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!

No I wouldn't.

I park at work half on the pavement. If I didn't the buses wouldn't be able to get through. The car park has enough spaces for 8 cars but we have tons of staff and visitors. I don't really have a choice.

I manage to leave enough space for people to walk past. A blanket ban would be stupid.

Ah the good old there’s no bus that drops me at my work/house door wahhh.

Live rurally and semi rural all of my life as has dp, we have no car we both work full time (on mat leave at the mo incase anyone’s concerned) we’ve survived years with buses, sometimes more than one for a journey.. some that involve a short walk to our destination.. some that mean leaving early and waiting a bit at the other side. We have not perished or wilted from being out in the air too long buses vary between hourly and half hourly at rush hour times and ever two hours on Sundays, the only day we would be affected getting to work would be a Sunday morning but there is a longer alternative route but fortunately both our employers don’t need us to do Sunday mornings so no weird round trips.

They’re cutting bus services because people don’t use them simply put. Years ago our mums wouldn’t have run us here there and everywhere we got bus fare and sent off that was that no oh I’ll drop you here if x’s mum picks you up, cars were a luxury item not an essential.

This is the answer to cars who completely block a pavement:-

small towns are nothing like London (less people and less people/business/places to go per sqm). You would either have inadequate service (not enough routes/buses) or mostly empty buses

There is a 3rd way. Some places you have to phone before making your bus journey and then they will send the bus over when people want to use them.

Maybe after awhile when they have proper data over usage, they could have some set times for running the bus route (such as rush hour) and the rest of the time people would need to phone up to get the bus sent.

That way you could stop empty buses from running and reduce car usage.

@Lunafortheloveogod if I wanted to get public transport to work I would have to leave at 7pm the night before if I wanted to get home on time I'd need to leave work at 2pm - I don't think my boss would be especially happy with that one!

Sometimes when people say there is no public transport, they really do mean there is no public transport!

User149
That certainly isn’t the answer - it’s criminal damage

I park at work half on the pavement. If I didn't the buses wouldn't be able to get through. The car park has enough spaces for 8 cars but we have tons of staff and visitors. I don't really have a choice

On the assumption that you don't have a mobility issue, is there a reason why you couldn't park somewhere else and walk for 5-10 mins to your workplace? There is usually an alternative, it's just that people won't walk further.

Berlinbaby

Even people at my gym have to park as close as possible....the mind boggles 🤦‍♀️

DGRossetti
If there is to be a blanket ban, can it be on cars that blocked dropped kerbs. Not residential driveways, but the dropped kerbs that are essential to get a wheelchair across a road. If DW comes across one it can be a 500 metre wheel to the next one (it it's not blocked).

This 100%. I use a mobility scooter and having to turn back to find another dropped kerb gives me the rage.

I've decided to fight back. I'm currently in the process of writing some Post Its effectively explaining what impact their thoughtless parking has on people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters, asking politely for them not to do it again but if they do they may find my next note a little harder to remove. Not sure what I will do if I find the same car blocking the dropped kerb but I'll think of something - need some super sticky labels

A lot of the pavements round here have a grass verge next to the pavement which means it's possible to park without blocking it. I hate those who obviously have more cars than driveway space so the car is part driven in, leaving the rear end completely blocking the pavement. So inconsiderate.

I manage to leave enough space for people to walk past.

Does that mean there's enough room for a wheelchair or mobility scooter or double buggy can get past? If not you should not be parking there.

Even people at my gym have to park as close as possible

Yup - I've always found that absolutely hilarious. Always the same at my gym - all cars parked around the entrance and the rest of the car park empty. I think people just get into the mentality of having to park as close as possible and don't engage their brain.

User149

There are a couple of gym goers who do have blue badges, they use the pool & equipment to aid there mobility - there is also a lift to get upstairs to the gym

It also made me 🙄 when I was called lazy for not walking to the zebra, by someone sat in a car..

Yes it absolutely should be banned.

I had to help a woman in a wheelchair recently who was stuck due to very busy road and pavement parking leaving.

Totally selfish. If you can't park without blocking the pavement, park somewhere else.

I park at work half on the pavement. If I didn't the buses wouldn't be able to get through.

What would you do if they put double yellows on the road as it sounds a main road? Our local industrial estate has been completely "doubled yellowed" throughout as the amount of parking was blocking the roads for artic lorries etc. Everyone has managed to survive, i.e. parking further away and walking, or getting lifts, or using public transport. The World didn't end.

