To think pavement parking should be banned

[HoustonBess]

There's a government inquiry into pavement parking, you can submit comments here

www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/transport-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/pavement-parking-17-19/

I absolutely hate pavement parking - it's someone thinking their car not being scratched is more important than me and DD's lives. I live in an area of terraced streets and especially on bin days, you basically can't go out with a pram because it's so bad.

Anyone else want to comment for the inquiry? Maybe mumsnet could submit something on behalf of lots of people?

People saying there is nothing in place for me to have my multiple car household so I should be able to park on the footway. Guess what there is something in place for pedestrians its called a footway but can't be used for what they are meant for because of selfish actions by vehicle owners who think their needs outweigh those of pedestrians so they can use something they aren't really supposed to for their own convenience.

That is exactly what using public transport does. It's a simple case of supply and demand. The more people who use public transport the cheaper and more reliable it will become.
Sorry but you are talking rubbish. I live in a London borough. The buses are always busy. Tubes are usually very busy, if not packed like sardines. They are never empty.

But the buses don't necessarily go where you need to go. Even a fairly short distance necessitates changing buses or going in the opposite direction in order to get your connection.

And it is expensive and that is with a subsidy. We are very lucky but it is still too expensive for a lot of people.

Buses for example are a flat fare. So I could go from the start of the route to the end on 1 bus for 1 fare - about £2.50 I think for say a 10 mile journey.

On the other hand I might need to travel somewhere else 5 miles away that I might need to catch 2 buses to so that would be £5.

If you are only earning £8/hour in a part time job you might pay half your wages in fares.

CocoCharlie83 I have never heard anyone call it a footway, it's even called a pavement in the Highway Code. Stop trying to change words to support your point.

Since I started reading this thread yesterday I've seen a postman pushing a cart thing, a guy on mobility scooter and a woman and child walking on either side of bicycle.....walking along the pavement alongside the row of cars parked two wheels up.

Some places parking on the pavement is dickish. Some places it's a) fine and b) the only option. A blanket ban is daft.

The more people who use public transport the cheaper and more reliable it will become.

Yeh cos those packed commuter trains going in to London are just getting cheaper and cheaper. Oh. Wait.

The more people who use public transport the cheaper and more reliable it will become.

But people aren't going to use it if it doesn't go where they need it to, when they need it to. There's no point telling me to use the trains more - I can't because they don't get me to work on time. They're as much use as a chocolate teapot.

You can't tell people to catch the train or get the bus when the services they need don't exist.

Ime it isn't parking on pavements that is the problem as such, it's the entitled attitude of the people doing it with no concern for anyone else.

So main road, really wide pavement. Can't park on road but could use crap carpark. Alt is the pavement. If you park on the pavement pub park sensibly, I can get my sons chair through. If you're a selfish dick and park in the middle of it, I can barely get me through it. Bus stop and traffic lights either side so. I can walk in road around car to get to lights to cross or cut across hectic main road to cross.

I stood and waited for the traffic to stop once to bounce DS down the kerb and onto the main road. In front of a Police car. I explained why, he turned the car round, went into the shop to tell them off / move it but it doesn't stop them

Not everywhere is London and has London's very specific issues. Around here public transport dwindled as they got emptier. Services are cut when not enough people make use of them. And no-one is forced to live in London.

If you work in a tourist industry and everyone who works there cannot possibly get there without a car pressure your employer to provide a private bus service instead of blocking footpaths.

Do any of you realise how selfish and pathetic you are coming across? Why not just admit you like being able to park on footpaths because it is convenient to you and it's not that you don't care about disabled people it's just that you don't think of them as human nature tends towards selfishness instead of using excuse after excuse as to why banning or limiting parking on footpaths won't work.

Who are you actually ranting AT Frequency, it really isn’t clear...

Around us pavement parking should be formalised and encouraged. The pavements are wide enough for cars to be completely off the road with room for pedestrians to pass yet a minority of people still insist on parking on the road in such a way it becomes a virtually impassable slalom. Mercifully once a year or so the fire brigade come round knocking on doors asking people to move onto the pavements.

Seems like the council would do better to narrow the pavements where you are Asdf12345, where they’re that wide and the road is narrow. Mark out the former pavement space for parking, would keep parking spaces available and keep pedestrians on the pavement safe and protected from traffic.

Even where pavements are wide enough for a car to park fully and still leave enough space for everyone else to get by it’s still less safe if drivers think of the pavement as parking space, especially when it’s not marked out as parking bays. There’s a bit of road near me that’s like that and it’s scary having people swerve onto the pavement to park when you’re trying to wrangle small children on the pavement.

RollaCola84 I am not calling it a footway to make my point. I am an highways engineer and it is what designers call it. Check the DMRB or Manual for Streets if you don't believe me.

