Opinion : Should parking on the pavement and across driveways be banned?

Finally it seems the Government may be about to do something about the nuisance of vehicles parked on the pavement.

For many years the pedestrians of the United Kingdom have had to negotiate their way around cars, vans and other vehicles parked on the pavement.

Mothers pushing prams have to walk in the road, exposing the youngsters to the dangers of oncoming cars, while the elderly have to risk slipping up on the grass verge to get by.

Recently a news item appeared on a national news website hinting that the Government is looking at the issue of pavement parking and that a review of the effectiveness of current regulations is under way and will conclude later in 2018.

The sad fact is that, according to the news item, Councils in England and Wales could already take action against pavement parking through the use of a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to impose local bans on pavement parking.

Of course a pavement parking TRO would be very useful for the residents of High Wycombe but sadly the powers that be appear to be more concerned with Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO’s) to tackle the problem of prostitution in Desborough Road.

Even if a TRO was introduced in Wycombe yours truly fears that effective enforcement would be most unlikely.

Elsewhere in the UK the Scottish government is planning the complete ‘prohibition’ of pavement parking while pavement parking has been outlawed in London since 1974.

The Highway Code, Rule 244, states the following about pavement parking : ‘You must not park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it.‘

In my opinion the sooner the Government outlaws pavement parking completely throughout the whole of the UK the better.

In fact while they are at it how about banning and imposing severe fines for drivers who park across dropped kerbs blocking residents from using their driveways too?

When I say a ‘severe‘ fine my good self is not talking about a piffling £20, lets see fines starting at £10,000 and upwards for those who park across dropped kerbs and on the pavement.

Residents who are blighted with vehicles parked across their driveway or on the pavement should be able to call a special fast response number for a tow truck to come out and instantly remove the offending vehicle. If the owner of the vehicle pays the fine in full within 24 hours they get their vehicle back otherwise it is crushed and they still have to pay the fine.

Let’s see the enforcement tow trucks be pro-active and drive around the streets looking for illegally parked vehicles.

Parking on the pavement and across dropped kerbs is a form of anti-social behaviour and there needs to be a crackdown on those drivers who engage in the activity.

What do you think?

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