Pavement Parking
 

Pavement parking in the UK to become illegal (at last)

256. Parking on the pavement is likely to cause a grave danger to pedestrians. In particular, it creates hazards for people with disabilities and visual impairments, older people, and those with prams or pushchairs.[211] It is also unsightly and reduces the tight management of the streets which is a key to preserving a high quality street environment.

257. In London it is an offence to park on a pavement unless signs indicate that it is specifically permitted. Throughout the rest of the country there is no national law that bans parking by cars and small vehicles on the pavement.[212] A council wishing to ban pavement parking in a specific area can use Traffic Regulation Orders to this effect.

258. 'Living Streets' pointed out that vehicles parked on the pavements are a particular obstacle to achieving an accessible transport system:

We have got the Disability Discrimination Act in this country, which means that public transport is becoming more accessible, which means that buildings are becoming more accessible, but it is no good if the pavements themselves in between those two are not accessible and what we are finding is that it is not just people in wheelchairs, it is parents with buggies and people with shopping having to go into the road to get past parked cars and there is absolutely no reason for it.[213]

259. The Department for Transport recognises that pavement parking may cause damage to the kerb, the pavement, or the services underneath.[214] Repairing such damage can be costly and local authorities may face claims for compensation for injuries received resulting from damaged or defective pavements.

260. A ban on pavement parking would benefit many people, including people with disabilities, yet the Department has shied away from recommending enforcement because of the scale of the problem. Mr Mike Talbot of the Department for Transport told us that the Department had "looked at this from time to time and the problem has always been that if you define no parking on the footway or the verge in all other circumstances except where signed, it would not be enforced."[215]

261. We accept that the problem of vehicles obstructing footpaths country-wide is a large one and a major effort would be required to enforce the law. But the 'do- nothing' response of the Department is no longer a credible option. To periodically examine what is widely accepted as a problem and then fail to take any positive measures is not the quality of response that the general public has a right to expect from the Department. Those local authorities that have adopted civil enforcement powers would be required to enforce a ban on pavement parking as they carried out their other enforcement duties. The police too should be involved in enforcement of this aspect of street management. With clear signage and after a period of intense enforcement, we expect that a pavement parking ban would become self-enforcing as the public become familiar with, and accept, the new rules.

262. The Government must grip the problem of pavement parking once and for all and ensure that it is outlawed throughout the country, and not just in London. Councils should have the option of an 'opt-out' of a national pavement parking ban where this is vital, rather than relying on the use of individual Traffic Regulation Orders on specific streets and local Acts to impose a ban. That such an initiative will initially require additional resources to enforce is no excuse for allowing some pavements to continue to be swamped by cars and made inaccessible to large numbers of pedestrians.

https://publications.parliament.uk/….../748/74815.htm

Now all it needs is a change to The Transport Management Act 2004

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The link doesn't work, Taf.

However, I would say that this is welcome news!

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l am all for it but enforcing it fully will be the problem l suspect.

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Good news, those with their 4x4 monster trucks that just do the school run won't be happy.

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Incredibly stupid idea, it will block an massive number of roads.

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Sorry Paul I can't agree.. there are idiots in my road who always park so that NO ONE can get by on the pavement..and this road is by an Infants and Junior school. They also block the accessibility drop down kerbs and this means that the numerous handicapped citizens have to put them selves out to gain access across the road with their mobility aids and mobility scooters just so they can use the opposite pavement.Motorists can't be king of the roads AND the pavements.

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Agree with this totally.

Most UK roads are just not wide enough for cars to park directly on the road. So if this is law is going to be enforced everywhere, then roads will become more blocked, they will be adding to the problems, not solving any.

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How about seeing it from the viewpoint those who use the pavements as pedestrians? Of course if the handicapped take their walking aids and mobility scooters on the road that won't please the motorists..

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I use pavements too!

It's not a massive issue to make an abrupt change that can actually be made to have more dire consequences than it actually solves.

People forced to park directly on the road means less space for two lanes of traffic so, congestion builds and people die in ambulances because they cannot get to the hospitals swiftly.

---------- Post added at 15:44 ---------- Previous post was at 15:24 ----------

Then this where the current law should apply, they are causing an obstruction and should be dealt with accordingly, I don't think Paul and I am not either, advocating a "sod all else" and ownership of the pavements, there are many UK roads that are just not wide enough to allow adequate free flow of traffic, if people are forced to fully park on the roads it will cause massive issues.

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There is an area near me that the council have painted on spaces for cars which is half on the road half on the pavement. This road is a bus route. What happens there?

