'It's predatory,' cries mom towed from ER while bringing in daughter who's 'too sick to walk' – the sign was hidden | 38694W5 | 2024-04-22 12:08:01
MOMENTS after a mother's daughter was discharged from an emergency room, the family found out their car had been towed.
Parking enforcement snatched a vehicle while the family was in the hospital, even though the mother complained warning signs weren't clearly marked in the area.
"The doctor let her go, we came out here, and all of the cars originally there were gone," Kristi Diawol, a Winnipeg, Canada mother, said to City News Winnipeg.
Diawol said she brought her daughter to the emergency room after she had been sick for two days.
A spare street-side parking space appeared close to the emergency room door, she said.
"It was perfect because my daughter is young so I was able to carry her in because she was too sick to walk," Diawol said.
"In an emergency situation like this, the last thing that you are doing is paying extremely close attention."
She said she looked at the signs directly next to the street-side space.
A sign stated that there was no parking before 5:30 pm. She thought that meant the space was available to use.
However, a pole several dozen feet behind the parking area said the spot was in a snow plow hazard zone.
Even though it didn't snow during Diawol's March hospital visit, the city towed her vehicle.
"If there was snow on the road and you had to move my vehicle because you needed to make the road safe, that's one thing, give me a ticket and tow me," she said.
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> Local parking advocacy groups told the station they have been complaining to the city about parking enforcement in the area.
"This is predatory enforcement," Todd Dube, the co-founder of motorist advocacy group Wise Up Winnipeg, told the station.
"If it's not absolutely clear what you are in violation of, how can you be accused of breaking it."
However, the city said it has the right to tow a vehicle if it is improperly parked.
Winnipeg officials said it tows vehicles parked in areas that show "habitual non-compliance."
<p class="article__content--intro"> Wrongfully or not, retrieving a towed vehicle can be a hassle. </p> </div> </div> The city also said parking enforcement is driven by complaints and towing operators.
Diawol said she paid the fee for her parking ticket.
Still, the mother said it is irresponsible to heavily monitor drivers parked outside of a hospital emergency room.
"My job as a parent was to get my child to the emergency room," she said.
"I didn't see anything."
More >> https://ift.tt/6btwIK4 Source: MAG NEWS
