Wheelchair parking stoush turns ugly

JONATHAN CAMERON

PARKING POLICE: Palmerston North man Nicolas Steenhout wants to stop the abuse of disability car parks.

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A wheelchair-bound Palmerston North man on a crusade to stop the abuse of disability car parks was involved in an altercation he claims ended in him being tipped out.

The fracas happened on Saturday evening when Nicolas Steenhout confronted a woman after she pulled into a disability park at Melody's New World on Broadway Ave.

She did not have an orange mobility card, which permits the use of disability car parks.

The Manawatu Standard understands Mr Steenhout reached into the car and grabbed the steering wheel.

The woman warned him to let go, before reversing slowly out of the park but Mr Steenhout clung to the wheel before being thrown out of his wheelchair.

On Saturday night, he posted messages on his Twitter page, including: "Am at A&E because this arvo a car parked illegally in disability space backed out while I was still talking to them. Flipped wheelchair."

He also posted: "Am I OK? As much as possible. Hip, shoulder, neck, back hurting. Probably more 'just' soft tissue injury."

He also said on his Twitter page that he had spoken to police about the incident.

Mr Steenhout, who was a member of the MidCentral District Health Board's disability services advisory committee, said he was unable to comment yesterday as he was in negotiations to tell his story to current affairs show Campbell Live.

The woman driving the car did not want to comment but confirmed her side of the story through the supermarket store manager, Kelly Melody.

Ms Melody described Mr Steenhout as a loyal customer but said he was "potentially" driving away customers through his behaviour.

For years Mr Steenhout had been taking photographs of cars in disabled carparks without permits and posting the information on his website.

His website is described as "a Hall of Shame to expose cars parked illegally in disability or mobility parking spaces".

Most of the photographs have been taken in Palmerston North with licence plates clearly visible.

The fine for illegally parking in a disability car park jumped from $40 to $150 in 2008, but that applies only to public parking, which is monitored by councils. Because Melody's is a private carpark, the store monitors the disability spaces.

Instead of dishing out fines or calling a tow company, supermarket staff try to find the drivers and ask them to move their cars.

Most of the time it's an elderly person who doesn't understand they need a mobility card to park in the spaces, she said.

More education on who can use disability parks was needed, Ms Melody said.

- © Fairfax NZ News