Mother hit with $140 parking fine after her teenage daughter, 13, fractured her foot and waited four hours in hospital
A mother-of-four has been left frustrated after she was issued a parking fine following a trip to hospital because her teenage daughter had fractured her foot.
Bridget Shadforth, 47, took her then-13-year-old daughter to Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital on March 23 after she realised an injury was more serious than it initially appeared.
‘It wasn’t a sporting injury or anything like that. She was simply cleaning her room and tripped over herself,’ she told the Daily Mail.
They thought the injury might be a sprain but, when it didn’t improve, Ms Shadforth took her daughter to the emergency department.
‘It was clear something was wrong,’ she said.
‘She wasn’t weight bearing and I needed to park as close as possible to the hospital.
‘Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital does have a big free car park but it is not next to the hospital, it’s still a little bit of a walk and it’s a multi-level car park.
‘I had to get her from where I left the car to the emergency department… and I didn’t want to leave her on her own at the front of the hospital while I went to a larger car park.’
Bridget Shadforth took her then-13-year-old daughter (pictured) to Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital on March 23 after she fractured her foot
Ms Shadforth received a $140 fine after she parked in a two-hour zone but stayed in the spot for four hours while she remained by her daughter’s side in the emergency department
The mother took her daughter to hospital after the teenager tripped while cleaning her room
Ms Shadforth said she found a spot close to the hospital’s emergency department but it was a two-hour zone.
‘I had intended on moving the car, of course, but then I felt like I couldn’t leave her,’ she said.
The mother said the emergency department was busy so she and her daughter had to share a ward with a man and, while staff were present, she did not want to leave the teenager’s side.
‘I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving her in a room with an older man to go and move the car,’ she said.
Ms Shadforth told the Daily Mail the distance between the free parking and hospital was ‘frustrating’.
‘I don’t know when the new hospital fully opens and how that will impact everything. It might be different,’ she added.
After four hours, Ms Shadforth returned to her car where she found a parking ticket notifying her that she had overstayed the permitted period.
She said she paid the fine but considered trying to get it waived before ‘life got in the way’.
Ms Shadforth said the fine was frustrating as the free hospital parking was too far for her daughter to walk while she had a fractured foot
A spokesperson for the council said time limits are aimed at ensuring a turnover of parking spots for those who need them
Speaking to 7News about the incident, she said two-hour parking limits near a hospital entrance are ‘ridiculous’.
‘People are parking there because they’ve got a need to. They’re not going to the hospital for fun,’ she said.
‘If you’re in a situation where you’ve got somebody who is immobile or struggling, and they just need to get inside, maybe just remove the times from those parking areas so that, if somebody does end up staying there, you don’t have to stress that you’re going to get that parking ticket.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Shoalhaven Memorial Hospital and Shoalhaven City Council for comment regarding parking arrangements.
A spokesperson for the council told 7News time limits are aimed at ensuring a turnover of parking spots for those who need them.
The time limits were designed to encourage turnover and ensure parking spaces were available for other people who needed them.
‘These limits ensure there is frequent turnover of parking and that hospital visitors, patients and carers are able to access parking spaces throughout the day,’ they said.
They pointed to free parking at the hospital’s multi-storey carpark, at the Grand Pacific Health Centre and at Nowra Showground.
Drivers can appeal parking infringement notices with Revenue NSW.
