Close call at car park

A TOOWOOMBA woman is urging drivers to show caution at shopping centre car parks, after her husband’s mobility scooter was clipped by a car as they prepared to reassemble it.

Mick Crompton, who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, and his wife Gwen had decided to head to Clifford Gardens Shopping Centre on Friday morning, taking Mr Crompton’s mobility scooter with them.

With all disabled parking occupied at the centre, Ms Crompton said the couple parked in a senior’s space and started to remove the scooter from the car.

“The car park beside us was vacant, so I thought I would put the (scooter’s) seat against the tire of our car so it wouldn’t stick out at the back,” Mrs Crompton said.

“I hardly had it down when this woman tore in – I waved my arms and she saw me, but didn’t care at all.”

The woman clipped the seat of the mobility scooter with her car as she pulled in, according to Mrs Crompton, causing the control panel on one of the arms to pop open.

“She came so close to us it was ridiculous – I said to her, ‘you didn’t slow down, you’ve broken this expensive scooter ,and my husband can’t get around without that’,” she said.

“She told me it wasn’t her problem and walked off.

“That upset me more than anything, she didn’t help, she didn’t say sorry and she didn’t move her car.”

Mrs Crompton said the couple has attempted to fix the scooter themselves but feared for its future function.

She now hopes others might show more awareness when parking.

“I’d definitely like to see more caution,” she said.

“The other problem is people parking in the disabled spots aren’t always disabled.

“It would be great to have a security guard of sorts outside in these areas.”