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It would help in a lot of ways if we limited it to one car per household. The multi car households are the main problem, along with cars getting stupidly big.

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I agree with it in principle.

As long as common sense is applied ( which is probably where it’ll all fall down )

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Perhaps if we had a more integrated efficient public transport system there would be less cars on the road and that would benefit us all.

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Good thinking Den ! Wonder why our politicians have never thought of that....

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Not really - They could make the best improvements all they like - I would not dump my car for public transport, nothing beats my own personal space when I am travelling.

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No ones saying Mick you have to dump your car but l am sure with a better public transport system there would be those who would use public transport far more then they are currently using..

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I really don't think they would Den.

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If vehicles are parked on roads so causing an obstruction, the police have powers to have them taken away.

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Everyone has their own circumstances. We've got the best transport system we'll ever get in this village. A personal vehicle is the difference between 2 and a bit hours travel to work and 15 minutes by personal vehicle.

Too many hurdles that simply won't or can't be solved. Those starting work in the AM's for one.

As for the topic. Police are so lazy here this will never be enforced. The way they've designed this village makes it fairly impossible anyway.

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That is a stupid Idea.

We are a 2 car household so by your recogning I drive to work 30 minutes away, and my parents use there car for there reqirements, including hospital.

The problem is (in my location) people parking in our street who don't live here, because our council has gone mad on Double Yellows.

I live on a hill will top only access, rather than put the crossing at the top (the bobble type for blind) thay put it 2 car spaces below where it should go, so 3 cars don't have the ability to park outside their house.

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Councils will have the power to allow parking on pavements in certain designated areas.

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If you need a car because you're disabled or elderly then of course you'd need to be exempt.

The problem is too many cars and poor public transport, and many that are too lazy to walk anywhere. We're getting like the obese US population but we don't have the space for all the cars. How about doubling car tax for every extra car per house? No politician is brave enough to grasp this one but something radical needs to happen to curb the number of cars. It'll self defeating in the end for the climate, or being able to get anywhere through the congestion.

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I don't think more cars will affect the climate in a negative way as petrol and deisel cars will soon be a thing of the past.

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I am really happy about this. People constantly parking on pavements when the road is double yellow lines. Thinking it doesn't count if they are 100% up on the pavement.

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I have just read the date of this report that Taf links to, 2006, 13 years ago.

No recent Bill has passed the House of Commons on Pavement parking and if any Bill was in 2nd reading it fell when Parliament was Prorogued for the second time in October 2019.

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It may back on the cards again , the Commons Transport committee recommended a ban only a couple of months ago. But with a new Govt., who knows?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49635176

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So we are years away then from anything concrete, good, it's a stupid move that will cause more issues that it is worth.

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Actually the main issue would be a distinct lack of traffic wardens..Especially as most of them have become self employed around here and thus are only to be found in the town car parks where it's more profitable.

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That's a scam in itself that needs clamping down on, how are these people self employed?

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You will have to ask my local council. I've only seen one in my local high street this year and that was for ONE day. They do however go to the seafront carparks to empty the machines at certain times known only to them.

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Wouldn't it be better if YOU contacted HMRC and asked them to find out if the council was adhering to employment obligations, I would if it were my home town

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It is indeed under seriouss consideration, and this is what I thought Taf was referring to.

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I suspect nothing will happen in reality. The motorist mustn't be upset and the disabled are bottom of the pile as far as this Govt. are concerned.

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I read an article about pavement parking in the latest edition of The Guild of Experienced Motorists (I am a 40 year member). But no internet links were published. I have just contacted them to ask the author for this info.

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I think some would. Not all, but some. There are a lot of people who actively dislike driving, and only do so because they need to get to places they can't easily get to on Public Transport. There are also those who drive because they need to, but would like the freedom to do what they want without having to worry about crashing. For instance, on my train journey this morning, i listened to several Podcasts, and watched a couple of trailers. On my journey home, I plan to watch a TV show. Something you can't do while driving.

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Great idea but how will they enforce this on every housing estate in the UK?


The times I had to step in to the road as I couldnt get my push chair round a car.
Selfish drivers should be banned and have their cars smashed.

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Absolutely impossible unless they spend huge amounts of money enforcing it and even that won't cure all of the problem.

People using their mobiles phones while driving in their car was banned but how many motorists break that law.

Quite a few l would say and not many of them are caught.

