Does 'Pavement Parking' cause difficulties for you? Help us by completing our short survey

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has launched an inquiry into ‘Pavement Parking’. Pavement parking is when one or more wheels of a vehicle are on the footpath. As well as creating obstacles for people wanting to use footpaths, Councils face additional costs to repair damage to surfaces which are not designed to take the weight of motor vehicles. As this is a devolved issue, this inquiry only relates to England.

Pavement parking can cause particular difficulties for people with long-term conditions and mobility issues, such as some people with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). In order to provide feedback to the Transport Select Committee on behalf of people with RA and JIA, we’re asking people to spend two minutes filling out this very short survey: bit.ly/2WTdsro

[If you have further comments, you can email us at [e-mail]]

[sylvi]

Done and this is a subject that will quarantee n to make my blood boil.x

[AgedCrone]

I often can’t even walk out of my back gate, let alone get a wheelchair out if I ever needed to.....because cars are parked so close. The trouble is the cars belong to neighbours who are too lazy to put them in their garages.

Prams pushers & wheelchair users have to walk round the cars into the road and altho it is a Close, so not very busy, it is still selfish....but that’s life these days isn't it?

[Cheylann in reply to AgedCrone]

Where should people park in these old narrow street towns? Sometimes have no choice but to put 2 wheels on the pavement to get car out the way.

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Cheylann]

Difficult indeed. People living in narrow/terraced streets with no drive or garage have got little choice or they have the risk of getting their cars clipped if fully on the road, but it is going to be difficult to try enforce any rulings on this one. I have a partially sighted friend who finds it very unsatisfactory to be falling over cars parked all over pavements. It is a problem where to park when visiting especially, but by the very nature of human nature some people will be selfish and not give thought to how they have parked. We are blocked in at the back most days as we are down a small walled lane. We are blocked in the front gate by next door petrolheads and their 4 cars, pulling tight up to my garden gate so I can't even walk out of it, who have actually damaged our front wall which is falling inwards. They have made the pavement subside by driving on it every day and parking 3 of theirs opposite our front garden wall. (Hope they can afford the bill to replace it.) We have a guy with 8 vehicles at the end of our cul de sac (small catering company opposite on the main road) who blocked our bin collection access for 2 years parking on pavements, so I am living amongst the very selfish. All of these people have drives and garages btw, so pretty much the same scenario as AC has posted.

[Mmrr in reply to NeonkittyUK]

Pavements are for pedestrians. Can you imagine the outrage if pedestrians walked on the roads whenever it was convienant?

[Gnarli]

Done. Selfish parkers are putting lives at risk, blocking access to homes and all for what? I get so cross

[Hidden]

There used to be an advertisement on television with a lady pushing a pram around a car parked on the pavement and into the road but it has not been shown for years.

It makes me cross to see it and it is something that I have never done after seeing that advertisement, I am sure that many of you will remember it as do I.

[AgedCrone in reply to Hidden]

Yes I remember the advert minty and I haven’t seen it for ages either, but sadly what I do see so often is mums pushing their pushchair into the road between parked cars, ahead of themselves to see if there are any cars coming. It doesn’t seem to occur to them just because they have hold of the pram handle the car won’t hit the actual pushchair!

Another thing I have noticed is people sitting in the passenger seat next to the driver with a baby on their lap .......never mind that it is illegal...just think what could happen.....even with just an emergency stop.

[Hidden in reply to AgedCrone]

My biggest hate is the people who ride electric /wheelchair scooters in the city centre without proper instruction and clearly do not need them. I was speaking to the local police in Exeter the other week and they are powerless to stop them but it seems to be a new trend in the city with teenagers borrowing them. It gets the people who do need to use them a bad name. Sometimes I could do with one but I struggle along sometimes using a manual wheelchair if I have to go far.

My biggest hate is blue badge holders parking in parent and child spaces if the disabled bays are full and I find this very inconsiderate

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Hidden]

Could be as non disabled drivers are parking in disabled space? So much of this in my area. Unbelievable tbh. We never park in parent & child. As for the idiot teenagers riding around in wheelchairs/scooters as some sort of game?? .. I hope they can be stopped. Guess the police have other things to concern themselves with. I now keep an eye out for kids with wheels on their trainers whizzing through the supermarket! They can get up to quite some speed down the aisles! One knocked an old man flying recently. The store manager told the kid not to come in wearing them again or he would remove them from his feet!

[Hidden in reply to NeonkittyUK]

My mum years ago was knocked over by the wheels trainers and the kid called my mum a silly old air thief. I nearly took the teenager out.

