07072014Mon
Last updateFri, 04 Jul 2014 2pm

Cops crackdown on selfish parkers

Traffic cops in Guadalajara are getting tough on inconsiderate motorists who park their vehicles in bays reserved exclusively for disabled people.

Officers issued 684 tickets for this offense in the first four months of the year – 88 percent of the entire total (777) for 2013.

To draw attention to the problem, two civic groups that support the disabled recently staged a stunt, placing wheelchairs in regular parking spaces in several city malls, in a bid to make motorists see the other side of the coin.

 It is estimated that two percent of public parking spaces in the city are reserved for disabled people.  The number of citizens with some kind of disability in Jalisco is registered at five percent.

The special parking permits for vehicles that regularly transport the disabled can be obtained from each municipality’s Direccion de Estacionamientos (Parking Department).  Medical substantiation of the disability must be provided.

It is an offense for a non-disabled driver to use the permit of someone else who is disabled without transporting that person.

The minimum fine for illegally parking in a disabled designated bay is set at ten minimum daily salaries (673 pesos).  Police may also tow the vehicles at fault.