The Action Committee for People Living with Disabilities (CAPVISH) and the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) have launched a vast awareness campaign on the importance of respecting parking spaces for people with reduced mobility. .
The two organizations took advantage of the Quebec week for people with disabilities to present the pamphlets that will be placed under the windshield wipers of offenders of section 388 of the Highway Safety Code. “Parking in a place dedicated to people with reduced mobility is not only a lack of courtesy, it is an offense which is punishable by a fine”, notes the general manager of CAPVISH, Dominic Salgado.
The flyers that Quebec City parking officers and SPVQ patrol officers will distribute will allow motorists to understand exactly what mistake they have made.
“They will be given to those who violate the regulations, but also to motorists who park without worrying about accessibility for people with disabilities. It can be by parking too close to the demarcated area, in front of a wheelchair access ramp to a business, in a pier provided for people with reduced mobility to board or by taking the disabled place without a sticker, ”says Mr. Salgado.
Lack of consideration
The initiative to distribute flyers to motorists is a product of the iron will of a Quebec citizen who went through difficult times due to a car accident in 2017. “I had always been able to get around without problems before my accident, says Lynda Joncas. Since it happened, I had to move around in a wheelchair, then with a walker and with a cane. It was a very difficult change for me and that’s when I saw how people were not paying attention to places for people with reduced mobility.
She remembers one time in particular when she was following another car into a commercial parking lot. The driver took the last place with suitable dimensions just in front of Ms. Joncas.
“He came down with a sports bag to go train, she continues. I followed him into the mall to tell him about what he had just done. I said to him “sir, you forgot to put your parking sticker” and he sent me packing in the worst possible way. It really pissed me off and I started handing out homemade flyers to people who park ‘just for two minutes’ in the designated spaces.”
CAPVISH and its president, Raynald Pelletier, have decided to help Lynda Joncas in her fight. “Places for the disabled are not a privilege,” notes the man who moves himself in a wheelchair. For me, having a place to park my car that gives me the safety and space I need is a way to feel included in society. Already that there are not many, it is very important to leave these boxes to the people who really need them.
Standards to rethink
The Quebec building code stipulates that all parking lots with 25 spaces or more must have at least 1% spaces for people with reduced mobility “located as close as possible to the barrier-free entrance of the building concerned” and that ” the path leading to it must also be unobstructed”. However, more than 167,000 Quebecers now hold a sticker, or 2% of the population.
“It is a standard that must evolve to accommodate a larger segment of the population. The aging expected in the coming years will further increase the number of sticker holders,” notes Mr. Pelletier.
Dominic Salgado maintains that the CAPVISH works in collaboration with other organizations in defense of the rights of people with reduced mobility in order to set up a universal accessibility bill. “We are awaiting the results of the provincial election this fall and we hope to find an elected official who will bring our project to the National Assembly.
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