[Gnarli in reply to Hidden]

I wish I could say that's unbelievable, but it's not

[Hidden in reply to AgedCrone]

Would love to see some more shocking advertisements to get it into people’s heads as many drivers are so inconsiderate of other road users.

The police should issue more tickets to vehicles that park on the pavements.

However I do feel that companies are partly to blame as many people take their vans home and there is nowhere to park. Many work from home. One of the neighbours that I know has three sons and they all have company vans at home at night plus five cars in the family, they are a nightmare and make it dangerous to get out of the drive

[HappykindaGal in reply to Hidden]

So where would that leave people like me? Isolated and unable to leave the house at all? It’s impossible not to park on the pavement in Norwich as the roads are very narrow. One size definitely doesn’t fit all here.

[Hidden in reply to HappykindaGal]

I think maybe people will have to forego their fro t gardens if they have one for parking. Maybe when houses were built they did not think people would have as many cars. Nine vehicles next door for me is excessive. Where I live it is not possible to get into the road without someone watching me out and this is not always possible so I have to open the windows turn everything off and listen.

Me too I am stranded here when I cannot drive because of neighbours but what is annoying is that they have a huge drive that would take five of their vehicles. A taxi from here minimum is £36 and two busses a day

[HappykindaGal in reply to Hidden]

What front garden? Small walls in front of these houses and in conservation area. Would be impossible. 9 vehicles. That's ridiculous!

[Hidden in reply to HappykindaGal]

There is nothing anyone can do as they are licensed. Companies reducing their office size making their staff work out of their vehicles and stock delivered weekly. They drive me nuts as these are large vans

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Hidden]

😱🙁

[AgedCrone in reply to Hidden]

Some people forget the days when everyone didn’t have a car to park.......so guess what? We walked....from Age 11 to 18 I walked half an hour to & from school every day. Sometimes my grandmother would even walk to meet me and walk home with me when she was in her 70s.

I now live near a school I know I am very lucky I have a garage and I have a hard stand so I can always park my car, however ....it is not a public carpark, but I have lost count of the number of mothers I’ve had to ask politely and otherwise to please move off my property because I want to get my car out.

They seem to think because they are sitting on my hard stand waiting for their child to come to them I should sit in my garage waiting for the child as well.

I haven’t yet had to resort to our friendly PCSO to ask the ladies to get off private property... but no doubt the day will come. The laughable thing is if these ladies walked for five minutes there are miles and miles of empty roads where they could park-but that obviously escapes them .....I have told them this, but the look of horror on their faces when I suggest they actually WALK is pitiful!

[Gnarli in reply to AgedCrone]

You have my sympathy. We live near a school and suffer the twice-daily invasion of cars driven by people who don't so much park as abandon their vehicles. Outnumbered by those who choose to sit and wait for their child/children. Parking on, and across, a private road blocking access to four properties. Grrrrrrr

[AgedCrone in reply to Gnarli]

But you have to smile at their attitude ....one of them said to me “but I’m waiting for my little girl she’s only six”.....I just smiled and said “yes well I’m a lot older than six and I need to get my car out- off you go”, but I was very tempted to ask if she hadn’t taught her child to walk yet.....but it is literally under 200 yards to the school so why the mother couldn’t walk all of maybe 500 yards to park, and wait outside the school like other mothers do I don’t know.

I had a cheeky one awhile ago-I was unpacking my shopping outside my front door-I noticed this car lingering and then the next thing I know a woman is getting out asking me how much longer I’m going to be ..... because she wants to park there to go to wait for her child.....She was not best pleased when I said “I live here & my car is staying here”.

All to save a three minute walk!

[Gnarli in reply to AgedCrone]

The blooming cheek of some is unbelievable. Anyone would think that the simple act of procreation gave them special rights. Before anyone objects to my attitude I have raised three children of my own and minded and fostered numerous others. We walked. I believe the word 'walk' is anathema to some.

[Hidden in reply to Gnarli]

I had a problem many years ago with a local garage doubling in size. All of their staff and visitors parked outside my property including vehicle delivery transporters that arrived at all ours of the night running their engines and cab heaters. Problem was sorted In the end when I purchased three old cars so that the transporters could not get down the road. All of us that drive need a car but I also had a right to sleep.

[Gnarli in reply to Hidden]

Good thinking!

[Mmrr in reply to Hidden]

Years ago we had an old house with a narrow driveway, near the train station. People used to 'abandon' their cars outside our house either side of the driveway, right up to the garden walls, and sometimes with an overhang into the driveway, making it near impossible to get our car out the driveway at times.

We were doing the garden up , so doubled the width of the drive way by knocking the walls down and opening the driveway up.

One regular parker complained we had taken 'his' parking space.

