The Star: March 15, 2018

4
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday March 15 2018
News
App nabs
disability car
park abusers
• By Bridget Rutherford
MORE THAN 100 reports of
people illegally using disability
car parks have been made since a
new app was launched to curb the
problem.
In October the city council’s
Smart Cities programme and
CCS Disability Action launched
Access Aware, allowing anyone to
report people parking in disability
spaces without permits.
It instantly sends a notification
and location to the city council’s
parking enforcement team.
Smart Cities programme manager
Teresa McCallum said since
the app was launched on October
1 there had been 141 “abuse reports,”
with one $150 ticket issued.
“The majority of the abuse
reports we have received are in
private parking spaces where the
council cannot issue infringement
notices.”
Last month, 10 trial sensors
were placed on central city disability
car parks. The sensors
have Bluetooth technology, which
pair with a portable chip given to
those with disability passes. If a
vehicle parks in the spaces without
a chip, enforcement officers
would get a notification.
• By Julia Evans
WHEN SHE was pulled over
on Gloucester St for speeding,
Esther Dodds presented
Constable Kurt Davison with
her driver’s licence.
What the 71-year-old didn’t
realise was the licence, a black
motor vehicle book, hadn’t been
valid for the better part of four
decades.
“I’ve never been more confused
in my life. I didn’t know
you had to have a photo on your
licence nowadays,” she said.
After driving Mrs Dodds
home, Constable Davison approached
his colleague, Senior
Constable Robyn Pewhairangi
with a “challenge.”
She met Mrs Dodds weekly
to help her study the road
rules as part of a five-week
programme that helps people
get their licence – though it is
largely targeted at younger drivers.
“Esther studied hard beyond
what was asked of her,” Senior
Constable Pewhairangi said.
She said “empowering” people
by helping them get their licence
makes the road safer, reduces
death and serious injury.
“I wish I’d been caught sooner.
It was the best thing that’s happened
to me,” Mrs Dodds said.
When she passed the test, she
was met with a “huge hug” from
her tutor.
“I didn’t think they’d let us go
for our licence at our age. My
husband always said I was too
old and that stuck in my head,”
she said.
“But it’s helped me get my
confidence back . . . it’s given me
a sense of freedom.”
Now Mrs Dodds has set
herself a goal to visit her son and
grandchildren in Otira.
“When I get my full licence
I’m going to pack up the cat and
the dog and drive to the West
Coast,” she said.
She is also inspiring other
Local
News
Now
The Star
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Fire rages, homes at risk
STUDY:
Esther Dodds
is working
towards
getting her
full New
Zealand
driver licence
so she won’t
need her
1960s version
any more.
PHOTO:
MARTIN
HUNTER
older people to get their learner
licences.
“If I can help other older people
get their licence, that would
be great. Hopefully, they’ll read
this and think, I’m going to go
and get the thing. Robyn told
me she’d heard from a 68-yearold
already. That made me so
happy.”
and more coming to
Ravenswood
Call us today!
Jenny or Jude – 03 375 0010