A Winnipeg mother is urging the city to address signs after a car was towed from HSC Children's Hospital

A Winnipeg mother is calling for street parking in front of HSC Children's Hospital after her car was towed after taking her son to the hospital.

“It means I can park there for free after 5.30pm, that's what the sign means and it (another sign) means you can't park in front of it, there's nothing that says I can't park there because it's snowing. route,” Christy Diavol said.

“And then I was standing right here, right in the middle, in front of the kids, which was great because my daughter is young, so I was carrying her because she was too sick to walk.”

According to Health-links, Diavol took one of her sick children to HSC Children's Hospital at midnight in mid-March.

“The doctor sent him out and we came out here and at first all the cars there were gone. It's probably 3:30 in the morning, I've been working all day, my daughter has been sick for two days and I'm tired. I walked back into the hospital and asked one of the nurses, “Are the cars towed?” I said. and he said, “Maybe it's because it's a snow road,” explained the Devil.

Now, when you arrive at the Children's Clinic at HSC, there is parking right in front of the entrance. The sign closest to this entrance indicates that parking is possible here, but there is no sign indicating that it is a winter route.

“The last thing you want to do in an emergency situation like this is to pay close attention. My job as a parent was to take my child to the emergency room, of course, to take a quick look around, but I didn't see anything.”

In fact, just one, two, three signs later, in the opposite direction of the Children's Emergency Center, you will see signs telling motorists that this is a winter road.

The day Devil parked his car, he says it didn't snow.

Todd Dube of WiseUpWinnipeg, a group that advocates on behalf of motorists who they believe have been unfairly ticketed, says Winnipeg has one of the worst signed streets in the country.

“We've had a lot of calls about getting tickets or towings on snow roads. Winnipeg is constantly missing signs all over the city. Instead of fixing these areas, they're looking to enforce, what other city does that?” Dub asked.

In a statement to CityNews, the city said vehicles can be towed off the roads as long as the winter route is in effect. Additional city enforcement is through complaints, equipment operators, and generally non-enforced areas of the city.

CityNews also reached out to Tartan Towing but did not receive a response.

Although Diavol paid the ticket and the towing fee, he hopes the city will do a better job with the signs and that others will learn from his story.

“It's supposed to be right there, right in front of the emergency, so somebody's going to see it the minute they park up here or even park down there and don't see the snow road.”