To the Lady I Had an Argument with Yesterday at Sylvia Park:

I'm sorry I raised my voice, and I'm sorry I lapsed into the vernacular, but I have already been inconvenienced by a do-gooder such as yourself who had preconceived ideas about disabled people.

My wife has one leg - I showed that to you yesterday. My wife also has a disability parking permit - specifically BECAUSE she has one leg.

We bought our beautiful Toyata Hilux in 2009 (which we nicknamed "Big Red") BECAUSE my wife has one leg. We tried the Hiace van, but it was too high for her to be able to hoist herself into. We had previously owned a Camry station wagon, but when transferring from the car to the wheelchair, she has to slide uphill, as it is too low.

Big Red has smaller wheels than the standard Hilux. This makes the seat hight about 5 cm higher than the wheelchair, and turns out to be a workable compromise for transfering.

The large load tray at the back means I can easily fold the wheelchair and store it in the back.

Unfortunately, in 2009, there was no automatic model available with the smaller wheels, so my wife does not drive Big Red.

She also doesn't drive a taxi, her work van or my father-in-law's Honda CRV. She is often a passenger in all of them, and they all park in disabled bays, BECAUSE she has one leg.

Disabled bays are wider than normal bays to allow wheelchair access, and have ramps to easily get onto the pavement.

About 10 years ago, somebody reported me to the Botany Downs parking attendant for parking in a disabled bay. I was fetching my wife from the hairdressers, and had been seen walking away from the empty car. When I fetched my wife, we went for lunch, and so when we returned to car park, enough time had elapsed for the parking attendant to clamp our car.

Since I had rather foolishly forgotten to put the parking permit in the window, I was technically in violation DESPITE my wife having only one leg. I had to pay $50 on the spot to get the clamp removed.

What if a do-gooder reported me, and as a result my car was towed? How would I get my wife home - it would be difficult, BECAUSE she has one leg.

I appreciate that there are people who use their relatives' parking permits illegally, but I do it BECAUSE she has one leg.

Disabled people may drive, or be driven in, any vehicle they wish - a Ferrari, a Rolls Royce, and yes, even a Toyota Hilux.

Particularly a wheelchair-friendly, low slung, comfortable, dependable Toyata Hilux.

Finally, for anyone who wants to question how a disabled lady can afford such an "inappropriate" vehicle, I would like to point out that there was no taxpayer's money spent, and she's not a leech on society. My wife is a qualified Accountant. My wife earns good money, for hard work, as do I, AND she has only one leg.