Disabled driver wins case over 300 parking fines

Tel Aviv may soon change its rules on fining disabled drivers who park on sidewalks.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
wheelchair access 88 224 (photo credit: Illustrative photo by Ariel Jerozolimski)
wheelchair access 88 224
(photo credit: Illustrative photo by Ariel Jerozolimski)
The city may be forced to change its rules on fining disabled drivers who park on sidewalks after a wheelchair-bound resident won a court case against the municipality, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. The man, who had amassed more than 300 parking fines over the past year, argued that he had no other place to park his car near his home, and that he had been careful not to block the way for pedestrians. According to the report, because of the chronic shortage of parking spaces in Tel Aviv, the city did have a policy for many years of not issuing fines to cars marked with disabled stickers even when they parked on the sidewalks. But in the past year, following numerous complaints from residents complaining that cars parked on the sidewalks were impeding pedestrians, the city changed its policy. In the first few months of the new policy, inspectors merely issued warnings to offending drivers, but after some time began issuing fines, especially in main streets. But Gadi Verkshtal, a disabled resident of Rehov Arlosoroff, refused to pay the more than 300 fines he collected and decided to fight the city's new policy in the Court for Local Matters. Using one of the fines as an example, his lawyer showed the court photographs to prove that the car had not blocked the path for pedestrians, and argued that there was no designated disabled space for Verkshtal to park near his home. A judge agreed, and decided in Verkshtal's favor. Verkshtal said he hoped the city would now cancel its policy of fining disabled drivers for parking on sidewalks if they did not hinder pedestrians. But a municipal spokesman said the city had to balance differing needs, and five percent of the city's public parking spaces were already marked for the disabled. "Despite this, there are complaints from residents that they (disabled drivers) park on the sidewalks and disturb pedestrians, mothers with strollers and elderly people. In light of this, the city enforces the law," the spokesman said.