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