Outrageous 12 hour parking move highlights selfishness of some Aussies drivers

I wasn't sick before I visited my local hospital this week — but I was by the time I left. The selfishness of some people left a taste in my mouth so bitter no medicine could cure it.

And it all came down to the lack of fair and equitable sharing of free car parking spaces at the Northern Beaches Hospital.

My interest in this subject was piqued - or, more to the point, renewed - following a complaint by a fed-up carer.

They accused patients of parking their cars for up to 12 hours in the five-minute emergency drop-off zone near the front doors in a post in a local Facebook group.

As a result, others who wished to use the bay were forced into the seven-storey carpark where getting from your vehicle to the Emergency Department can turn a short walk into a painful shuffle.

It seems - if you believe the complaint - the cost of hospital parking could literally become a matter of life and death.

The unimpressed local wrote of their frustration on a community page saying: "It sucked for everyone else that was trying to drop off a sick passenger that was in need for emergency care (with) four other 'long stay' vehicles taking up all the other spots.

"If you can't safely walk 50 metres from the parking station, you probably shouldn't have driven there - consider an Uber or ambo next time.

"Might be time for a traffic management plan for the hospital - it ain't working."

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The post drew both condemnation and congratulations.

Some pointed out critics don't know what condition the driver was in when he/she pulled up and leaving your car more than five minutes is the least of your concerns if it's a genuine emergency.

Another said: "I’ve seen heaps of families or single car users with no problems and using it because they are lazy and don’t want to pay for parking."

Picking up family member sparks fury

I've been there, done that at this hospital when trying to pick up a family member following overnight surgery.

The only thing you pick up is a bad case of the s**ts going around and around and around waiting for a vacant spot to open up as selfish drivers go about their business inside.

So, it was time to dig a little deeper.

Is the system being rorted by the selfish or are there really that many people in need of urgent medical attention they drive straight to the hospital and take up one of these bays for hours after being rushed into Emergency?

Or perhaps it is another example of the cost-of-living squeeze where every dollar saved is so vital it's worth potentially putting others at risk?

Is the hospital parking lot too expensive for patients?

Healthscope, which owns and runs NBH, failed to respond to Yahoo News Australia's queries about the parking controversy, so I took it upon myself to check it out.

In the two hours I spent at NBH this week, the same five cars occupied the same five emergency bays the entire time I was there.

There was not a single driver to be seen.

That's despite it being clearly marked a drop-off zone only, with drivers warned "penalties may apply for unattended vehicles".

I asked a hospital worker if he's ever seen anyone fined for parking there and he looked at me like I'd just asked for a triple bypass, sans anaesthetic.

"Nah, mate. Who's here to book you? Anyway, the fine would probably be cheaper than paying for parking," he said.

Not quite.

The NBH's daily parking rate is $23.30, which is reasonable compared to the cost of a city hospital or the ransom money demanded at airports.

There is also some off-street parking nearby, although you'd be more likely to find a talking dog than a parking spot during peak time.

My conclusion?

Those cheating hospital parkers are in need of an operation to remove their swollen sense of self-entitlement and replace it with decency and honesty.

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