[Hidden in reply to Mmrr]

My brother a few years ago in the uk parked a 4 tonne army truck in front of a van blocking his drive in a cul de sac. It was funny as the police would not move it.

[Mmrr in reply to Hidden]

I'm a fan of direct action when reason doesn't work.

[nomoreheels in reply to Gnarli]

When we were looking to move this time we found a bungalow but it was opposite a school, one of the zebra crossing zig zag lines were actually in line with one of the drives (horseshoe drive). My h had the wizz idea to go down the road both in the morning & at home time, we didn't bother with home time, morning drop off was enough! It was bedlam, one car parked over the zig zag, you wouldn't have been able to exit the drive. I know we could have delayed going out when the traffic was worst but what about an emergency or if appointment clashed? Such a shame as the bungalow really suited us & it had a considerably larger garden than we've ended up with but hey, the road we're now on whilst not exactly traffic free is quieter.

[Gnarli in reply to nomoreheels]

Thank goodness you checked. Afternoons are worse as the mornings are slightly staggered. A narrow squeak for you. Unfortunately, we saw that there was a very large designated car park for parents and assumed, foolishly, that they would use that. Too far for some to walk, they'd much rather use the doctors' surgery car park, library car park, the garage's forecourt and all nearby roads. It wasn't so bad when we were house-hunting and drove past at the relevant times

[nomoreheels in reply to Gnarli]

What really concerned me was not only the traffic but how many parents (grandparents too) were letting the children out onto the road instead of the pavement. No concern for the danger of the kiddies & oncoming traffic, though single file as it's not a main road, but still just no concern. Why oh why will they not use designated car parks? It's just beyond me. Then parking across a private road, that's just bl**dy inconsiderate.

[Gnarli in reply to nomoreheels]

Not to mention backing across the pavement to turn in our road regardless of who is walking there. I shall leave it there as my BP is getting a bit high

[Hidden in reply to Gnarli]

Abandon or dump

[Mmrr in reply to Gnarli]

I live near a school too and regularly did ask parents in cars to move out of my block of flats private car park, which is well sign posted as private. I also point out to them that parking on zig zag lines, is illegal if I see it. I bet these parents would be the first to complain if their child was knocked down and injured.

Some areas in Edinburgh have banned cars for extended distances around schools at the beginning and end of the day. Fabulous, I love it and I hope it is extended to all schools.

And penalty points on licences for pavement parking. Pavements are for pedestrians, no matter what.

My friend is blind and put at jeopardy by cars being parked on pavements, her guide dog, is trained not to take her onto the road. All she can do is ask for help from a passing stranger, making her very vulnerable.

[Gnarli in reply to Mmrr]

Good points, well made. Those exclusion zones could save lives.

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Hidden]

That is similar to the amount of vehicles belonging to the petroheads and their illegal car busienss next door to us. They have failed MOT vehicles brought to the house late at night on a transporter. Usually about 1am waking everyone up. They think we won't notice if it's late at night! Yes .. we hear you loud and clear!!! Then we have to go ask them to move cars next morning so we can get out of our drive/cul de sac as they are blocking access/the pavement and it is much too narrow for them to be parking as they do. They watch us all the time as we come and go especially at weekends and as soon as we've gone out they move these cars into our drive! (neighbour tells us!) We have lived here 29 years .. they have rented the house next door for 3 and are arrogant but I won't let them get away with it and that's what they don't like .. Being challenged when they are wrong. They have had every leniency from all the neighbours including myself. One of the guys next door argued like made with me when I refused to let him park a huge van in our actual garden on an expensive newly pebbled/paved area!! He said it was ideal for his van! Errr .. go away!! He wanted to leave it there just two weeks he said .. He actually parked it hanging out of his back garden for three months doing nothing with it, impeding our access once again.

[Gnarli in reply to NeonkittyUK]

Grrrrr

[HappykindaGal]

In Norwich, there’s no option but to park on the pavement. It’s a very old city with narrow streets that weren’t built for cars. Lots of ancient flint walls, so no driveways either. No one would be able to have a car if this were to be enforced. Two sides to every story.

[Cheylann in reply to HappykindaGal]

I agree with you. Although it's not right to fully block pavements motorists sometimes need to put 2 wheels on pavement. As long as the pavement isn't totally blocked it isn't really a problem.

[Hidden in reply to HappykindaGal]

Park and ride for some of your Norwich residents as the car problem in the uk is getting worse

[HappykindaGal in reply to Hidden]

Really??? So people living in the City centre would have to go 4 miles out of the city to the park and ride and then what? That's not going to work at all. Have you been to Norwich because that's mad - sorry, but it is.

