Damage to parked cars on pavements by prams without persecution?

[Heather021983]

I have 3 children, 1 at school and 2 who ride in a double buggy. I get fed up of people blocking paths so that I have to go on the roads its not like I have a pram that is any wider then a wheelchair either. Its horrendous on the way to and from school and just plain dangerous going into busy roads. Someone recently told me if a car is blocking s path and you damage it getting past they can't actually do anything as they are parked illegally - I'm wondering if this is the case, while I don't want to cause damage to someone's car, if there is a a chance I can squeeze through a space and be safer for my children without persecution I would give it a try! Does anyone know the truth to this?

I guess you mean prosecution. I don't think this is true, annoying as it is!

I’ve no idea but I’ve scratched cars parked on the pavement with my pushchair rather than going in the road.

It isn’t a criminal offence to park on the pavement unless there’s a local Traffic Regulation Order in force - but regardless, you would be just as guilty of criminal damage if you scratched a car with your pram as you would be if it was parked anywhere else. It might be inconvenient but there’s no current blanket ban because it’s been deemed safest to act on a street-by-street basis: in some cases local councils accept it as a way of preventing streets being blocked.

Tricky one depending on the side of the road. Are cars parked on the pavement so that there's more room on the road for fire trucks, ambulances etc? And depending on location, sometimes choice with parking is difficult. If you can avoid scratching a car, please do.

It is an offence to block the pavement and a penalty notice could be issued

Easier though to leave bird seed around the offending vehicle, that’s not illegal and will obviously attract birds...

You may find they park elsewhere

I would rather scratch a car than take my dd,s wheelchair in the road.

I would stay on the pavement and risk it.

No, this has no legal basis. You’d still be committing criminal damage. If there’s a TRO, they’d also be parked illegally - but those two things don’t affect each other, legally.

As a pedestrian, you have no insurance so they cannot claim insurance off you. The only thing they can do is report you (If they know who you are) . They could go to police but the police aren't gonna take too much notice. So all in all, I would. Highly unlikely to be repercussions.

What's that saying? Two wrongs don't make it right?

Today 20:54 coconut21

As a pedestrian, you have no insurance so they cannot claim insurance off you. The only thing they can do is report you (If they know who you are)

Just because someone doesn’t have insurance doesn’t mean they can’t be asked to pay for damage, but that doesn’t mean you’d have to roll over and pay up - you could go to court to have it decided whether your action of squeezing through a gap....

It’s not illegal to park on a pavement unless you are in London

Meant you had to pay up, as you could use in your defence that the car was obstructing the path and it made it difficult to pass

Careful OP. Some cars have motion sensitive dash cams that start recording when the car is bumped so if you scratch it they may catch you on camera.

It’s not illegal to park on a pavement unless you are in London

But it’s illegal to cause and obstruction

If they are causing an obstruction I would be tempted to take photos and send them to the local council so they can issue parking tickets. I’m sure that would eventually stop them. And not being able to get a buggy or wheelchair through is causing an obstruction.

Consider someone in a electric wheelchair attempting to get down a curb and potentially tipping themselves out of it.

It depends whether there are parking restrictions, if there are then it’s the local council, if not it’s the police, but depending on where you live will change the outcome

In the West Midlands the police give out prosecution notices but in Leicestershire this type of parking will result in no action

Whilst a person and buggy has to pass two cars on the road with lorries and other traffic

I don't know the law but when DD was in a buggy in some parts we spent more time walking on the road than the pavement I think. Bin day was the worst, bins taking up one half of the pavement and cars taking up the other half. It's terrible and I wish car drivers who did this got fined. Though I am very impressed with the bird seed idea.