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Point well made but should we do away with all laws (or possible ones in this case) just because some people don't obey them. Whilst I agree enforcement could be difficult over time like drink driving it could become a socially unacceptable practice (at least parked cars are stationary so it should be easy to spot and report them and almost everyone has a phone these days so getting photographic evidence shouldn't be difficult).

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Our Street is very narrow and we have people who park works vans on both sides of the road, We find we have to park streets away, I know it is a big problem but where all the cars are going to go is a problem too. No winners here al all.

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Neighbours could photograph each others cars parked on the pavement and maybe get a bit of commission on the fine :D

It could well be self financing if councils are allowed to keep the revenue.

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There are loads of parking companies out there that would love a bit of kickback for every illegally-parked car they find. A growth industry!

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I'll treat that idea as the joke you intended to share

Not on public roads there isn't, there's none and nor should there be either

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I know some areas where if you photographed your neighbors car and they saw you then you would probably end up with a brick through your wind screen.





Good point. More money to fund their Christmas party.






The biggest problem this causes is stopping emergency services getting through.

How is a fire engine meant to put out a fire when lazy people have parked their cars badly on the pavement restricting access?!

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"Pavement parking in the UK to become illegal". Best news ever. Maybe then I can get my dad's mobility scooter and my bike outside. Hope there are massive fines or confiscations for offenders!

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Something also needs doing about wheelie bins permanently blocking the pavement.

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That is another bugbear as wheelie bins should only be put out on the day of collection and yet at least half of our streets residents have them out the night before.

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I put mine out at 5 pm the night before and take it in just before 8am as soon as it's emptied,some in my street never take them in :mad:

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Why post this now, has something changed?

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I posted an older review in error. Seeking out info that a journalist used for a recent story has not been as easy as it looked. :dunce:

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Our bins can be emptied any time between 7-30am and mid-day depending on which route the crews decide to take. We all put our bins the end of our drives but the bin men just leave the bins from several houses in a jumble scattered across the pavement nearest to where they decide to halt the lorry. Most of my neighbours work and my husband and I try to return the bins to the right homes so that the pavements are unobstructed but playing hunt the bin every week is a pain.

The pavements on our road are 7/8 foot wide but bin men don't even try to leave a clear path for anyone using the footpath.

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Tell that to the people whose house burns down becasue the fire engine can no longer get down the street to it.

Its simple physics, many roads in towns, cities, and villages, are simply not wide enough.

There are always the odd idiots, but most people park (partly) on pavements simply becasue they need to, to let other traffic get by.

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Or do like they do in Japan. You're not allowed to park on the street and unless you have a space to park, you're not allowed a big car.

In my town, some parts allow parking on the footpath, but in others it's illegal and £150 fine.

I feel cars park on the footpath because they don't want their precious cars scratched.

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Not really practical.

I doubt it, but cars are expensive, so why should people not protect them.

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So us pedestrians can just take our mobility scooters on the road then? I can see drivers loving that.

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This, the vast majority of estates the roads are not wide enough for people to park on. It's even worse if you go into a residential area in the centre of a town.

It's not something that can be simply fixed.

---------- Post added at 09:51 ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 ----------

That already happens

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And we all know accidents happen there sadly.

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I’m seeing younger and younger people use and drive their mobility scooter, park it on double yellow lines, get out and start to walk, bit of an effort, as they’re overweight, but the only reason I see the kind of folk having a scooter, is they’re too lazy to walk. So I’ve nicknamed such scooters, obesicles.

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Wow! All I can say that doesn't happen around here in a retirement hot spot full of sheltered housing. Plus what about young mothers with pushchairs having to navigate around selfish drivers? Don't they have rights to the pavements. Aren't the pavements provided for pedestrians? When did they become part of the highway?

Selfish? I think it's drivers who have become selfish.By the way I'm a driver and the only time I park on the double yellow lines in my road is when I'm unloading my shopping and there is no space to park legitimately. I don't park on the pavement and 5 minutes later I've moved. However this is not the case for several of my neighbours across the road which drives me insane because they ALL have rear access to their homes or they have a drive way which I don't.

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Greater Manchester Police take a dim view of blocking the pavement - https://twitter.com/gmptraffic/statu...69017819230209

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Good on them.:tu:

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This is such an obvious obstruction of the pavement, the van has taken all of the pavement up - and yes that should be dealt with accordingly, however it does not remove the issue of low width roads which do require folk parking slightly on the kerb, to allow safe passage, there is swings and roundabouts to this, "we must ban all parking on the kerb" - Many UK roads and streets are just not wide enough, to allow adjacent parking on either side of the road.

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Just two examples of the selfish car drivers parking on the footpath near me.