[Hidden in reply to HappykindaGal]

Oh yes. But it has to stop somewhere. I do not know what the solution is but our car numbers keep goi go up, I just hope the lads next door do not have their partners living with them or it will be more cars. Years ago we used the buses now we all get into our cars. What ever happened to the able bodied people walking just a little

[HappykindaGal in reply to Hidden]

I agree, they do. No buses come near my house unfortunately. Even if they did, I’m not sure I’d be able to walk to the stop!

It seems two car families have become 3 and 4 now. Someone I know, and there is only him, has 6 cars. All parked on the road. It’s nuts!

[Hidden in reply to HappykindaGal]

Double the road tax for additional vehicles

[HappykindaGal in reply to Hidden]

That might be an interesting idea. I can hear the howls of protest now, but it would be a start.

[Mmrr in reply to HappykindaGal]

Protest away, things will have to change.

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Hidden]

Maybe will come to that!

[Mmrr in reply to NeonkittyUK]

It is in its way, we cannot keep increasing the number if cars on the roads. Something has to happen.

[Mmrr in reply to Hidden]

Too cheap, double for an additional vehicle, then double that for the third and so on. Evidence should also be required that the x number of cars will not be parked outside the house, but garaged off the road. Let's do it properly.

[NeonkittyUK in reply to HappykindaGal]

That would be nuts! Park and ride for people working and travelling into work and back does work for some cities though. I do recall Norwich city centre streets as my SIL used to live there, so understand. Park and ride works for a lot of commuters ... my husband does so when he is working in the centre of Leeds and he does it in Sheffield also. Both main P&R car parks are approx 1 & 1/2 to 2 miles from the centre and it works well. I have been in with him this way (and I am bus phobic re getting on them etc due to bad experiences/hurting my joints) and the buses all dock to the kerbs and lower the platform for disabled access and there is a bus peak times every 6-8 minutes I think it is. It works in these cities. Sheffield is lucky as it has a Supertram. Leeds is not ... as we are stuck in the past ... and Alistair Darliing changed his mind re the finances! ... don't get me started! LOL.

[Hidden in reply to NeonkittyUK]

It would work here if they didn’t charge you to park your car and then charge you to get into town. They wonder why people don’t use public transport but here it is so expensive. It costs me £4.50 to go 1.5 miles and back to town. No competition so they can charge what they like.

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Hidden]

Naughty charging that. They are making a big profift. 🙁 The Leeds P&R is a combined park and bus fare ticket. Think a day return is £3 from where my O/H parks. There are also discounts and weekly passes at good rates. Every city seems to have a different pricing structure and policy.

[Mmrr in reply to Hidden]

We have a great bus service in Edinburgh, the only municipal service in the UK (I think). £50 a month gets you unlimited travel and includes night buses and the tram.

Or £1.70 per ride.

Unfortunately the roads are clogged up with cars, usually with one person in them, but there are plans to make Sundays car free in the old medieval town as a trial. Hopefully it will be extended throughout the inner city.

[oldtimer]

This appears only to apply to England, not Wales?

[Hidden in reply to oldtimer]

It’s a devolved issue oldtimer, maybe Wales will follow and have a survey soon.

[Hidden]

I only find pavement parking a problem when the car or van completely blocks the pavement. As long as enough room is left to safely pass without walking into the road I don't have a problem with it. Survey completed.

[NeonkittyUK in reply to Hidden]

I agree for myself Paulywoo, not too hard for me at the mo to walk round if space allows without going in the road in my cul de sac .. as I don't have a wheelchair/walker/scooter. I think those with wheechairs etc would tell us it is a different story for them. They will always struggle here with this pavement parking issue. I worked voluntarily for a disabled organisation for 14 years and the issues wheelchair users had were unbeliavable so I know how frustrating and upsetting that can be. My issues are being blocked in your drive/garden by pavement parkers/parking blocking your access.) My partially sighted friend has had many incidents of falling over and into vehicles parked on pavements when he doesn't have his dog with him. I tell him .. always have the dog with you. That's what you got her for! He keeps giving the dog a night off then falling all over. Silly man. Repeat offenders of the catering company opposite our cul de sac entrance and them parking up to ten vehicles on both sides of the main pavement ... they endanger people walking up the pavement who have to dismount the pavement and walk round long wide vans into oncoming traffic of a main road .. then it is dangerous. The Council's Highways Department have told them repeatedly.

[AndrewT]

Dear Katie-NRAS,

I have 'filled in', this Survey, suggesting that maybe 'Education, rather than Fines', might be a better approach. Yes we have ALL been 'Forced Out Into THE ROAD', by some Unthinking Car/ Van (how about a separate Survey, for them?) driver.

Thanks again, for 'Posting' Katie.

AndrewT