Legally it's called the "footway" not the "pavement".
I wouldn't argue with that. tinyurl.com/nn29gb
Edited by Honestjohn on 30/05/2009 at 14:53
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I'd agree that its an increasing trend, and like Stu I have "rearranged" the door mirrors to get past... However if I'm pushing the wheelchair and I can't get past, then I'll phone the Police, I've found them very helpfull and they take a very dim view of this sort of "antisocial" parking.
The damage to the pavements is much more noticeable when you are pushing a buggy or wheelchair, but I don't think that most car/van drivers are aware that its them who have caused the damage to the pavements, even when they are the ones moaning about the state of them!!
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There is a not far from me where footpath parking is permitted and has it's own little sign indicating such. (I'm guessing it isn't in the traffic regs list though).
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I'd agree that its an increasing trend and like Stu I have "rearranged" the door mirrors to get past...
How can you expect to live in a considerate and law-abiding society if you behave like that? Good behaviour is learned by children emulating their parents, but so is bad behaviour.
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I think, Mr Snail, that you have misinterpreted Stu and my posts... it is not bad behaviour... To clarify, if I come across a car which is parked so that I would have to hit the door mirror to get past it I fold the door mirror in... that serves two purposes, firstly it allows me to get past and secondly it gives a gentle hint to the car owner that they need to be more careful when parking... and it does not damage to the car... Happy now?!
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Happy now?!
I was happy before!
:-D
Edited by L'escargot on 30/05/2009 at 12:25
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RTJ70 hit on the true reasons people park on pavements - "We have to park partly on the pavement ........ If I parked fully on the road the neighbour opposite would also find it very difficult to get their cars off their drive. And whilst we have a drive, my wife's car is in the garage so there'd be lots of juggling at times" - because it's easier than doing the correct alternative!
Yep, it's the same as the ones who park on the double yellow lines on Saturdays & Wednesdays outside the lottery shop; or the ones who park on the zebra crossing outside the post office; or the ones who park on the school zig-zags or block peoples' driveways - it's because you choose to do so.
And no Rattle, you don't have to do it occassionaly, you don't have to do it at all, if the road is too narrow to park legally, then park elsewhere & walk.
I've knocked on peoples houses when I used to push my children in their prams, asking always politely but pointedly for the occupants to move their cars as I have no intention of pushing the pram on the road because they decided to park on the pavement.
I always ask myself two questions when I park: am I parked legally & can a fire engine drive past with room to spare; try it yourselves!
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Here's my summary of the problem.
We live on a small island but there's a tendency to favour big cars.
This can work in the rural environment but not in urban areas, especially those laid out in Victorian times.
Although very controversial, I think we should consider the plan of an Italian city, which I cannot remember and can't find on Google, which required off road parking for all cars.
Look at all those lovely photos from the 50s where the road was a playground for the kids with maybe one or two Ford Pops parked in it.
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ISTR that planning apps for extensions in this district usually weren't passed unless additional off road parking was provided. That's all very well when there are one, maybe two cars per household. I cope with my 4 all being off road. But not everyone does, and I do have visitors.
So, would you ask your visitor to move their car if he'd parked partly on the pavement? Or would you not want to appear small minded and/or offensive, which is how I'd feel about doing it.
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"you don't have to do it occassionaly, you don't have to do it at all, if the road is too narrow to park legally, then park elsewhere & walk"
at last some sense about parking.
If you travel by public transport you accept the fact that you will might have to walk the last few hundred yards. Why do so many drivers feel it their right to park outside their destination even if means causing an obstruction; why does the owner of a £25,000 car object to paying for a car park? If you can't park legally move on and park somewhere else. If you have to walk a little or spend a pound or two so be it. Your inconvenience does not justify either breaking the law or inconveniencing others by your selfish behaviour.
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Rattle. Am I mistaken or are these two quotes below both yours?
(1) "It just annoys me as I am very considerate when parking (never once parked ilegaly)"
(2) "Ocassionaly you have to do it, but I have a rule if I have to take up so much of it that a pram cannot get passed I will move on".
Don't think you can have it both ways...either you've never parked illegally - or you have??
There are countless residential roads where people park on the footway in order to allow fire engines/ambulances/skip lorries to get past and in some areas the council mark the footway to facilitate this. So it is a difficult one but it's a brave or a foolish person who says they've never once parked illegally. (And not then a good idea to write that you do it- but not very often).
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I recently witnessed a Traffic Warden ticketing a number of cars which had parked offroad in front of some shops. Although they were parked on the shops narrow forecourt, those that were ticketed had one or more wheels on the footway. i.e. the boots were hanging over the pavement.
Apparently parking with one or more wheels on a footway is now classed as a "high level fine" parking offence as it is a safety hazard to pedestrians, prams etc who may be forced to walk on the road. It is also a fine extra revenue tool for the council. This was near the town centre but I expect councils will move the practice into the suburbs before long.
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We had this problem in our road - it's wide enough to park a transit and allow room for another transit to drive by, so no excuse at all for putting wheels on the pavement. One or more of the residents (never found out who, but think I know) called the police, and all the miscreants had a visit on a Saturday afternoon. It's very rare to see anyone parking on the pavement now.
p.s. No, I didn't get a visit, but my next door neighbor did. As he parks a works van, a Previa, and a Corsa with antisocial exhaust technology on the street despite having a driveway and garage this rather made my day.
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Whatever happened to the offence of mounting the footpath, or some such similar?
I recall a colleague back in the 60's who was done for this. He used to park his Reliant fully on the footpath, on a corner where there was plenty of space and he felt it was better than causing an obstruction on the road - not that I'm condoning it.
He was quite indignant and reckoned it couldn't be proved. He may have used a crane to lift it there. IIRC he paid up.
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Parking on the pavement cannot be doing the tyres and steering components any good either,particulaily if it`s done at any speed.
It`s best to park further away and walk as someone pointed out.
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Two solutions to this perennial problem:
1. Where space is very tight, such as in a cul-de-sac, residents petition the council to survey/measure whether parking on footway is likely to danger service pipes underground; if not, council paints parking zones on pavement, or partly on pavement. Residents' parking permits if applicable. (Perhaps a weight limit should apply, maybe ruling out most SUVs and 4 x 4s... Just a thought!) This is a common solution in Germany and the Czech republic, but I suspect their gas and water pipes are buried deeper underground.
2. If footway parking is actually dangerous (i.e. likely to rupture a pipe or crack the pavement), then out come the double lines, signage, warden patrols, fines, etc. and if all else fails lots and lots of bollards. A lot of cities in Spain (Santander as one example) specialise in cannonball shaped ones which are just the right height to smash in the underside of cars. (Ouch!) These often catch out RHD cars of British tourists, and the cannonball symbol may be a reference to Trafalgar, but maybe my imagination is running away with me.
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A lot of cities in Spain (Santander as one example) specialise in cannonball shaped ones (bollards) which are just the right height to smash in the underside of cars. >>
That's true, but those who live in Spanish cities are experts at parking partly on the pavement, because with lots of apartments in narrow streets there's nowhere else to put the car.
Sometimes there's semi-pavement parking both sides and you drive avoiding clipping others' wing mirrors with your own. Local experts can do this at surprisingly high speed.
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