What Will Smith would’ve said, if he was disabled
Once again, it seems that disabled people have become the ill-considered target of another system ploy by the powerful and ignorant. In the last few weeks, almost every single day, Craccum staff have witnessed contractors utilising mobility car parks around the city while carrying out nearby construction work. Most of this work is on Auckland Council run public spaces. Apparently, contractors are just driving their vehicles right into mobility car parks now, where they’ll park for hours with no authority to do so, and often no repercussions. Meanwhile, what they don’t see: hundreds of disabled Aucklanders swarming the city, looking for mobility car parking.
This topic means a lot to me personally. I live with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) which are full body pain and fatigue conditions. My pain and fatigue levels fluctuate considerably. Some days, I can walk and even run fairly normally. Other times, I can barely walk a few metres unassisted. I use a mobility car park to support me during “flare ups” (when my pain or fatigue levels are so bad that I can’t walk far) or to assist in the prevention of these flare ups, by retaining my energy stores.
Mobility parks are, in other words, a godsend for disabled people like me. We rely upon them to be available for us to use near every location we travel to, and when they’re not available, it causes problems far beyond the realm of just standard inconvenience.
Luckily, I’m no stranger to a bit of confrontation, so I’ve started reclaiming their parks. Well… not really. I’ll pull over into the construction work area, flick my hazard lights on, and limp out of my car towards the nearest construction worker I see. The conversation usually goes something like this:
Me: “Excuse me! Do you know who that vehicle belongs to?”
Construction worker: “That ute, over there?”
Me: “Yes. I noticed they’re parked in mobility parking. Do they have a permit?”
Construction worker: “Ah, probably not, aye. I know whose vehicle it is. It’s just close to work, so they parked there while they were doing a job, I reckon.”
Me: “So they don’t have a mobility permit? Okay, can you ask them to move it? I need to park there.”
Construction worker: “Sure, yeah. I’ll ring and get it moved now. I’ll get him to come down.”
This process is usually much more long-winded than you’d expect. Last time, it took close to thirty minutes from start to finish, by which point I was painstakingly late to a meeting. The construction worker, bless him, came over to my car and asked me if I needed a hand getting out of my car or walking across the street. I didn’t. I think he was surprised I could walk, to be honest, but that’s internalised ableism for you. Public service reminder: not every individual that utilises a mobility car park will appear to suffer from a physical disability.
The fact of the matter is that I shouldn’t be forced to do this, and nor should any other disabled person. Contractors and construction workers should know where they are and are not allowed to park. It’s about basic decency. Disabled people are far too often shafted out of the conversation in able-bodied spaces under the status quo, and needle in a haystack conveniences like mobility parks provide a much-needed point of access. When able-bodied people begin using these spaces as a matter of laziness, disabled people lose access to entire spaces and livelihood.
A few weeks ago, I was trying to access a venue in Newmarket. I went to pull into the mobility parking right outside the venue and couldn’t. Contractors were parked across both mobility parking spaces, performing Council landscaping work. I turned around and drove to a completely different location. There was no point trying to access the venue when I was in pain and would have to walk at least half a kilometre from the nearest accessible parking.
Unfortunately, a lot of this misuse of mobility car parking has been happening on the University of Auckland City Campus, with the contractors doing work on the new Recreation Centre. There are four mobility car parks at the top of Princes Street by Albert Park, and they’ve become the love child of some of the contractors working for the University. Though these car parks are officially owned and controlled by Auckland Transport, given their proximity to the University, they’re often used by disabled students and staff. Because of this, Craccum contacted Student Disability Services (SDS) to ask if they might issue a memo to the contractors, urging them to not use mobility parking while working. They said no.
“[SDS] are happy to respond to specific instances where misuse of accessible parking spaces has directly affected a student’s ability to park. SDS will work with colleagues across the University to address parking issues for disabled students where they arise and may need to be escalated.”
They did make sure to tell me that, “Another option is to contact the project managers of the particular building work/project so they can raise the issues with the contractors directly.” Apparently they won’t send that preventative memo, but they think it’s my responsibility as a disabled person to. So much for advocacy. I guess it’s super helpful that I have so much extra energy lying around to advocate for myself… luckily I don’t have chronic fatigue, or anything like that!
Fellow University student, wheelchair user and disability advocate Pieta Bouma told Craccum, “My independence completely depends on having mobility car parks available. I literally cannot get out of my car if the car park isn’t wide enough, which can derail my whole plan for the day. I rely on mobility car parks to be able to access uni and when people without a mobility card use them, I feel angry that they think their reason for wanting to park there overrides my right to access my education.”
The frustration, anger and disconnection that disabled people feel from their communities at times like these grates on our skin and bones. It’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a microcosm for the ongoing treatment of disabled people in able-bodied spaces. When disabled people receive perceived “special treatment”—mobility parks right outside venues, extra time and space allowances in examinations, scholarships, government benefits and affirmative action schemes—there are a lot of able-bodied people that still seem to think it’s unfair. In fact, they couldn’t be more wrong. Special accommodations for minority groups are, of course, the very hallmark of equity. Without these spaces, disabled people continue to be limited in access and involvement.
Auckland Transport were approached for comment on this piece, specifically regarding their awareness of the issue, and any steps they will be taking to enforce proper use of mobility car parks. Though provided with a week to respond, at time of writing they have yet to do so.
If you’re a contractor and you’re reading this (I plan to hand-deliver a few copies of this article to the University of Auckland Recreation Centre construction site, so I’m hopeful): please keep your vehicle out of our car parks. It’s not your birthright. Talk with the council or your employer about more suitable parking for your vehicle while you’re at work. Our access isn’t yours to take.
