Should Parking on Pavement be Illegal?
Discussion
Surely as it has been illegal to drive on the footway since the 1835 Highways act and still in the 1988 RTA (except for a man to access his own property using the shortest possible route) along with case law from the 1950s that reinforce with no matter how short the time or distance (when a driver was prosecuted for bumping up on and down off the kerb to park) no one can park on the pavement legally?
At one time it was considered to include it under S172 so a NIP would go out to registered keeper, quite a nice little earner for the government.
Too narrow to park both side of a street, then whack in double yellows one side, we'll have half the number of cars on the roads and our journeys will be more pleasant and much faster.
No one on PH has ever moaned that there are too few cars on our roads.
At one time it was considered to include it under S172 so a NIP would go out to registered keeper, quite a nice little earner for the government.
Too narrow to park both side of a street, then whack in double yellows one side, we'll have half the number of cars on the roads and our journeys will be more pleasant and much faster.
No one on PH has ever moaned that there are too few cars on our roads.
It will have to be as we do seem to be getting an ever increasing group of unable to think motorists. They will park on bends, not check the car parked opposite them means only a Bond Bug could get through the gap. We have many in my area who park right up and on the junction, too. Incredibly dangerous.
I think we should do as in Asia, make it compulsory for new builds to have underground car parks - and build more underground car parks.
I think we should do as in Asia, make it compulsory for new builds to have underground car parks - and build more underground car parks.
0ddball said:
It should have been enforced a long time ago. I don't think it would be feasible now. Considering the amount of roads lined both sides, with space for one car down the middle, there would be literally thousands of cars in every town with nowhere to park causing even more chaos.
Not a lot of alternatives, except maybe councils incrementally introducing parking permits, a street at a time so that the number of pissed off motorists is kept to a minimum at any one time, but it's going to be a little galling for taxpayers given how s
t public transport, cycle paths etc are and how central and local govt have merrily encouraged car ownership and paid lip service to the alternatives.Think it’s a ridiculous idea to enforce a blanket ban, and each road should be taken on its own merit considering accessibility and realistic alternatives.
I’d love to see less cars on the road but this isn’t the way to achieve it. Really well thought through idea as usual from our governments.
I’d love to see less cars on the road but this isn’t the way to achieve it. Really well thought through idea as usual from our governments.
grumbledoak said:
Yay. Let's ban something without any attempt at providing an alternative solution. That always works so well!
Where to start with this?There is an obvious solution: the road they were in to begin with; and why is up to others to provide a solution? If we want to own cars it's up to us to provide the space where they are going to be kept.
As I inferred, the biggest problem is tackling the epic, off-scale sense of entitlement.
fatjon said:
Not seeing any problem there. Could maybe make more efficient use of space but I don’t see a queue of peple desperate to park.
I would guess there are large numbers of parents and children gathering there twice a day. Is the car driven amongst those people?Also, I agree with other comments, driving on the pavement is illegal anyway so it's simply not possible to legally park on the pavement.
Why do people think this solves a problem? Its already illegal to block a pavement. Making it illegal to park on a pavement just makes it also illegal when parking on the pavement and not affecting pedestrians in any way.
Another stupid law for stupid people.
Is blocking pavements not enforced enough? Then campaign for that to be a focus.
Another stupid law for stupid people.
Is blocking pavements not enforced enough? Then campaign for that to be a focus.
rlw said:
When I lived in London - up to 2018 - the street where we lived was specifically marked up for pavement parking on both sides of the road. Presumably it was deemed wide enough for wheelchairs. Without that facility, the street would have been an obstacle course of cars, for cars.
Has this sort of thing now been banned?
No that arrangement is still to be found in many (usually residential) streets in London. Has this sort of thing now been banned?
MKnight702 said:
I agree, pavement parking shouldn't be a thing. However, in the real world we are stuck with old terraced houses in towns where cars were never even thought about so the roads are too narrow to allow street parking and modern estates where the planners and builders are too greedy and want to cram as many houses into a small a space as possible and do not make provision for enough parking (or are waiving their green flag about and deliberately do not provide for motor vehicles).
This, coupled with the ever increasing size of vehicles, is a recipe for parking chaos.
My own suggestion would be to use a Japanese approach, if you cannot show that you have sufficient unused allocated parking for a vehicle then you are restricted to a Kei car rather than the usual Range Rover or other massive SUV.
I agree, kei cars only unless you have some form of parking for something else.This, coupled with the ever increasing size of vehicles, is a recipe for parking chaos.
My own suggestion would be to use a Japanese approach, if you cannot show that you have sufficient unused allocated parking for a vehicle then you are restricted to a Kei car rather than the usual Range Rover or other massive SUV.
I have several cars, but they all fit on my own property. Which is good, because although there's on road parking for 2-3 cars outside my house, it's permanently taken up by cars owned by a guy on the next street.
Who has filled his driveway.
And the pavement immediately outside his house.
And often has a car on the pavement on the other side of his street.
I don't like the idea of just a straight ban to try and "fix" the issue, but I do think it's a typical situation of life where some people take the piss, and as a result, everyone gets to enjoy more hassle/restrictions.
I'm in favour of a ban but also to compel new developments to provision one space for every bedroom built, and for the rollout of more double yellow lines on one side of roads where a ban would impact traffic flow.
But none of this will work without enforcement.
In order for me to find (and afford) a house with a drive and garage, I had to move a significant distance away from my chosen location but having off road parking was a priority for me.
But none of this will work without enforcement.
In order for me to find (and afford) a house with a drive and garage, I had to move a significant distance away from my chosen location but having off road parking was a priority for me.
E63eeeeee... said:
A more proportionate response might be to explicitly ban parking in a way that leaves less than 1m of clear footpath, which would address the genuinely anti-social parking without restricting traffic unnecessarily.
That's not a bad idea actually. If it had to be a simple yes/no choice then I'd go for yes, ban it, but this approach is more sensible. I'd combine it with a nationwide system that allows Joe Public to dob inconsiderate parkers in easily too; it does get on my tits. It depends on lots of factors.
Against
Some peoples houses will be massively devalued
Some stretches of pavement parking cause zero issues
It’s an unwritten rule that in some circumstances it’s ok and has been like this for a very long time
Confusion and anger from people who do it.
For
It’s obviously safer for everyone to use the pavements for the original purpose only
Looks miles better
The answer would be to manage the situation case by case but that’s a massive load of work and some will be happy and some not. I think the only workable answer would be to introduce some guidelines.
Against
Some peoples houses will be massively devalued
Some stretches of pavement parking cause zero issues
It’s an unwritten rule that in some circumstances it’s ok and has been like this for a very long time
Confusion and anger from people who do it.
For
It’s obviously safer for everyone to use the pavements for the original purpose only
Looks miles better
The answer would be to manage the situation case by case but that’s a massive load of work and some will be happy and some not. I think the only workable answer would be to introduce some guidelines.
Trax said:
Why do people think this solves a problem? Its already illegal to block a pavement. Making it illegal to park on a pavement just makes it also illegal when parking on the pavement and not affecting pedestrians in any way.
Another stupid law for stupid people.
Is blocking pavements not enforced enough? Then campaign for that to be a focus.
It's stupid and utterly selfish people who create the need for rules.Another stupid law for stupid people.
Is blocking pavements not enforced enough? Then campaign for that to be a focus.
In my experience blocking pavements has never been enforced.
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