The employees of the Split Parking company have launched a new initiative as part of the "Do you want to exchange parking spots” campaign, warning citizens not to use parking spots reserved for persons with disabilities. In the past days, they have produced a hidden-camera-style video, catching offenders who were improperly parked, reports Večernji List on January 22, 2019.
The goal was to shame drivers, and the culmination is the moment when a young man in a wheelchair approaches them and asks them why they took his parking spot. How the drivers reacted can be seen in the video. Some remained speechless, while others apologised.
“It is clear that people feel uncomfortable and I believe they have learned a lesson with this warning, but also that everyone else watching the video will realise that it is not OK to stop at parking spots for disabled drivers even for a minute if they are not eligible for them. Let this be another serious warning to us all,” said Marko Bartulić, director of Split Parking.
Finding a parking spot is a daily challenge for disabled drivers because some citizens deliberately violate their rights and thus make it difficult for them to do basic activities. “It is inevitable that some citizens will learn this in a harder way, but our aim is not to punish them, but raise awareness among citizens that they should stop doing that, because that is the only way to make a real breakthrough,” concluded Bartulić.
The authorities remove about 1,600 illegally parked vehicles from parking spaces reserved for disabled drivers each year, but the real figure is much higher because not all violators are caught.
The campaign has produced good results, and shifts are visible, but there is still a lot to be done. Split Parking says the campaign will go on. Split has been joined by numerous other towns in Croatia, such as Solin, Dubrovnik, Vrgorac, Ploče, Kaštela, Trogir, Varaždin, which are now also part of the initiative.
More news about Split can be found in our special section.
Translated from Večernji List.
