Pavement parking Ban.

[itsallthedramaMickiloveit]

How would you be affected if there was a blanket ban on all pavement parking.

I'm not just talking about the inability to get a pram or wheelchair passed but a complete ban on any car on the pavement at all.

It wouldn't work here at all.

The council have painted parking bays on the pavements, because the roads are extremely narrow.

whinging that your local council failed to plan for your car ownership when your house was built in 1870 is a bit bloody stupid.

The problem is there isn't enough parking on houses built in 2017 either. Parking eats into housebuilders profits for a start. And for a finish it's been a matter of policy for years not to encourage private motoring.

DW is partially sighted and uses a wheelchair.

Yes I would support pavement parking ban

If there are pavements that are too wide with roads that are too narrow then surely the local council could act to rectify and alter the pavements

Yes it will cost money but forcing disabled people, prams and the vulnerable into roads is dangerous

People need cars to drive to work for example

I very much doubt that everybody parking their car on the pavement needs their car for work. If they do, they’ll just have to get used to parking it somewhere else, leaving street parking for people who actually need it, e.g. blue badge holders.

The problem is there isn't enough parking on houses built in 2017 either

That’s easy to deal with. Don’t buy a house if you have more cars than the house can accommodate. Who buys a house and thinks, well, it’s only got parking for one car but never mind, I’ll just park the other two cars on the pavement instead and sod the pedestrians? I don’t care to pander to people like that. Not if I’m having to push a double buggy into the road, where drivers can’t see me properly for selfishly-parked cars.

And there needs to be a ban on parking on grass verges too - people here tend to do it where the road is wide enough to permit parking with no problems, but drivers seem to think their precious cars need to be on the grass. The verges are churned up mud now, and the daffodils planted there are ruined

If the pavement is truly wide enough for cars, it can easily be painted to allow parking and pedestrian access.

That’s easy to deal with. Don’t buy a house if you have more cars than the house can accommodate.

But what if you have one car, buy a house with enough parking for one car (lucky you) and then get another car ?

Don’t get another car?

If they do, they’ll just have to get used to parking it somewhere else, leaving street parking for people who actually need it.

The trouble is if you don't live in such an area where there is literally no where else to park im sure its hard to comprehend but around here there honestly is no other choice. It's not a case of parking further away and walking people would do that if it was possible but it really truly isnt and like i said previously most of area I live in is like this.

Whilst its obvious that pedestrians have priority situations like bin day do cause problems. We can all be cosiderate in how we put them out but we cannot predict how they will be put back. As frustrating as it must be I cannot see any how this would be implemented where I live.

im sure its hard to comprehend

This is what I love about Mumsnet. Disagree with somebody and it’s only a matter of time before they tell you that you are stupid.

Wouldn't work here - none of the streets are wide enough to have cars parked completely on the road.

But when I've said that before on threads like this I've been told to do one of the following:

• buy a house with a garage or off-road parking
• move elsewhere
• get rid of the car if you have nowhere to park it
• park in the nearest street and walk, ignoring the fact that that's in the next town over and about seven miles away 🙄😂

It isn’t hard to comprehend, by the way. Do you mean that there is ‘literally no where else to park’ within two minutes’ walk? I find it very difficult to believe that there is absolutely nowhere. Do you think that your right to park your car next to your house, blocking the pavement, is more important than the rights of pedestrians to use the pavement?

Don’t get another car?

Now (maybe it's an age thing) I'm quite comfortable with the idea that car purchases should be linked to proof that you have a safe and legal parking space as a "home" for the car. No proof. No car. But there really is no need for anyone to even stop reading and start posting their furious "it's all about me" rebuttal as to why it's a stupid idea and will never work, (since I've just said it's a stupid idea and will never work).

(I'm also quite comfortable that anyone found using a mobile phone when driving should have either the phone or the car crushed. But again, no one needs to stop typing )

However, returning to the discussion in hand, I would suggest that there is an element of some of us effectively subsidising peoples parking by allowing them to use the pavements with the associated damages - both physical and social. But as long as we insist that people have to commute and spread our daily lives over the areas of small (or large) towns, it's hard to know what the solution is.

Maybe this recent virus buzz could see some changes ?

It's also difficult when you have adult children who still live at home and you get 4 cars. Few houses are going to have off road parking for 4 cars and if all the adults work in different places and need their cars to get to work you need 4 cars. The days of all people being able to find work locally are over.

Disagree with somebody and it’s only a matter of time before they tell you that you are stupid.

I wasnt saying anyone was stupid but those saying park further away probably live somewhere where that is possible. For the vast majority of those who live where I do this is simply not a possibility unless they park in the next town over and walk.

I was merely saying it would seem a logical soloution to someone who lived somewhere where this was possible and it could be hard to imagine an area where this would not work no matter how many times someone suggested it.

What, Coronavirus leading to employers decentralising away from city centres and those awful business parks that are poorly served by public transport? If only!

It's also difficult when you have adult children who still live at home and you get 4 cars.

House across the road has 2 people living in it, with 4 cars and a van. 3 go on the drive (just) and 2 end up parked on various stretches of pavement. It gets worse when their son visits - that's 6 cars ...

Do you mean that there is ‘literally no where else to park’ within two minutes’ walk? I find it very difficult to believe that there is absolutely nowhere

I mean that all the streets where I live are the same. I'm not sure whats hard to believe about that. People on my street could park 2 minuets away but the streets are the same as ours, they all have the same problem.

Everyone who doesn't have a drive or garage in my area has to park with one set of wheels on the pavement.

It would make my life much easier. See also, people who drive then reverse along the pavement because they can't park in front gardens competently.
I'd also like landowners to be obliged to clip their hedges back to the boundary rather than blocking half the footpath.

Do you mean that there is ‘literally no where else to park’ within two minutes’ walk? I find it very difficult to believe that there is absolutely nowhere

If you take that every house in the road is in the same situation (say has 2 cars, but only space for one to park) then you are going to have an entire road that is lined with cars. If there is no parking on that stretch of road, you either have to find one on the next road (which may have the same problem) or get to the nearest off-road car park. Which could be a few miles easily.

Few houses are going to have off road parking for 4 cars and if all the adults work in different places and need their cars to get to work you need 4 cars. The days of all people being able to find work locally are over.

So the rights of the four people who need (or say that they need!) cars to get to work trumps everybody else’s right to use the pavement? I’m not convinced, I’m afraid.

I’ve worked with a great many people who claim to ‘need’ a car for work. In reality, it was an excuse because:

• they don’t like buses (“peasant wagons”)
• they don’t like being near other people on public transport.
• they can’t fit on a train seat.
• they have a parking space and are determined to use it, even if driving took much longer than public transport.
• they liked smoking in the car.
• they had bought a car and by god they were going to get their money’s worth. No way would they pay for public transport on top.
• they didn’t want to get rained on, on a platform, in case their hair went frizzy.
• their wife had a car and worked in the same town but they weren’t prepared to wait 30 minutes for the wife to finish work so that they could travel together in one car.

These were all able bodied people.

I hadnt given this any thought until mum became ill and I had to take her out in a wheelchair
It was very difficult and dangerous to have to navigate the heavy wheelchair on to the road and then back up to the pavement where there was no ramp to help me do so because someone had parked their car on the pavement blocking access

You'd need regularly spaced multi stories in some areas. That would be a major town planning construction project. You'd have to consider compulsory purchasing and demolishing some houses to fit them. It's not going to happen any time soon is it?

@Iamthewombat my husband works antisocial hours. There is no public transport on when he finishes work.

What about the many people who work in industries like him?

Or that there isn't a bus route that goes past their workplace?