Parking spot woes for the paraplegic community

Newcastle Mall is the only shopping complex in town where parking bays for paraplegics are large enough for those with special needs such as prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs.

“The other bays are the size of regular parking spots and when someone parks next to you, you can’t get out or into your car if you have a wheelchair or prosthetic leg,” explained Priscilla Smit.

Mrs Smit and her husband became paraplegic six years ago after a motor vehicle collision.

Mrs Smit is now confined to a wheelchair, while her husband uses a prosthetic leg.

It is Mrs Smit’s wish that shopping complexes follow Newcastle Mall’s example in setting up proper parking bays for paraplegics.

Catering for the physically handicapped, Newcastle Mall management has allocated markings between the parking bays for a paraplegic person’s car doors.

“My husband needs to open his car door fully in order to get his leg out of the car. Then he needs to open the passenger car door fully for me, so I can get out into my wheelchair,” said Mrs Smit,

“The placement of the parking bays also need to be taken into consideration, as we need to be able to get onto the sidewalks,” Mrs Smit explained.

In an attempt to understand the handicapped community’s plight, I attempted to climb out of a vehicle and into a wheelchair without using my legs.

Not an easy task at all, as I grasped why the parking bays had to be larger. It was also then that I understood why paraplegic people get frustrated when able-bodied people park in their spots.

Without legs, one is totally off balance and needs space to feel safe enough to get into a wheelchair.

“There are elderly people who park in paraplegic parking spaces, and I can understand this at times, as they are often unable to walk far. However, people need to consider those of us whose bodies are not able to function properly,” urged Mrs Smit.

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