From the Manual for Streets design guide:
8.3.42 Footway parking (also called pavement
parking) causes hazards and inconvenience to
pedestrians. It creates particular difficulties for
blind or partially-sighted people, disabled people
and older people, or those with

prams or pushchairs (Fig. 8.14). It is therefore
recommended that footway parking be
prevented through the design of the street.
8.3.43 Footway parking may also cause
damage to the kerb, the footway and the
services underneath. Repairing such damage can
be costly and local authorities may face claims
for compensation for injuries received resulting
from damaged or defective footways.

Not only is it inconsiderate it also costs others financially to use the footway for parking.

The council is MORE than welcome to buy the land that appears to be a “pavement” from me and pay to maintain it.

I’m sure they’ll jump at the chance

My family live on a street that is so narrow that if people did not park half on the pavement the road would be blocked. As it is only one car can get through in one direction. No one would be able to have a car. there are no drives

I noticed white lines specifically for parking on the wide pavements in my local market town this morning. This area is near the emergency services station - fire engines and ambulances, and it is absolutely necessary that these vehicles can get through.

These pavements are wide enough for both cars and pedestrians BTW. I suspect the line markings are to ensure that cars leave enough room on the pavement for the pedestrians.

If you work in a tourist industry and everyone who works there cannot possibly get there without a car pressure your employer to provide a private bus service instead of blocking footpaths.

Haahaahaaa!! You are truly hilarious on this thread, Frequency, and beyond deluded and utterly clueless about life in rural Britain. 😂😂😂

Yes, your zero hours, min wage, seasonal employer is so going to respond to pressure to put on a fucking private bus service to ferry everyone round that massive geographical area, gratis, naturally, covering the 24/7 shifts that often go with hospitality, tourism and care work so those entitled working poor don't have to use a car! 😂😂

Use that non-existent public transport, you rural dwellers (you know, the one that got cut because the wanker fucking Tory government has been slashing council budgets for a decade and they had to save money from somewhere, not to mention the free travel for over 60s when our life expectancy is over 20 years past that)!

Now, adeline, doncha know you can 'just cycle' that 40 miles and it would make you fit, too? 😂

It's always such an MN cliche - need to get into the middle of London as a family of 4, including 2 young children, 1 with SEN? 'Sounds like cycling would be an option'. Contemplating buying a flat in London with no outdoor space as it's what you can afford? OMG, NO! Where will you stash the cycles and wellies?! Why not buy farther out and then you can take your life in your hands even through you're a single parent with a kid who has ASD and fucking cycle into work (no thought for if you've got ability to get changed after, or showered, etc).

I thought of this thread last night when I was out for a run. I was running down a road which is wide enough for cars to park on one side (and it is one way, so plenty of room to get past). But of course, one van driver decided that he wouldn't park on the opposite side of the road and parked completely over the pavement. Nobody could get past, never mind a buggy or wheelchair. So I crossed the road. I don't know the road that well and didn't realise that further down, the pavement ran out on my side. So I had to cross over the road again, and it was quite busy so I had to wait a while. First world problem but caused by an arrogant entitled van driver who wouldn't park considerately. I'd definitely favour penalty points for that sort of parking (thinking of the other thread about penalty points for parking).

You should come here. Council has sold off 3 car parks and flats built on them - all with no parking by design. New build library in town with loads of flats above - no parking by design, to encourage people out of cars apparently.

Not a single home in the entire town that has a driveway?

Not a single home in the entire town that has a driveway?

What if you cannot afford such a home? What if one isn't up for sale?

Never mind, you can just cycle.

Some people on MN live on a different planet.

Yes, it's called planet disability. Here we have to accept that selfish non disabled people believe their issues are far more important. They need to park somewhere twice a day, meanwhile everywhere on planet disability we have to face yet another obstacle today that makes our life 100 times harder than it is already.

But there are more of you making more noise than we can make so we just have to suck it up.

Come on dronesdroppingzopiclone this is MN, you should know by now people know exactly the situations of every other player better than they do themselves

None of the houses in the town centre near me have a driveway. Terraced houses don't usually have them. They either have tiny front gardens or none at all. Our council is building on car parks as well.

It is all very well trying to dissuade people from using their cars, but it won't work if the public transport infrastructure isn't improved.

A house with no off road parking is a deal breaker for us. We even widened our drive to provide room for another car, but we are lucky because we could afford to do so.

Now, adeline, doncha know you can 'just cycle' that 40 miles and it would make you fit, too?

I genuinely got told that once! That I should just cycle to work - never mind that it was on unlit NSL roads with no pavements or cycle lanes that are barely wide enough for one vehicle in places, and would take me the best part of four hours!

Not a single home in the entire town that has a driveway?

Well, of course they do.

But not everyone can live in houses with driveways because not enough of them exist! Or does that not quite compute in your head?!

It's a bloody nuisance when it obstructs pavements or even damages tgembut sometimes the police here actively encourage it, if parking in the road impedes traffic flow or is likely to cause an accident but there are no restrictions in place. Common sense applies, of course.

YANBU..it is a British disease. Go to many other countries and they just would not tolerate it. In my area there is a lot of pavement parking. I have contacted the police and the local council about specific offences of blocking the pavement but neither are interested. Too lazy.