I stayed in an AirBNB house recently in a residential area of Bath. There were double yellows on one side of all the roads in that area - that meant people parked on one side only, so no need to park on the pavements and the buses/ambulances could get through. Seemed to work OK. People parked in their drives or parked further away from outside their house. So, it can happen - those houses weren't built with double yellows outside - they've been done because of congestion etc on a bus/ambulance route.

For anyone stating that parking on the pavement is fine if you leave enough room - I challenge you to use a wheelchair for the day and come back and let us know how you got on - any takers?

Yes. Vehicles have far too much priority over our road network and it leads to some breathtaking entitlement.

Also: next to every single dropped kerb, everywhere. Instant fine for a first offence, double it for the second, squash the car for a third.

The reason being, we need a clear rule that applies everywhere, no exceptions, no ‘oh but I’ve left enough room if you squint hard ’. Because there are thousands of lazy selfish fuckers who have their heads firmly up their own arses and don’t care about anyone else.

For all the instances where the pavement is wide enough to park on, and there is a need for the space, we should re-designate part of those so you are allowed to park within the designated area, but will get fined if you cross the line because you can’t drive well enough to stay in your area.

If we combined that with the police being able to accept time-stamped photos of offenders as evidence, and issue fines remotely, I reckon we’d have most of the problem licked within weeks.

I’ve been driving for twenty years without once having to park causing an obstruction. I can’t actually remember ever parking on a pavement but can’t be sure I’ve never done it. So it’s quite possible.

If we combined that with the police being able to accept time-stamped photos of offenders as evidence, and issue fines remotely

It would just be an extension of “operation snap” which already is used as evidence of motoring offensives via onboard cameras from bikes & cars

Even for the wide pavement she where people say there’s plenty of room for their car - you’re still driving into a pavement. Where people are walking. Or toddlers are running. Would be nice not to share the poor space pedestrians get with half a ton of metal suddenly zooming up beside me!

There’s a garage near me where a car transporter sometimes parks outside. Always very keen not to obstruct the traffic, does not give one shiny shit about obstructing the rest of us.

I’ve been driving for twenty years without once having to park causing an obstruction. I can’t actually remember ever parking on a pavement but can’t be sure I’ve never done it. So it’s quite possible.

Likewise. It drives me insane. I walk more miles than I drive, and it really annoys me when I have to walk into the road to get past a car that's fully blocking the pavement, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, i.e. where the road is plenty wide enough for them to park on the road itself. Some drivers are just so arrogant and self-centred that they clearly don't think about pavement users. I can honestly say I've never blocked a pavement when parking. I'll drive further away and park somewhere where I don't block a pavement and just walk back. It's not that hard. Car drivers have no better right to the pavement than pedestrians.

Also: next to every single dropped kerb, everywhere. Instant fine for a first offence, double it for the second, squash the car for a third.

Wow, the liberals really have taken over .

First offence, crush the car. Second offence, crush the driver.

There will be no third offences.

(Probably for the best ) but my personal view is that actions which are anti-social (don't get me started on littering and the disrepect it shows for the environment where I - and my family - have to live) need be be dealt with severely. After all someone who blocks a pavement isn't saying "fuck you" to one or two people. They are saying to an entire community. Moreover a community they probably don't even know.

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

...... and that without leaving enough of a gap ..... is the crux of the matter.
A blanket ban would be ridiculous. There are so many different situations - a national ban makes no sense. I personally think it is ridiculous to stop cars parking on really wide pavements, which leave plenty of room for a power wheelchair with a person walking alongside, when the road is narrow. I would hate to think of a fire engine not being able to get through when there is a perfectly safe and reasonable alternative.

Yes. People with wheelchairs, vision impairments and buggies trump cars.

No. There would be nowhere else to park. Its just rows and rows of terraced houses round here it just wouldn't work.

without leaving enough of a gap for a wheelchair to get through

Do you think anyone would be going to the trouble of suggesting passing a blanket-ban law if parkers did, in fact, leave enough of a gap?

This is a case of the idiots spoiling it for everyone. If you can't play nicely, you won't be allowed to play at all.

Having thought about this a bit more

There should be more one way streets and roads where parking is only allowed on one side if the area has narrow streets to make pavements safer for vulnerable pedestrians but also drivable for emergency vehicles.

I have a garage but it's not big enough for anything bigger than a Smart car. The house is only 20 years old so it should be no shock to the developers that the average car (say a Ford Focus) should fit.

Yes. There is no consideration of others with this pushchairs/wheelchairs and those with assistance dogs and sticks find this incredibly difficult to navigate. All because people want to park closer to their destination.