Please don’t get me wrong but, as one who does a lot of driving daily, I have a problem. It has to do with the number of seldom if ever used, parking spaces that are provided by both the private and public sector for people with disabilities.
On Friday, I went to a certain large establishment where, because of the nature of its business, Fridays are extremely busy days. In fact, last Friday was so busy that although an extraordinarily large number of spaces have been provided for parking, drivers had to continuously circle the building, like vultures over an animal dropping dead in Africa’s Kalahari Desert, waiting for one to become empty.
Ironically, while men and women alike were jostling for any available space, no fewer than six positions remained permanently unoccupied, being reserved for the handicapped only and, therefore, forbidden to regular drivers.
I am the father of a handicapped daughter myself but there is no way in this world or the next that she will ever drive a vehicle far less park one in any of those spots. Nor do I know if, with her in the car, I am entitled to park in one.
I once took the chance at a supermarket where I went to buy a single item, reasoning it shouldn’t be a problem since it would take me no more than five minutes to get inside, get the item and get back out. In any case, three or four more spaces were there, all empty as usual.
Yet, when I returned to the car another man gave me the telling off of my life? How could I park in a ‘handicap spot’? I should know better. I always writing about people doing wrong things and now look at me. I should be a role model and on and on and on.
Since then I have resisted taking that liberty again and on Friday I joined the line of other drivers circling the place like “cubbas” over Laventille until I got lucky a few spaces away from the reserved stretch. When I returned about an hour later I got a surprise. Somebody had parked in one of those positions but the vehicle was not a car, an SUV, a bus or a truck. It was a scrambler motorcycle.
Again, don’t get me wrong because I have no problem with business houses or government departments reserving spaces for the less able among us. The problem I do have is that as long as I can remember I have never seen a disabled person parking in or driving out from any of those spaces. Whenever I do see somebody it’s always an able-bodied person taking a chance.
Perhaps, the authority responsible should make public the number of handicapped persons living in Barbados who are licensed to drive so that the allocation of parking spaces can be more equitable. If the number is known, business persons should be able to determine the probability of how many would likely be at their premises at any given time and, therefore, if there is need for only one, two or three as opposed to six seven or eight.
A perfect alternative would be to make the spaces accessible to both the handicapped and senior citizens. Currently, none are provided for the latter at far too many places although seniors account for a significantly large number of persons licensed to drive in Barbados. I surely hope you didn’t get me wrong.
• Al Gilkes heads a public relations firm.
