Kilkenny group’s ‘Space Invaders’ project takes on disabled parking space misuse

A self-advocacy group at the Irish Wheelchair Association in Kilkenny has put together a project on the misuse of disability parking spaces in the city.

Under the guidance of adult education tutor with Word Aid Kilkenny Susan Corrigan, the group had a discussion on the misuse of wheelchair parking spaces, which they called ‘Space Invaders’.

Damian Bradshaw, a wheelchair user who previously worked as a traffic monitor with Kilkenny Borough Council, says spaces are being taken advantage of by people who don’t need them. There’s nearly always the same excuse: “I’ll just be five minutes”.

When Damien was a parking monitor, he had a special number to call where he found disabled spaces being misused. The group are suggesting that the number be publicly available on signage, so that people can report misuse of spaces rather than have to confront motorists themselves, which can be daunting.

Another member, Julia Larkin, explains how the group carried out a simple survey in the city of eight disabled parking spaces, and found two of them occupied by vehicles without the necessary badge.

They designed a simple one-page survey asking how many disabled spaces were in the carpark and were they monitored. They sent it out to ten local carparks, but despite including a stamped and addressed envelope to encourage return, the group only received two replies.

“We were a bit disappointed with the response,” says Susan, who adds that some carparks are better than others.

“There’s one in Kilkenny where the spaces are right in front of windows, but the paint is nearly completely gone,” she says. “I couldn’t confront someone who justifiably could say ‘I didn’t see it’.”

The group reckons there are three types of ‘Space Invaders’: People who are genuinely ignorant of the fact a space is disabled; people who are chancing it and trying to get away with it; and lastly, people who simply don’t care.

The fine for misuse of disabled spaces was recently increased from €80 to €150.

The group have formulated two proposals following their study. The first is that the differential between the old fine and the new (€70) be ringfenced to improve all the signage at disabled spaces in Kilkenny.

The second is that a phone number is put on the signage so that people can text and report misuse of the space. They also feel there’s potential nationally to consider handing out penalty points to motorists who are repeat offenders on this issue.

On a positive note, Susan says there does seem to be some improvement and the rules are working better than they used to. Local councillor Maurice Shortall recently visited the group to discuss the issues with them, and has said he will meet them again.