E-scooters, pavement parking and street clutter

[MobilityCat]

Are you finding that you have to navigate A boards, tables and chairs extended into the pavement, refuse bins, pavement parking, along with the new and growing menace e-scooters weaving along the pavement or scattered around the pavement?

Not really

@Meatshake

Not really

Do live in a quiet country village?

It's not clutter if it's useful

Not here

I'll bite - only because pavement parking is really really dangerous and should be made illegal.

Busy urban road, car parked blocking the entire pavement with 6 foot wall next to it, so no way round. Had to walk with children into incoming traffic to get to school.

Certainly. So many cars parked right on the pavement. More than once I have had to walk my buggy, toddler and young children in the road to avoid.
If its a wheelie bin I just move it out of the way.

Wheelie bins left by the bin collectors are the worse.

Ditto what others have said. Cars parking on the pavement are a nightmare. Wish it was banned.

I love seeing all these tables and chairs on pavements and I don't mind escooters

@Macncheeseballs

It's not clutter if it's useful

It's clutter when it blocks the pavement for wheelchair passage or creates a tripping hazard, especially for people with low vision.

@TooBored1

I'll bite - only because pavement parking is really really dangerous and should be made illegal.

Busy urban road, car parked blocking the entire pavement with 6 foot wall next to it, so no way round. Had to walk with children into incoming traffic to get to school.

It's already against the law! The law about pavement parking is in the Highway Code and covers all road vehicles. Rule 244 of the Code states: "You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement"

Not an issue where I am. I do hate narrow pavements though. It’s one thing that really annoys me in picturesque seaside towns.

@Macncheeseballs

I love seeing all these tables and chairs on pavements and I don't mind escooters

Pavement chairs are very alfresco, but they can impede wheelchair passage. Using privately owned e-scooters is against the law, you may only use hire machines at present which is supposed to ensure the rider has training, is insured and has the minimum of a learners licence. The problem with these is since they are undocked they are left lying all over the pavement. They are used for bag/phone snatching, drug peddling, and are driven very fast, weaving between cars and pedestrians alike.

OP whether you are a journalist or not - yes there is too much street furniture and pedestrians are treated with contempt by drivers who park on pavements and force them into busy roads.

I don't get the point of scooters or e-scooters, why not just ride a bike (despite all the hate for cyclists from both drivers and pedestrians).

Pavements need to be wider so you can pass people easily (not just because of covid). And there need to be robust sanctions for the idiots who park on them.

It's already against the law! The law about pavement parking is in the Highway Code and covers all road vehicles. Rule 244 of the Code states: "You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement

That's in London (and Exeter has by-laws I think)

But you must not drive on the pavement (which amounts to the same thing as by definition if you are parked on the pavement, you have to drive onto it) but the police and councils won't do anything about it. Because only drivers matter and the rights of pedestrians don't. It's also an equality issue as women are more likely to walk, and obviously if you are disabled it is a problem if people block pavements.

I don't find it an issue personally. I think we should be working towards clear paths/ wide enough pavements for those with sight limitations or who use wheelchairs etc. though, as I can imagine it is much more difficult sometimes for those people.

I think we can fix that by reducing traffic, widening pavements, pedestrianisation, increased street furniture (that is well placed) including cycle/ scooter storage and creating the town square/ plazas that you see in European cities.

Escooters are better for the environment than driving etc so I can't get worked up about them at all. Tables and chairs aren't an issue anywhere around here either. Bins are a necessity. Some people might not be able to store them anywhere else if they don't have much of a garden. Also on bin days you're told to leave them out or they don't get emptied. Cars on the pavement, I guess can be annoying if they don't leave much space to get by but it's an infrastructure issue. If they park on the road, the road will be too narrow for traffic to flow in a lot of places. I park on the kerb often. If I parked fully in the road, the traffic on my side of the road wouldn't be able to get past until there was a gap on the other side. Surely it's better not to inconvenience 100s of cars rather than a few pedestrians.

One way to fix this would be to have a system like Japan, where you're not allowed to have a car unless you have somewhere off-road to park it (either on your own property or in a car park). Leaving it on the street is not allowed!

That would open up so much space, if you could remove parking bays on either side of the roads.

When you think about it, it does seem a bit weird that we allow people to store their personal possessions on a public highway (and I say this as a driver who has often had to park my car on the road outside my house). I mean its illegal to leave other things on the road, why do we let people do it wih cars? Doesn't make much sense to me.

It would mean roads are wider and less congested, and there'd be room to widen pavements too.

I know it's not going to happen, but it would be nice! I live on a street of Victorian terraced houses and roads are reduced to single lanes because of the cars parked down both sides of the road. Apart from the traffic and the noise and the pollution, it's fairly ugly as well.

@ClaudiaWankleman

I don't find it an issue personally. I think we should be working towards clear paths/ wide enough pavements for those with sight limitations or who use wheelchairs etc. though, as I can imagine it is much more difficult sometimes for those people.

I think we can fix that by reducing traffic, widening pavements, pedestrianisation, increased street furniture (that is well placed) including cycle/ scooter storage and creating the town square/ plazas that you see in European cities.

I love your thoughts on this and thoroughly agree. Our Council can't even repair potholes so I'm not holding my breath. They seem to do things better in Europe but they're not our BFFs anymore.

"One way to fix this would be to have a system like Japan, where you're not allowed to have a car unless you have somewhere off-road to park it "

When we have Japan's public transport system, then yes. I live in Liverpool, for a large tourist city, our public transport is a joke. If you work bank holidays and Sundays before 10am, you often have to get taxis.

@igelkott2021

OP whether you are a journalist or not - yes there is too much street furniture and pedestrians are treated with contempt by drivers who park on pavements and force them into busy roads.

I don't get the point of scooters or e-scooters, why not just ride a bike (despite all the hate for cyclists from both drivers and pedestrians).

Pavements need to be wider so you can pass people easily (not just because of covid). And there need to be robust sanctions for the idiots who park on them.

I'm not a journalist, if it's the way I say things that make you feel that it's probably because I'm a retired teacher

@Burnt0utMum

Escooters are better for the environment than driving etc so I can't get worked up about them at all. Tables and chairs aren't an issue anywhere around here either. Bins are a necessity. Some people might not be able to store them anywhere else if they don't have much of a garden. Also on bin days you're told to leave them out or they don't get emptied. Cars on the pavement, I guess can be annoying if they don't leave much space to get by but it's an infrastructure issue. If they park on the road, the road will be too narrow for traffic to flow in a lot of places. I park on the kerb often. If I parked fully in the road, the traffic on my side of the road wouldn't be able to get past until there was a gap on the other side. Surely it's better not to inconvenience 100s of cars rather than a few pedestrians.

I'm not going to rant about the actual carbon footprint created by the manufacture, use and disposal of e-scooters, I've done the research. Your comment about inconvenience caused to 100's of cars seems a bit contradictory.

@Ponoka7

"One way to fix this would be to have a system like Japan, where you're not allowed to have a car unless you have somewhere off-road to park it "

When we have Japan's public transport system, then yes. I live in Liverpool, for a large tourist city, our public transport is a joke. If you work bank holidays and Sundays before 10am, you often have to get taxis.

I agree, that's why I said I know it's not going to happen! It's a nice idea though.