Footpath or free parking? Some drivers don't seem to know the difference.
But despite being against the law, Hamilton man Liam Carter reckons people "know that they can get away with it" because "they know that they're not gonna get fined".
The 16-year-old has started a petition lobbying the government and councils to ensure footpaths and cycleways are clear and accessible for everyone.
People who have signed the petition have described how they've had several near misses when forced to walk on the road "by drivers who think they have the right to park wherever they like, regardless of others' safety".
Figures released to Fair Go have revealed where in the country fines are being enforced and where they're not.
The programme approached 10 councils across New Zealand asking how many fines they've issued for parking on footpaths each year, over the past five years.
Hamilton City Council had one of the lowest rates of enforcement, with 175 fines issued on average each year, compared to its population of nearly 180,000.
Per capita, that's one in every 1000 people getting a ticket under their wipers.
In Wellington, a person would be eight times more likely to be fined.
Averaging 1688 fines, the number shot up by 370 in the year just been, after the city tightened up enforcement to make it a more accessible place.
In Auckland City, just five in every 1000 people were fined in the past year.
Auckland Transport only provided a complete set of data for the year 2022.
It told Fair Go the rest is stored in a way that would require staff to manually check each parking infringement for its type.
New Plymouth District Council has seen a spike in enforcement.
In the past year, there were 989 fines — that's a jump of more than 800 compared to five years ago.
The council says it's in response to calls from the community for greater monitoring of hot spots.
Hamilton City Council's infrastructure operations general manager Eeva-Liisa Wright told Fair Go the infringement data "tells one story, but we offer education as our first response".
"We do talk to people and instead of issuing a fine, often we issue a warning to say 'look, this is not okay, next time this warning will possibly be an infringement notice'.
"We can always improve and we do have our challenges around that. Resourcing is a big challenge for us, so we only have a certain number of people who can enforce our city of 180,000 people, we can't be everywhere."
Currently the fee for parking a vehicle on a footpath is $40.
The penalty is much higher in various parts of Australia, including New South Wales, where drivers are fined nearly $300.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport expects work on various parking offences and penalties to be progressed either later this year or in early 2024.
This should include the infringement fee for parking on footpaths.
Regulatory policy manager Megan Moffet said while fees and fines play a part in deterring behaviour, "enforcement is also very important".
"It is ultimately up to councils to determine the most effective approach for enforcement for their regions."
This story is part of the Fair Go campaign LIMITLESS, shining a spotlight on accessibility issues in New Zealand.
Previously the programme reported on accessible venues and accessible playgrounds.
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