Proposed Amendment in Road Traffic Act Seeks to Raise Penalty for Illegal Parking in Disabled Spaces to $5,000 Maximum

The penalty for illegally parking in spaces designated for people with disabilities will increase tenfold, from $500 to a maximum of $5 000, under a proposed amendment to the Road Traffic Act, Edmund Hinkson MP, chairman of the parliamentary disabilities committee, announced Friday,

Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw introduced the amendment to section 88A of the law.

The amendment bill, which is to be debated early next year, will be “increasing by 10-fold the penalty for illegally parking in a car park specifically designated for parking for persons with disabilities”.

Hinkson explained: “Under the law, a vehicle must have a valid disabled parking permit issued by the licensing authority, which has in fact assigned that responsibility to the Council for the Disabled, indicating that the vehicle is owned and operated by a person with a disability or used to transport a person with a disability.”

The proposed amendment significantly increases the penalty for illegally parking in spaces reserved for people with disabilities, raising the fine from $500 to a maximum of $5 000.

Driving instructor and road safety activist Junior Jordan welcomed the proposed amendment to the Road Traffic Act, stating that a deterrent is needed for those who lack consideration for the disabled.

He said: “The rare challenge comes when the human interest side of it is not shown by people who are able-bodied. And the suggestions are that when law enforcement people are the people who are charged with guarding these spots, approach people, they are abused and sometimes violently, with words.”

He tugged on the consciousness of the able-bodied: “In the twinkling of an eye, we can become challenged. So we must be proactive in terms of recognising that things can happen and happen very, very quickly.”

The proposed amendment is expected to receive broad support from lawmakers. Hinkson said: “Independent Senator Monique Taitt, Senior Counsel, last year in the estimates spoke against this practice and called for an increase in the fines. I am fully aware that Senior Counsel Michael Lashley, who in fact, as Minister of Public Works, introduced this provision into law in 2017, has come to realise and is fully supportive of the need to increase this fine drastically.

“The minister and her ministry have commendably listened to the voices of people with disabilities and their caretakers, who are completely frustrated and fed up by the fact that persons who have no disabilities whatsoever go and park their vehicles in parking spaces reserved for persons with disabilities without any consideration at all.”

He added: “For persons with disabilities, it is a high mark of disrespect. For such persons who have no care in the world for persons with disabilities. Many of them, when they are told they should not park there, abuse you. So their time is coming to an end.”

The parliamentarian urged property owners to install cameras to facilitate the enforcement of the new measures.

He said: “I am today really calling on property owners who treat to the public, who have car parking spaces reserved for persons with disabilities to install cameras, which will certainly identify those who park in these car spots illegally.”

For the Barbados Council for the Disabled’s Operations Manager, Roseann Tudor, the amendment is the fulfilment of years of advocacy.

“Finally, we are having an increase [in the illegal parking penalty],” she said. “This increase would demonstrate that it is to be taken seriously. And the rights of persons to park in those spaces is not a privilege; it’s a right. There is a reason why they are to park as close as possible to an entrance or an exit. It’s a right that’s part of what we’ve been advocating for years.”

Tudor raised a concern about monitoring these parking spaces to ensure the law is implemented.

She said: “If people use those CCTVs and the pictures are taken clearly showing somebody parking in their space, then they have to have some kind of a system where they would have to send those pictures to the court or the police station, and that would be documented as evidence.”

Proper monitoring along with the fines would be a great deterrent, she said. “But”, she added, “monitoring is really a problem that has been constantly abused. No monitoring, so people would use it. But if we do have the monitoring along with the increase in the fine, it would be a great deterrent.”

She suggested employing the disabled who are unable to leave their homes or those considered medically boarded off to monitor these spaces.

Tudor said: “They could have persons with disabilities who are unable to come out and work, who are at home because of a number of reasons. They could have a monitoring device set up in their home and they can monitor different places, the business service providers. Then they could send it in straight to the police. It would definitely help persons who are unemployed and unable to get out.”

Hinkson believes the installation of cameras will give teeth to the amendment of the legislation, “and so that we can have implementation of this noble provision”.

In a related development, ministers on Tuesday approved the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, which is expected to be laid in Parliament next year by the Minister of People’s Empowerment Kirk Humphrey.

“This coming Tuesday, this is again a tremendous advancement for people with disabilities in this country. Coming on the heels last month of the passage and adoption by the Parliament of the resolution on the improvement of the lives of persons with disabilities,” said Hinkson. “We look forward to the debate on the passing of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill early next year.

“For the first time in the history of Barbados, persons with disabilities and indeed their caretakers would have statutory powers which they could enforce before a tribunal. Indeed, before the courts on the rights of persons.” louriannegraham@barbadostoday.bb