Woman rages over 'unfair' $603 parking fine — but is she right?

A NSW driver says she is “very angry” after being slapped with what she claims is an “unfair and unjust” $603 parking fine — but the local council disagrees.

The entire saga began when Doria Coral visited the library in Gosford, on the state’s Central Coast. The 70-year-old, who vows she has never received a fine or lost a demerit point in her 52 years behind the wheel, said when she arrived the parking lot was full.

“I could see one of the cars, an old couple was about to get into their car, so I thought okay, I’ll get their space,” she told A Current Affair on Sunday night.

“I drove down there and he couldn’t manoeuvre out. So to give him room, I went towards [the disabled parking spot]…tuck my wheels there…for five seconds. And finally he could get out and he left and I parked.”

Driver slapped with $603 fine

However, the brief encounter took a turn three weeks later when Ms Coral received a $603 fine for parking in a disabled bay. She also lost one demerit point. Attached were photos taken by a parking inspector of her car stopped in the disabled spot. The 70-year-old said she hadn't seen the council worker at all.

“If he was right in front of me taking the photos he would have seen that I was in my car, the engine was running and I was giving way making space for an elderly couple to move out, so there was bad intention there,” she claims.

Council hits back at driver's claim

Despite Ms Coral’s objections that the photos — blurred by the sun’s reflection — show her hand on the car’s steering wheel, the Central Coast Council told A Current Affair that simply wasn’t true.

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“Council's parking officer, as evidenced by the attached photographs, confirmed that no person was present in the car and that the car was stopped and parked unlawfully in a disabled parking space,” a spokesperson said. “Given that no person was in the car at this time, council rejects the position that Coral was simply reversing and stopped only for a few seconds.”

The council has rejected the driver’s appeal but Ms Coral said she won’t back down and is planning to fighting the fine in court.

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