New device busts drivers who steal disabled parking bays

Motorists abusing disabled parking bays - be warned!

A Port Elizabeth innovator has come up with a unique system that will put a stop to motorists using parking spaces reserved for disabled persons.

If the system proves successful during its pilot phase‚ Q Systems SA owner Heinrich Williams hopes it will become standard practice all over the country.

The system‚ called QPark‚ took Williams nearly four years to complete and offers two options to protect disabled people’s parking rights.

The first option entails a traffic light that turns yellow when a vehicle pulls into the space. The user has a short time to log into the QPark smartphone app. If the motorist is not a registered user‚ a siren will sound.

Another system is a foot-high barrier in the parking space‚ which can be lowered only by using the app.

The app would also allow visitors who are unfamiliar with a city to find a map of available parking spaces reserved for them.

Williams said disabled people will be registered on the app with the help of the Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities’ database.