TO help with the problem of abuse of disabled parking bays, perhaps a “deal” could be worked out between the shops and the disabled shoppers, whereby the latter would agree to avoid heavy-demand hours, where every bay is needed and in fact adds money to the bottom-line of the shop.
During these heavy-demand times all bays would be freely available, with none reserved for disabled shoppers. At other times the disabled bays would be reserved with signs indicating the times of reservation.
In addition or as an alternative, it is possible to “lock a parking bay shut” by using steel posts about 80 x 80 x 600 mm that are concreted into the ground at the entrance to the bay.
They are purchasable ready-made.
They are hinged to lie flat or be locked into an upright position blocking the bay.
The disabled shopper on arrival contacts the shop by cellphone and the shop unlocks the post and lies it flat, which unblocks the bay.
While the disabled shopper shops his (or her) vehicle is “locked in” to the bay. This is necessary so that the shop will know when the shopper departs, and can then reblock the bay. If posts are used the extra metre width to allow for wheelchair (dis)assembly could be eliminated by having rows of parking bays near the shop entrance all fitted with posts.
The bays would be used in sequence.
On receiving a request, the shop would unblock the bay that was next in sequence, and if extra width were required the subsequent bay could be temporarily signposted as reserved for wheelchair assembly for the duration of the relative shopping trip.
Raymond Silson
Pinetown
