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If it means keeping the road clear at the same time. It’s about common sense and giving pedestrians priority.
If you're allowing parking on the pavement, you're not giving priority to pedestrians, you're giving it to cars.
The majority may squeeze past without difficulty, but there's plenty of scenarios where (often the most vulnerable) people will struggle.
And there's a whole knock on effect generally...
I’ll be honest. When I started running I used to get in the car and drive to the park. I could see the park gates from my window.
There's many reasons behind this, I'm sure. I've probably done it myself to some degree. But it all stems from an environment where it is perceived to be safer, easier, and more pleasant to drive. And in many cases it is - because that's the way we've made it!
Add to that an increasing number of cars encroaching on pavements and the only outcome is going to be for more people to drive.
I'm sure it feels like a pointless topic to some, but there are cumulative consequences.
How about a compulsory purchase of a few houses on every street in order to build multistorey car parks. If they had decent sized spaces, lighting, EV charging, security etc. I would definitely be in favour. All street parking, which is theft anyway, can then be rightly banned.
Because they'd instantly get filled with work vehicles, or an extension of the local car-sales forecourt, or just Daz down the way buying a few more cars to fill the available space.
Edit: sorry, yes i see what you're saying. Like those apartment blocks with underground parking and each flat gets a space.
Cars are more important than people, both in parking and cycling around here!
It makes me angry when I see mothers and their children having to leave the payment using pushchairs and small bikes and going onto the road to get around cars.
But then just around the corner you will see so many cars dropping (one child per car) children off at school.
Like many of the problems, too many people.
Its pretty common round here. Generally tolerated but sometimes someone parks a bit to far in or blocks an alley. They'll get their wipers lifted up. Lots of people will do this small act of retaliation. Doesn't do any harm but does show the driver that the car has been touched.
Ive seen plenty of people park up on huge, wide quiet roads and still put 2 wheels on the pavement. It's automatic, they don't think about it. This IMO is the main issue lots of drivers do what other drivers do without thought or consideration of the possible outcome of their actions.
Our old road was busy but massive, loads of room, most people parked fully on the road, still got a few bumping up onto the pavement for no reason. I've lost my shit more than a few times when me and kids are walking along and a driver bumps onto pavement close to us.
Current street isnt so wide but pretty quiet and most people have drives, still get pavement parking. Old fella down the road always parks on his drive but doesnt reverse up to his garage door so always overhanging onto the pavement. Why?
We're on a cul de-sac, and just about every drive is just a little too short for two cars, so we hang onto the pavement slightly. Thing is, as there are more and more cars we get pavement parking. It's far worse on the other streets around us, and my sister's new build estate of detached houses suffers massively with pavement parking as there isn't enough car space built into the plots.
People might have seen this previously. I think about this image often.
Except in the case of pavement parking, the cars are encroaching even further.
It’s far worse on the other streets around us, and my sister’s new build estate of detached houses suffers massively with pavement parking as there isn’t enough car space built into the plots.
Agreed - there are new builds springing up all around us at the moment and already cars are being left all over the place - you would have thought that, in this car-obsessed age, planners would plan for parking and make garages wide enough to fit a modern car but no – they want to maximise the sq ft of the habitable portion of each plot for maximum profit.
Pavement parking is not illegal in London. Where I live (North London) there's little signs in some places showing a car with two wheels up on the kerb and other places where there's a broken white line on the pavement and road showing where to park.
you would have thought that, in this car-obsessed age, planners would plan for parking and make garages wide enough to fit a modern car but no – they want to maximise the sq ft of the habitable portion of each plot for maximum profit.
Maybe but cars have grown in size considerably over the last few years. Mine was built in the early 70's and I could barely get anything bigger than a corsa in it. A family down the road from us has tarmaced their garden and have 4 cars, 3 of which are RR's....
Pavement parking is not illegal in London
It's illegal except where it's expressly allowed with those signs/bays. Everywhere else it's allowed by default.
Maybe but cars have grown in size considerably over the last few years.
I know - I was referring to new-build estates. Agreed – there are new builds springing up all around us at the moment and already cars are being left all over the place
Pavement parking is not illegal in London. Where I live (North London) there’s little signs in some places showing a car with two wheels up on the kerb and other places where there’s a broken white line on the pavement and road showing where to park.
My understanding is that pavement parking *is* illegal in London except for specific exceptions which would be denoted by signs like you describe. In most of the rest of the country it's not illegal at all unless there are double yellow lines, or if the parking obstructs the highway (which in this case means blocks the pavement).
One of the main barriers to just making it illegal all over the country is the amount of cost involved in selecting and marking the exceptions that would be required. Personally I don't think there should be exceptions. If it's a parking space then it's not pavement, and vice versa. If there isn't space for both then choose which is needed more. That would mean a lot of works to narrow some pavements but would be worth it in the long run. Pavements should just not have cars on them, full stop.
I don’t think there should be exceptions. If it’s a parking space then it’s not pavement,
There’s pavement parking outside my house in London. In reality it is the tarmac verge few feet of the pavement rather than the paved bit so room to use the pavement. It is marked out and I suspect you’d get ticketed if you were outside the bays. Seems to work fine.
I totally agree that there are places like you describe where there's space for pavement and parking. I'm sure it does work fine, but it perpetuates the idea that pavements are for pedestrians, except, you know, if a car driver really wants to park there. If there's space for parking, then make it part of the road. If there isn't then don't allow parking there. The only weakness in my plan (that I can see) is that it would cost a metric bugger-ton to reconfigure so many roads / pavements...
It is a thing though... I see so many people parking in my town in really inconsiderate and selfish places (this is not any kind of reference to anyone who parks in a perfectly sensible place). The more casual "I don't give a crap about anyone except myself so **** you all" actions that people see around them, the more they think that's how society works. Make the rules clear and simple, and take away the impression that cars are more important than people. Then enforce the rules. When I'm king, rant rant rant 🙂
The picture in Superficial's post is great. This is what it looks like where I live:
