces that are reserved for persons with disabilities. This is now about enforcing the legislation. In fact, I would like to see us go even further. I would like to see us introducing measures that clamp people’s vehicles,” she said.

“You thought it was easier for you to park in a space for a disabled person? And you thought you would get away with it, and if the police don’t find you or the security guard does not report you to the police and they don’t get there in time, you walk away with no consequences? I would welcome the occasion where people would come back out of the supermarket or out of a bank and not be able to move their vehicles at all because they have either been clamped or towed away because you are indiscriminately parking in a space that is reserved for persons with disabilities.”