The agency in charge of issuing disabled parking passes says that abuse of designated spaces is on the rise, and a CTV News investigation has captured a string of scofflaws in the act.
The Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. gets as many as 15 complaints a day about the people who use disabled parking spots.
"Within the last year or two we have seen an increase," said Emese Szucs, the manager of accessibility programs for SPARC.
With more baby-boomers aging and in need of preferred parking, she says the problem is getting worse all the time.
Wheelchair user Bernie Tague was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 30 years ago. Although he can no longer walk, he's still able to drive, but just getting behind the wheel takes a lot of effort.
Tague says it's frustrating to find designated parking spots used up by people without passes.
"It's a lot of trouble getting around if you are disabled anyway," he said. "I don't have a lot of choices, and it's very difficult when someone else is parked there."
In three hours stationed in parking lots in Richmond and Vancouver, CTV News cameras caught three people unfairly making use of disabled parking spots.
A young woman with two kids and a disabled parking pass complained that the designated spots at Richmond Centre mall are often full.
"A lot of people do park in them that don't have a handicapped sticker, just for convenience I guess," she said. "I think that's horrible. I think it should be used for people that need it."
But she admitted that she's not actually disabled -- the parking pass is for her mother.
After a few minutes chatting with an investigative reporter, she felt guilty and decided to move her car.
As she pulled away, another car without a parking pass pulled into a designated spot. The couple in the car said they were just waiting for a friend.
At Lansdowne Mall, a woman without a pass told CTV News she just stopped for a second after spotting a friend.
The responsibility to enforce use of disabled parking spots falls on property owners. Richmond Centre management told CTV News they will tow offenders, but they couldn't say how many times they have actually done that.
Jane Dyson of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities says that very little is done to prevent non-disabled people from using designated spots.
"There's so little enforcement that people with disabilities really start to give up about complaining because nothing is ever done about it," she said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mi-Jung Lee
