“I’ll be in and out – it’ll take less than five minutes.”
“Who will notice?”
“Why do they need so many spaces anyway?”
To some drivers, a few moments blocking a curb cut or taking an accessible parking space to do a quick errand does not seem like a big deal. However, when multiple people take “just” a few minutes, the time adds up, and those who have a true need are deprived of their rights.
“I do not believe most able-bodied people park in these spots out of malice or entitlement,” said Jack Lovett, co-chairman of Newton’s Commission on Disability (COD). “What many offenders may not realize is that a quick convenience for them is taking away a spot necessary for a disabled person to safely access an establishment or cross a street.”
“Everyone thinks, ‘I’m in there for five minutes, what harm am I doing,’” said Capt. Daniel Devine, Commander of the Newton Police Department’s Traffic Bureau, during a recent interview. “I find it morally offensive.”
At every monthly meeting of the COD, the Police provide a snapshot of the most recent number of violations in the city involing accessible-parking spaces and curb-cuts. The statistics are further broken down by how many tickets have been issued, how much money in fines has been collected, how many tickets have been contested, and more.
In general, except during the Covid pandemic, when incidents decreased, the number of parking-space violations has remained steady.
“We don’t see a slowdown in the number of tickets month to month to month,” said Jini Fairley, Newton’s ADA/504 (Americans with Disabilities Act) coordinator, told Fig City News.
While the problem is nothing new, Devine identified a newer crop of offenders: Food-delivery drivers for companies like Uber Eats and DoorDash. He said that hot spots for violations tend to be at popular in-and-out restaurants or anywhere with limited parking, including Sweetgreen in Chestnut Hill, Dave’s Hot Chicken on Needham Street, and Starbucks on Rte. 16, to name just a few.
“We can ticket there [at Starbucks] all night long,” said Devine.
Police and City officials continue to address the issue by raising awareness generally and through targeted enforcement efforts like “Operation Access” at Christmas, when parking lots can be particularly busy. During those times, a driver can choose to park legally or risk being issued a hefty fine.
“I don’t think the community at large is getting the message until they get a $200 ticket,” said Fairley.
When asked what he thought would stop drivers from parking where they should not or blocking curb cuts, Devine said, “I think just heavy enforcement.”
“We definitely need to do an awareness campaign, especially for Newton parents and caregivers, since it is very, very common for this group of people to park illegally in accessible spaces while dropping off their students at our schools,” said Ima Jonsdottir, COD co-chairwoman. “I happen to need those spaces when I drop my son off at school, and the number of times I hear, ‘Oh, I was only going to be here for a short amount of time,’ has become very, very old.”
Putting fines to good use
In an ideal world, nobody would violate accessible-parking-space and curb-cut laws. Until then, the money from paid fines (some are contested, and others go unpaid) goes to funding COD projects and programs.
According to state law, fines are collected each fiscal year and given to the COD “to be used solely for the benefit of people with disabilities.”
Fairley said the balance in the account has increased every year.
“Last year, the COD spent fines funds on disability awareness programs – our Disability Pride event in July 2024 and our film screening of ‘The Ride Ahead’ in December 2024 … and on the Newton Police Department’s Operation Access,” said Lovett. “This year, the COD has discussed using fine funds to purchase recreational wheelchairs for the Gath Pool, to provide supplemental funding for accessibility infrastructure projects, and to fund further disability awareness events.”
“In 2023, the COD helped the Williams Elementary School fund playground equipment needed for their disabled students, [including] adaptive swing seats, wheelchair accessible picnic tables, and an adjustable basketball hoop,” said Jonsdottir. “We also used the fines funds to have the Me2 Orchestra give a concert in the auditorium at Newton North in May of 2023 in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.”
Pre- and post-Covid numbers
The City will not see every dollar from all the accessible-parking and curb-cut tickets issued by Police because some will be challenged and dismissed and some of the fines are never paid.
In fiscal 2018, if all the fines from the 602 accessible-parking and curb-cut tickets issued had been collected – including those that were successfully contested and those that were never paid, $122,000 would have gone to the COD’s account. The actual amount paid was only $63,480 because $46,750 of fines were successfully appealed and the rest remain outstanding.
In fiscal 2019, if the fines from all 431 tickets had been paid and collected, the COD’s account would have grown by $92,700 but the actual amount paid was $46,700 due to successful appeals totaling $32,535 and the rest remaining outstanding.
After Covid, in fiscal 2024, the 504 tickets written totaled $100,800 and the actual amount paid was only $29,800 due to $24,000 in successful appeals and a large balance remaining outstanding.
The share of ticket value that was successfully appealed declined from 38% in 2018 to 24% in 2024.
When examining the number of tickets issued only for accessible-parking-space violations (not including curb-cut violations), there was a decrease from fiscal 2018 to 2019 (457 to 287), and the number returned to 445 in 2024.
There was better news when it came to curb-cut violations. While police wrote up 145 tickets in fiscal 2018 and 144 in fiscal 2019, the number fell in fiscal 2024 to 59.
Fairley praises Police efforts to target those unwilling to follow accessible parking and curb-cut laws, saying she continues to hope for more community awareness and empathy from drivers.
“We want to educate … and hopefully let people know how important accessible parking is for the people who need it,” she said.