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Pick up the phone and report them for obstruction.

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Which is an offence under the Highways Act 1959.

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So parking will be made "one side only" as is already common.

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My street is one side only and a one way street as well. So cars drive as fast as they can the wrong way, half on the footpath and one day people will get killed.

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The author of the article I read has got back to me and provided a link to the basis of his article.

https://publications.parliament.uk/p.../1982/1982.pdf

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This is how we do it in cleethorpes.

https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/n...g-bays-3658931


https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/n...a-view-3613620

we park on the road and drive on the pavement.

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That street, Sea View Street, is also a one way street but that doesn't appear to matter either. It's a lawless town.

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We view the highway code as advisory ;)

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Perhaps they reversed into it.

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Maybe.

I nearly got run over this afternoon as a taxi was driving on the footpath. The roadworks improvements have just finished; result, worse than before.

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How they going to get out?

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So an illegal maneuver to get into the space, illegally parked the wrong way round and illegal to get out of the space. Where's a parking warden when you actually need one?

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They only arrive when they are about to put one on ones own car.

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Sounds like a very tough traffic warden, no need for violence, a ticket would suffice ;)

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Some of them are incredibly overzealous in my view like the one down here
that prowls the Sainsburys car park in our town centre as you park there and straight away he is looking at our car to see if we have got a displayed ticket.:rolleyes:

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Is reversing down a one way street (in the correct direction) illegal ?

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I guess that *would* be legal but I can't see the parkee (is that a word?) would do that. :D

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Might get done for "Careless Driving".

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/6028...enalty-points/

From the Highway Code

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Christmas special. Plus a funny from Tesco disabled parking place.

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Christmas Day; Empty street, one van, mostly blocking footpath, offside wheels on double yellow lines.

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Parking was chaos around my sisters last night, some people parked 1/2 on pavement as if they had parked correctly Fire Engines would have been stuffed and unable to drive done the road and idiots would have moaned, parking as they did was better.


Coming home I was dreading as parking after 5pm is near impossible, luckily there was a space and someone else was scraping their car.

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and no one around to care.

Pavement parking could be banned in England
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51844446

Good luck with that because enforcement would be the issue. At present the self employed traffic wardens around here are mostly found around town car parking not in the high streets and back streets.:mad:

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Something has to be done about selfish drivers who block footpaths to wheelchairs, mobility users, blind people and prams/pushchairs. The road is for cars, the pavement for pedestrians. The nation has become car obsessed, multi car households are the issue. Extra enforcement will pay for itself with the amount of fines.

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l agree there are some selfish drivers but its no good having a plan if you cannot back it up with manpower on the ground.

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. . and pushbikes have free rein over anywhere, causing problems to pedestrians and motorists alike :D

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"Obstructive pavement parking" or "unnecessary obstruction" is not a new law. It already exists, but is very rarely enforced. No parking on pavements works in London, and provides the councils with a good income from those who flaunt the law. The whole of the UK needs to follow London and give pavements back to pedestrians!

This needs to be a UK Law, but will probably be devolved in Wales and Scotland.

Wales' Assembly does not like writing legislation, they prefer to Copy And Paste existing legislation, then translate it to Welsh.

Re: Pavement parking could be banned in England
 

Around here it's wheelie bins left out permanently blocking the pavements.

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Already covered at length, no need for new topic.
https://www.cableforum.uk/board/show...php?t=33708472

Re: Pavement parking could be banned in England
 

Thank you! Threads merged.

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There is parking on pavements in London, mines up on the kerb now...

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Rather arrogant of you to assume that everyone who parks on pavements is doing this.

First of all they are allowing traffic (inc emergency vehicles) to actually be able to drive up and down the road.
There are countless roads throughout the country that would be impassable if cars park only on the road.

Secondly you are assuming all pavements are not very wide.
There are also many streets where you could park entirely on the pavement and still have space thats big enough to get anything past.

A blanket ban is just lunacy. :dozey:

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Round here too many people with too many cars and no place to park them OR not using their parking spaces (driveways).

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A family near us totally block the pavement by always parking their car on the pavement between the kerb and their overgrown leylandii (spit) front hedge. All the time with their driveway empty.

Their immediate neighbours park their cars (and a truck) with 2 wheels up on the pavement right over a dropped kerb for invalids.

Reporting has done no good at all.

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One of my big bugbears - if I'm not dodging cars on the pavement, it's wheelie bins, or I am being mowed down by cyclists. I suppose I should just walk in the middle of the road - probably safer....