Would you like a ban on cars parking on pavements?

[StarsBright]

‘MPs call for blanket ban on car parking on pavements.’

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/car-parking-pavement-ban-britain-uk-government-a9096991.html

Having needed to use a wheelchair recently I’d really like to see a change in this behaviour. It makes it difficult to get around when cars park on the pavement without leaving enough of a gap for a wheelchair to get through. It’s also frustrating and dangerous for those with prams, the partially sighted and pedestrians.

I do understand that it’s not an easy issue to solve and some roads are very narrow, however there has already a ban in place in London for decades.

I’d be interested to hear thoughts on this!

Yes. I have a double pram which is the same width of a wheelchair. I often have to push the pram onto the road to get round cars parked on the pavement. Inconvenient and annoying for me but I really feel for wheelchair users in this situation who would have to go back and find a dropped kerb to be able to get around the car.

There doesn't need to be a compromise... there needs to be parking solutions and for people to keep their cars off pedestrian areas!!

Why should pedestrians have difficulty accessing pavements because there isn't enough parking.

I live on what was the largest council estate of it's time. It was built before everyone had at least one car. Most front gardens are too small for parking, hardly any houses have a garage. The roads are too narrow for cars to park on both sides. There is nowhere else to park. No choice but half on half off parking.

I thought it was banned? I haven’t seen it for years. Only it certain instances where there are specific road markings have I seen it in, ooh, 20 years? More?

(I’m in London, is it banned in London?)

Parking is a very important issue because (I read recently) cars spend most of their time parked but poor parking causes the most congestion. Or something like that.

Either it has to be managed on a local basis, or local Councils need the option to permit parking on designated roads (using white lines, road signs etc). In the burbs where I live, the pavements are wide enough for our SUV to be fully parked on the pavement, a double buggy to go past, and still have plenty of room to spare. Yet the road itself is narrow.

Pavements are not designed to carry cars and lorries.

Roads were not designed to be used as car parks.

You would have to widen the roads and move the pavements into peoples front gardens to solve the problem discussed.

No, it wouldn't work here.

You have to park half on the pavement or the emergency services, bin lorries and wagons cannot get along the road.

It's an old mining town with terraced housing and very very little off-road parking. The same as thousands of others all over the country.

The pavements are still wide enough for prams and wheelchairs.

Wheelchair user here. I cheered when I read this.

Wouldn't work where I live. Roads are too narrow and there's no drives. The pavement is very wide so it doesn't obstruct anyone.

Hmm, I think sometimes it is necessary to park slightly on the pavement. We live in an incredibly narrow street so without pavement parkers, people would have an issue driving down the street. Having said that, I detest people who park almost fully on the pavement. That is selfish and dangerous, I have had to walk in the road with my baby in the pram before because of this.

@CassianAndor Yes, it’s been banned in London since the ‘70s! But I think there are exceptions on some roads.

I’m not in London and I see it regularly, unfortunately. I don’t mind when there is ample room to get the wheelchair through, but sometimes there isn’t even enough room for a pedestrian to squeeze by.

I can see that it’s a complicated issue though and there’s no real solution at the moment.

yes its my pet hate ! the entire school run has to be spent walking down busy roads because the pavement is unusable due to cars parked on it because people are too lazy to park in a car park a few minutes walk from the school and just walk a few extra steps !

I live on a narrow cul-de-sac with two decent pavements. If you don't park on the pavement, the obstructed vehicles have to drive on the pavements to pass or be trapped up the road end. It's particularly problematic for larger delivery vehicles that couldn't fit on the driveways anyway.

In some areas, there isn't much way to avoid the reality that parking vehicles will cause some degree of obstruction. Blocking up the road or pavement is not a good thing, and half-on/ off tends to be the least disruprive practical solution. It's parking in an obstructive way that needs managing.

There was a recent case in a local town where the fire brigade struggled to access an incident due to double parking not allowing sufficient width for their applience.

You are all missing the point.

Pavements are not designed to carry vehicle loads.

Where I live, the roads are quite narrow, and the houses don't all have driveways - so what are you supposed to do then? I think so long as you leave plenty of room, having a tyre up isn't much of an issue most of the time, and helps to make sure at least an emergency vehicle could get through.

Around here the biggest offenders are people who live in 'nice' houses with drives. They stick the car half on the pavement because they can't be bothered to park properly and don't care about people walking because they never walk anywhere.
I don't mind wheels on the pavement but when they are half on it is difficult to get ds's buggy or wheelchair through and I can't stop him kicking or banging on cars as we are forced to pass close to them. Alternatively I walk in the middle of the road slowly.

Parking is a very important issue because (I read recently) cars spend most of their time parked

One reason why I suspect autonomous cars - when they are introduced - will end up carrying more people than the "owner".

Where I live, the roads are quite narrow, and the houses don't all have driveways - so what are you supposed to do then?

If you wanted to solve the housing "crisis" at a stroke you ban parking there and build houses with decent parking.

However since the trend over the past 30 years has been to built houses with all parking, I can't see that happening.

The biggest problem near us are the families with unneeded multiple cars. Our neighbour likes to do a double whammy. He parks one of his 6 vehicles on the pavement when we have infirm pensioners in the area and makes the access too thin for emergency vehicles. He and his wife call ahead to manoeuvre cars in order to ensure they always keep it.

So no people don’t use common sense, a law is needed and extra tax on multiple ownership.

We have a big issue with white vans and camper vans too.

Yes, I absolutely would. It's a pet hate of mine. They do it everywhere around here, on my road the gap is often just enough to squeeze through with the buggy (sometimes not), a wheelchair or mobility scooter would have no chance.

As pp said, it's multiple car ownership that causes it a lot of the time. Most houses on my road have off road parking for at least 1 car. I live in an area where public transport is ok too - I don't drive for medical reasons so am a regular user- I think a lot of people are just lazy.

Depends on the street, banning pavement parking could solve access for one group and essentially make others housebound because the road becomes too narrow to park on. My road has really wide pavements so you can park two cars side by side (if you want) but it's a fast arterial route, no parking on the road

Ps the wheely bins are a bigger issue as the narrow Victorian terraces have no front gardens and no rear access. Public transport is rubbish here so cars are pretty much essential

Pavements are not designed to carry vehicle loads

And most roads aren't designed to cope with the current number of cars that use them.

I'd rather people parked on the pavement than blocked the road for the emergency services. The infrastructure in place in huge parts of the country is old and outdated and simply not designed to cope with every household having at least one car, if not two. In particular, rural towns with no bus or train service often have two adults with vehicles as they both commute long distances to their jobs - you can't just work locally anymore.

Our town was designed for when people walked up the hill to work and walked back home again via the pub! Nowadays there simply aren't enough jobs (nor is there any public transport) so you drive to the nearest town which is nearly 30 miles away, or into the national park which again is 20 miles away but in the opposite direction.

Until the roads and infrastructure is improved, people are going to drive and they need to park their cars somewhere!