Woman shocked by huge parking fine after confusion over disabled spot
A Sydney mother has been urged to contest a shocking $572 fine after she was penalised for parking in a disabled spot.
The woman posted a picture of her car parked in the space in Rozelle to a Facebook group on Sunday, instantly dividing the opinions of viewers.
The image shows the silver car backed up to a white painted line on the side of the road - roughly half a metre away from a pole bearing the disabled parking spot sign.
She revealed there was no white line in front of the car.
“I came back to my car and see a penalty notice on my windscreen for ‘stopping in a disabled parking area without current permit displayed’.”
“The large fine of $572 has shocked me,” she wrote.
The woman said she had a discussion with her friends before leaving her car.
“We all agreed it was fine as I had parked in front of the white line on the road,” she said.
“On closer inspection, it seems the line at the back of the disabled space is also before the pole with the disabled parking sign, so it would appear it is a mistake by Council in not lining up the white lines on the road with the poles.”
Although readers were split on whether or not the mother was in the right or wrong, the majority agreed she should fight the fine.
“Gosh that’s harsh. I thought your back wheel had to be in line with the post adjacent - yours looks fine. Definitely contest that’s a whooping amount,” one woman wrote.
“Outrageous! I’ve always thought that is the axle is in line with the pole then you’re good. But I don’t know the official rule. I would definitely contest!” a second agreed.
“I thought we had to use the sign as the guide? You are way over the sign,” on person pointed out.
Others called for the white line to be removed because it is confusing.
Yahoo News Australia has contacted Inner West Council in Sydney to seek an explanation for the fine.
The Sydney mum may be able to challenge the fine with the help of a new service and corresponding app called DoNotPay.
Dubbed the world’s first robot lawyer, the program is set to launch Down Under after having massive success in the UK and US markets.
British programmer and Stanford dropout Joshua Browder, 22, launched DoNotPay when he was just 19 after accruing a pile of parking tickets he was unable to pay.
Inner West Council told Yahoo News Australia in a statement an image taken by a parking officer showed the car overhanging the spot considerably.
“This would prevent a person with disability access from parking in the disabled parking space. These spaces are highly sought after and address a vital community need,” the spokesperson said.
“Council determines parking breaches on the basis of the location of the sign, which takes precedence over any markings on the road.”
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