"I must have forgotten" ... Russell Gordon and others parked in Kent Street with disabled permits. Photo: Kate Geraghty Australia — LOSING a leg, needing a wheelchair, or being unable to walk 100 metres are the main disabilities the Roads and Traffic Authority says warrant a disabled parking permit. But thousands of Sydneysiders with no hint of a limp have found ways to get the tags that allow free parking on meters where others pay $4.40 an hour or more. The authority has issued more than 256,000 disabled permits, enough for 13 per cent of NSW vehicles. On Wednesday morning in Kent Street scores of physically able drivers parked all day using the permits in scenes played out wherever parking spots are at a premium. Just before 8am a black Alfa Romeo grabbed one of the few vacant spaces near the corner of Market Street. Before the driver got out he checked he had placed on the dash one of the white Mobility Parking Scheme cards that were on most other cars in the street. Dressed in a snappy suit, the man, who appeared to be in his early 30s, left on the leather seat a well-thumbed copy of Rich Kids, Paul Barry's account of Jamie Packer and Jodee Rich's One.Tel venture. Then he opened the door and strode quickly across the road. Asked whether he had a disability, he replied: "I do have a disability." "Can you tell me what it is?" "Not at all, sir." He gave the same answer when asked for his name. Similar replies came from almost every motorist who parked in the block between Market and King streets between 6.30 and 9.30am. Nearly all drivers claimed a legitimate reason for using their cards, but nearly all refused to give their names or have their stories checked. Russell Gordon was an exception. Asked why he had a permit, the fit young man in the silver Pulsar said: "Oh, I must have forgotten it was there. My parents are away so I'm using my mum's car, and sometimes I just forget." Although he gave his name, he was reluctant to give his address. "Just from the eastern suburbs," was all he would say before walking 100 metres back to his car and parking it elsewhere. Most drivers showed no hint of remorse. First to arrive that morning was a slim young woman in high heels, still using P-plates on the Fairmont Ghia, who parks in the same place each day. "It's my granny's sticker; it's in her name," she said, identifying herself only as an accountant who works at King Street Wharf. "She lives around the corner in a flat. I pick her up at eight every morning to take her to the doctor's in Elizabeth Street and bring her back at 11 ... They have to inject her every day for vertigo." She had only just got the permit, she said, and would not keep it long, although the sticker carried an expiry date of May 2007. She must have lost track of time and her grandmother, as her car had not moved at 9.30am. Other regulars arrived soon after. A young man pulled up in a Ford Explorer, put his permit on the dash as he does each morning and ran across the road into a cafe, where he slipped behind the counter and began his shift. Half an hour later another young man parked his Honda, got the sticker out and ducked into the Subway fast food joint through a door marked "Employees only". A couple in a Honda Accord insisted they were not abusing the scheme, which says the tag can only be displayed when the car is being used to transport the person to whom it is issued. The man said they were picking up his mother-in-law, but would not give his name. Ten minutes later his wife returned. She said she was Giovana Gualloupo and offered to take me to meet her mother to prove she was not abusing the scheme . "She's got rheumatoid arthritis; she's at the blood bank giving blood. She does that about every two months." But when I tried to get into the car, Ms Gualloupo had a change of heart. "Will I get paid?" she asked. When told the Herald did not pay for stories, she said she could not take me. Nor would she let me talk to her mother by phone or give me her name. While it is impossible to be certain who is using their permit legitimately, the authority restructured the scheme two years ago because so many people were misusing it. New permits with photographs were issued, but for privacy reasons the photos are not visible when the tag is displayed. All you need to get a permit is to find a relative or friend with an injury or disability. You get a doctor's certificate, take it and the relative to the authority, and get the tag. They last for up to three years and cost just $10 a year. The vice-president of the Physical Disability Council of NSW, John Moxon, said it was outrageous that so many people were abusing the scheme. He said the State Government was not interested in policing it. It does not operate the parking meters, so it did not lose revenue. A Roads and Traffic Authority spokesman said the new scheme had reduced the level of abuse, with the number of new permits and renewals issued dropping by 25 per cent. But only 23 permits had been cancelled in the past two years, while nearly 1000 new permits were issued every week. "The MPS' changes have met the objectives of improving the integrity of the scheme," he said. Comfort zone More than 256,000 permits issued, 13 per cent of all vehicles. Free parking all day on meters. All-day parking in zones of more than 30 minutes. Two hours in 30-minute zones. Costs $30 for three years. Source Sydney Morning Herald, 27 January 2006 - Matthew Moore ###