Should Parking on Pavement be Illegal?

[pavarotti1980]

Zigster said:

Surely the “I’m alright, Jack!” attitude is from those who think their “need” to park a car right outside their house outweighs the need of people using the footway to be safe.

Not really. The I'm alright Jack" is people who say others should be banned because I am ok with my quadruple driveway without having to try navigate parking in other ways. I have a drive now but for years had to endure parking on the road & part on pavement as well, before being able to afford a house with a drive.
Therefore I have sympathy with people in the situation I found myself in in my 20s and think an outright ban outside of London is a ridiculous idea without having suitable alternatives for people to use. As usual this sort of thing polarises people but a manageable working solution is required

Edited by pavarotti1980 on Friday 19th April 08:50

[budgie smuggler]

Zigster said:

budgie smuggler said:

In those cases where there is no alternative, a bay can be drawn half in the road, half on the pavement.

eta - like this

I find that sort of solution very dishonest.

Painting a parking space on pavements encourages drivers to think it’s appropriate to park on footways in other places where they shouldn’t.

If the council have decided it’s a parking space rather than a footway, then make it actually part of the roadway. Remove the kerb, lower the level of the space needed, put a new kerb in where the footway actually ends.

Bouncing up and down kerbs is no good for the kerbs nor the wheels of the vehicles. It increases the risk of conflict between drivers and pedestrians - about 40 people a year are killed in the UK by drivers driving on pavements and at least some of these will be while trying to park.

I totally agree but you have to be practical about it. As a country we apparently can't afford to fix whacking great potholes, broken signs, etc so there is no chance they will re-do all the pavements to facilitate this nationwide. Paint however is fairly cheap.

[Yellow Lizud]

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

[Mars]

Yellow Lizud said:

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

By your logic, that means people with a driveway cannot get onto it because they have to drive over the pavement to get onto the driveway.

Not so clear, is it?

[Yellow Lizud]

Mars said:

Yellow Lizud said:

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

By your logic, that means people with a driveway cannot get onto it because they have to drive over the pavement to get onto the driveway.

Not so clear, is it?

The law is very clear, you can drive across the pavement to get to your drive, you cannot drive on the pavement.

[OutInTheShed]

Yellow Lizud said:

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

ISTR the legal definition of 'drive' may not encompass pulling on to a pavement or other acting of 'parking'.

If pavement parking was illegal, somebody would have been nicked for it over the last 50 years or so.

[C5_Steve]

Yellow Lizud said:

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

Except, you're wrong. You absolutely can park on the pavement, there's a picture of it above. Highway code clearly says you can where a sign permits it.

The problem isn't parking on the pavement, it's blocking the pavement for pedestrians by using it. That comes down to some people being too self-entitled and inconsiderate unfortunately and where people block or limit the space on a pavement they absolutely should face some sort of consequences.

[Trax]

C5_Steve said:

Yellow Lizud said:

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

Except, you're wrong. You absolutely can park on the pavement, there's a picture of it above. Highway code clearly says you can where a sign permits it.

The problem isn't parking on the pavement, it's blocking the pavement for pedestrians by using it. That comes down to some people being too self-entitled and inconsiderate unfortunately and where people block or limit the space on a pavement they absolutely should face some sort of consequences.

And blocking the pavement for pedestrians is already against the law, and they face consequences, maybe not enforced enough I agree. Why are people getting irate and trying make something already against the law against the law again? It cant morer against the law.....

[R0G]

Rule 145
You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.

Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & RTA 1988 sect 34

So how do drivers park on pavements without doing that twice?

[Zigster]

C5_Steve said:

Yellow Lizud said:

6 pages of pointless arguments.
Roads are for cars, pavements are for people. End of.

Whether you like it or not, it's the law, it is illegal to drive on the pavement.
Should parking on pavements be made illegal? It already is! You can't park anywhere without driving on it first.

Except, you're wrong. You absolutely can park on the pavement, there's a picture of it above. Highway code clearly says you can where a sign permits it.

The problem isn't parking on the pavement, it's blocking the pavement for pedestrians by using it. That comes down to some people being too self-entitled and inconsiderate unfortunately and where people block or limit the space on a pavement they absolutely should face some sort of consequences.

