In New Zealand, a System To Watch for Disabled Parking Violators

cylonlover writes "What does it mean when a parking spot is marked with a wheelchair symbol? If you answered, 'It means I can park there as long as I'm going to be quick,' you're wrong — yet you're also far from alone. Every day in parking lots all over the world, non-disabled drivers regularly use spaces clearly reserved for the handicapped. They often get away with it, too, unless an attendant happens to check while their vehicle is parked there. Thanks to technology recently developed by New Zealand's Car Parking Technologies (CPT), however, those attendants could soon be notified the instant that a handicapped spot is improperly occupied."

Comments

Steve Jobs

[Anonymous Coward]

Good thing Steve Jobs (infamous handicap parking spot taker) is gone before this could come to the states.

Re:Steve Jobs

[TheLink]

Steve Jobs was born with an impaired conscience you insensitive clod!

Re:Steve Jobs

[jamesh]

Didn't that just stop him getting identified? They could still clamp his wheels.

A few anonymous calls to the police like "I saw some guys of middle eastern appearance get out of this car, unscrew the number plates, and drive off really fast in another car" would take care of the problem pretty quickly.

Re:Steve Jobs

[jamesh]

So you would get fired from apple over a parking spot?

Having "Got Steve Jobs car impounded" would go down quite well on a resume at a few potential employers I think :)

Re:Steve Jobs

[mortonda]

I see people parking illegally all the time. Even when there is legal parking just a few spaces away. I'm lucky, I can walk a little ways (in spite of the severe pain.) There are many who are wheelchair bound who need the special large parking spaces to exit their vehicles.

At a local school, someone came up with a solution when the handicap spot was inappropriately used: They simply parked in the street right behind the car, trapping them in. The idiot had to sit there until the fellow with the handicap sticker got back and left. :D

Re:not haveing a electronic tag = improperly occup

[rohan972]

It's only going to become a problem in phase 2 when sharp spikes leap out of the ground and puncture the tyres of cars without an electronic tag.

No need to go for the tyres, go for the feet. That way, you know they are now disabled, no need for a ticket.

Re:P&T on handicapped parking

[reboot246]

The other day I caught a handicapped person parking in one of OUR parking spaces, and I beat the shit out of him.

Just kidding. I've been unable to walk without difficulty (before my hip replacements), and those handicap spaces were a godsend. Stay out of them if you don't need them!

Re:P&T on handicapped parking

[Wrath0fb0b]

There. Done thinking about it. You're still a cunt for parking there if you aren't disabled. Walk the extra dozen or so feet, it might do you some good.

I agree.

On the other, here in CA they give out the placards for obesity. If you are obese, you should be given a placard that forces you to park at the other end of the supermarket lot so you can get a whole 0.1 miles of walking in before buying 2 dozen bacon-wrapped-cupcakes.

So yeah, you are a cunt if you park in handicapped spots and deprive someone that legitimately needs it. On the other hand, you are a cunt if you neglect (or even just destroy) you entire body and then expect society to accommodate you in the consequences of your own decision making.

[ And no, I don't propose that I can tell the difference in all cases. Nor do I think we need to start policing people's lifestyle choices. I'm just expressing the pretty common feeling among the conscientious that we are subsidizing risks taken by everyone else -- it's as if everyone had to pitch in to fix property damage in car crashes without regard to whose fault the crash was. There are unavoidable crashes/illnesses and there are avoidable ones -- a fair society should pitch in for the former but not the latter. ]

Re:P&T on handicapped parking

[Smauler]

Don't be so quick to judge, unless you've walked a mile on my crutches.

First they steal your parking space, then you're giving them permission to take your crutches?!