Health
Proposed Amendment in Road Traffic Act Seeks to Raise Penalty for Illegal Parking in Disabled Spaces to $5,000 Maximum
Proposed amendment to the Road Traffic Act aims to increase penalty for illegally parking in designated disability spaces from $500 to a maximum of $5,000. Law enforcement and public support expected.
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Originally published by barbadostoday.bb (opens in new tab)
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.”
