Most drivers have experienced the frustration of being unable to find a parking spot. For those who are disabled, the experience can be even more frustrating -- especially when people who aren't disabled park illegally in reserved spots.
"I think people go, 'I'll only be a minute, or it's raining and I just need to pop in for a second.' Well, while you're popping in, I'm sitting in the rain," said Katherine Kilcullen, a disabled driver.
Kilcullen suffers from lupus and needs a wheelchair to get around. She says getting ready to get into her car is a time-consuming process.
"I need to do a back brace, shoulder brace, and clothes on top of that. It takes about 90 minutes to get ready to go anywhere," she said.
Kilcullen said she's noticed that people don't respect reserved spots -- or the space around the spots.
"People will take that little zone as, 'Oh, I can fit in there,' and they squeeze their car in. (...) then you can't get back into your vehicle until they leave," Kilcullen said.
From time to time, Andrew Wassef encounters the same problem as Kilcullen. Wassef's father is wheelchair bound, and he takes him out at least three times a week.
"Sometimes some people park illegally in those spots and leave their cars to wait for somebody," Wassef said.
An experiment
CTV News decided to put Montrealers to the test by staking out some spots in the downtown area.
On Your Side reporter Tania Krywiak found a number of drivers who were illegally parked.
When one man was asked if he had a permit to park in a reserved spot, he replied: "No, I'm waiting for somebody."
Another driver responded: "No, I guess I'd better move."
One person admitted they knew they were doing something wrong, but added "I wasn't too far away from car."
Yet another driver parked her car in a reserved spot, put on her hazard lights, and left the car there for 15 minutes.
"I was just going to be five seconds," she told CTV News, after returning to her car.
For people like Kilcullen and Wassef, any time parked illegally in a reserved spot is unacceptable.
"Please respect them. They're there for a reason. You're helping somebody," Kilcullen said.