The Highway Code is quite explicit - “must not”. The underlying legislation is a little more challenging to decipher.

Rule 145
You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.

Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & RTA 1988 sect 34

[Downward]

Zeeky said:

bad company said:

I think parking on pavements is illegal in London but not elsewhere. It’s a bit of a bug bear of mine particularly in the village where I lived until recently.

I can’t see how it’s fair to force wheelchair users and young children into the road.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrxdzymwjro

All 3 of those examples should be sufficient for the police to ticket for the offence of obstruction. And that comes with 3 points.

Agree, Looking at the picture it looks like the house behind has a massive drive, Whether it’s one of their cars, Could be if the person is going to work then they would prefer to risk some poor woman walking int he road rather than ask a member to move. Given they have some massive motorrhome too.

Just thinking of where I live, Folks now seem to have more and more caravans/motor homes on drives while they pavement park.
Parking on grass verges should be banned. Why should folks destroy greenery for their selfishness ?

My road generally most houses have a drive for 2 cars. However it’s becoming a bit of a battle at the moment. Next door have 4 cars including a van. Opposite have 4 including a van, their next door now have 3. So when my next door neighbours have their kids and grandkids visit today they won’t be able to park anywhere.
I technically have 3 cars but got pissed off parking over my drive having to get up early to let the wife off to go to work so I pay £20 a month for private parking. Council do have garages but they haven’t leased them for a while while a consultation is done on whether to keep them or destroy them.

But back on pavement parking, Folks on mobility scooters, prams can’t get past my next door neighbours van and car parked on the pavement as his 2 cars overhang the drive too.

I’ve seen many occasions old folk on scooters have had to go round on the road.
An old lady yesterday with a shopping trolley, clearly unable to walk fast or far also had to walk in the road to get round. With cars parked on the pavement opposite if a large vehicle is coming the other way there could be an accident.

[MrBig]

RazerSauber said:

Likewise, people with huge overhanging bushes should also be told more frequently to keep them within the property lines to avoid contributing to the same problem.

Absolutely, this is a massive bugbear of mine. On our walk to school there are a couple of houses with bushes rendering at least 2ft of pavement useless, yet I regularly here people moaning about the cars being parked on the pavement, no mention of the hedge.

Pavement parking really needs to be addressed on each individual case, some places it’s acceptable and others not IMO, but as with all of these things there is not the resource to manage it.

[Downward]

C69 said:

Yes it should be banned and enforced, especially if it pushes pedestrians / wheelchairs / prams out into the road.

However, this approach needs to come with a degree of pragmatism e.g. if the road and pavement are both wide enough, then mark out parking bays that are half on the pavement.

Also, council planning departments need to be given the freedom to allow proper parking provision in new-build housing developments. Thinking that not doing so stops people buying cars is the stuff of fantasy.

2m rule.

[Wacky Racer]

Yes, parking on the pavement is not ideal, but you have to be realistic, if it was banned the country would be grid locked on narrow streets and roads, if (for instance) a fire engine wanted to get past.

What's the alternative with 20m cars on the roads?

[hidetheelephants]

Wacky Racer said:

Yes, parking on the pavement is not ideal, but you have to be realistic, if it was banned the country would be grid locked on narrow streets and roads, if (for instance) a fire engine wanted to get past.

What's the alternative with 20m cars on the roads?

Gradually introduce policies as the japanese have. No parking space, garage or driveway? You can only buy a Kei car or smaller.

[Downward]

Zigster said:

budgie smuggler said:

In those cases where there is no alternative, a bay can be drawn half in the road, half on the pavement.

eta - like this

I find that sort of solution very dishonest.

Painting a parking space on pavements encourages drivers to think it’s appropriate to park on footways in other places where they shouldn’t.

If the council have decided it’s a parking space rather than a footway, then make it actually part of the roadway. Remove the kerb, lower the level of the space needed, put a new kerb in where the footway actually ends.

Bouncing up and down kerbs is no good for the kerbs nor the wheels of the vehicles. It increases the risk of conflict between drivers and pedestrians - about 40 people a year are killed in the UK by drivers driving on pavements and at least some of these will be while trying to park.

Crazy stats.
If 40 people were killed getting shot it would be different