Pavement parkers
 

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Pavement parkers

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Then there was another occasion where a school mum parked fully on the pavement outside the school, right next to a Pelican crossing (I assume this was some bizarre attempt at circumventing the rules about not stopping on zigzags).

The problem with double yellows is that police often won't (can't?) enforce them. However, parking on zigzags can be enforced by police. If your local force has an online portal for reporting minor or traffic crime, you can upload photos that show the offence and they often take action. It helps if the photos are clear, show the wider streetscape (so someone behind a desk can see what has happened), and are taken a couple of minutes apart (so it's clear the vehicle wasn't moving when you took the photo!). I have reported quite a few drivers parkers on zigzags outside schools and police traffic unit have reasonably often replied to say they have sent a NIP and not to post the photos on social media.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 9:53 am
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And whilst we are at it - people who allow their hedges to massively impinge on the pavement width 😠


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 9:56 am
integra, Flaperon, hardtailonly and 3 people reacted
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Currently many of the original owners remain and our kids are now in late teens/early 20’s.

There might be some weight in the housing crisis and kids staying at home longer, but I think much of it is that we've just become a lot more car dependent. I remember a time when many of those kids didn't own their own cars, they drove their parents', who were more often than not a one car family. Many people now consider it essential that every member of the family have their own. That's the major shift I've seen since I started driving nearly 30 years ago.

Of course, that puts most of us in a position where space is tight and I would guess all of us have parked on the pavement at some point. There really isn't a considerate way of doing it though: pedestrians, and kids in particular have already had so much space taken away from them, it's a terrible experience to walk around with cars parked haphazardly on almost every pavement. It's not something we should be encouraging in any circumstance.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 9:58 am
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tjagainFull Member
So many of us with a third car opt to park on street, and putting 2 wheels partly on pavement seems the least obstructive way,

least obstructive for cars.  Most obstructive for pedestriansd

for example someone with mobility issues may need someone beside them to guide and support them  Can’t do it if the pavement is blocked

there is never any excuse for pavement parking.  Its selfish

so what’s the acceptable to the residents solution in an estate such as I describe, probs 200 houses, and 30% of them have a 3rd and in some cases a 4th car ?

^^^ edit, can’t get the quotes to work, but you get the gist 😁


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 9:59 am
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find somewhere safe to park where you do not block pavements.  Are you really telling me if you park on the road a car can't get past? the road is less than 4 m wide?

Can you not see how selfish it is to block pavements even partially?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:03 am
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somewhere where you do not “have to” park on the pavement

I’ll ask you again… where exactly?

Where does this magical car park appear in the middle of these densely packed streets of terraced streets? A parallel dimension?

Anyway… absolutely nobody comes up our road in a wheelchair because it’s a bloody 25% gradient and where exactly would they be going anyway? Up the Rake. The road has a ****ing handrail, it’s so steep 😂


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:03 am
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Nickc

if you have to

whos is forcing yo to park on the pavement?  Park elsewhere.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:05 am
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Bravely, I disappeared sharpish straight afterwards.

You'll get no argument from Douglas Adams on that one....

"Zaphod did not want to tangle with them and, deciding that just as discretion is the better part of valor, so was cowardice the better part of discretion, he valiantly hid himself in a closet."

Any street in Bristol with Victorian terraces is pretty much impossible to walk down unless in the middle of the road.

I live on one of these streets too.  But look what happens when a local couple bin their car and try to park a cargo bike in the road instead - the council order them to move it. "They're blocking the highway!"  I live near this. Bike and planters put together take up about as much space as a Smart Car. Possibly a bit narrower.  The local wAr ON tHE mOtOrISt brigade are shocked - shocked! - that anyone could be so selfish.

Incidentally, a car transporter van was parked up on my street last year for about 5 months. There were plants growing out from under it. Took up about as much space as two large estate cars. There were no articles in the press about selfish people claiming public space for themselves...


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:06 am
 ojom
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How many people would it take to flip the average car over onto it's side? 4?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:06 am
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I think it's important not to forget how easy it is to deflate a tyre....

http://tyreextinguishers.com/


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:08 am
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I’ll ask you again… where exactly?

On the road where yo should be.  Adjoing streets, up the road, down n the towncentre.  wherever there is room to park considerately.- and its not just wheelchair users that have mobility issues.  wheelchair down your road would be fun tho.  Up less so

Edit:

Just had a look on google streetview - all the cars outside your gaff parked on the road, none on the pavvement.  Pavement is very narrow.  2 wheels on that and you cannot walk past


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:08 am
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tjagainFull Member
find somewhere safe to park where you do not block pavements.  Are you really telling me if you park on the road a car can’t get past? the road is less than 4 m wide?

Can you not see how selfish it is to block pavements even partially?

There is nowhere to park outwith the estate for more than a few hours at Lidl or the like. Those who park wholly on the street seem to attract the most negativity from the neighbours, compared to those who park partly on pavement. Those are the facts..

I totally get the point, my point is that in general people will rather be potentially selfish than inconvenienced.  I would also note that the cars parked wholly on street are perceived as nuisance to many people, often. Those partly on the pavement are perceived as nuisance to a very small minority, rarely.. That doesn’t make it right, but following the norm is ‘the norm’..


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:09 am
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so what’s the acceptable to the residents solution in an estate such as I describe, probs 200 houses, and 30% of them have a 3rd and in some cases a 4th car
I think this neatly illustrates how far we (as a society) have fallen down the “car = god” black hole when people consider it a fundamental human right to be able to park 4 of the ****ing things directly outside their house 😂


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:10 am
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@butcher I'd also wager that when grown up kids were earning enough to buy a car, they'd move out first, or buy a car and be moving out not long after, back in the day.

These days, thanks to the full economic poopshow that is our country the past 10-20 years, jobs which pay enough to save enough to move out often require some aspect of travel. Now I'm a homeowner but I'm lucky in that my job pays relatively well and isn't too far away from home, it's a 15 mile trip each way. To get the same salary somewhere else appears to be only offered in cities which is an hour+ commute. Now disregarding that fact, even to get to my own offices as it stands currently, the public transport infrastructure is shocking, and I know this isn't specific to just my location.

We're talking 6 different busses or 4 different trains to get to my offices, combined would probably take around 2hrs, not even taking train ticket prices into account. So if you're a youngster and this is what your faced with in order to earn a good starter salary in your chosen career, you're better off working in the cities and travelling by car, you could also move to the city so you don't have to commute but then you compare the prices for rent in the city and the prices for rent where you currently live with your parents, both of which are more than a mortgage anyway, and I'm not surprised why they think it's cheaper to get a car on finance, stay at home with mam and dad and contribute to the bills, and still be getting enough money to save toward a house deposit.

Compare that with working locally where car ownership isn't needed but career prospects are poor/wages are worse and as such being a homeowner will be something that's much harder to achieve

Ergo it appears kids are staying at the family home longer and all owning cars until they're in a position to buy and move out


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:11 am
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@alpin It’s also really easy to remove Schrader valve cores for safe keeping (TFIC)

I think it was Wigan council who responded to a consultation about removing parking spaces to make way for a protected bike lane by saying that it wasn’t their responsibility to provide somewhere to park private cars. And Dave Walker has done a good cartoon on this (which I currently can’t find).


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:12 am
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Those who park wholly on the street seem to attract the most negativity from the neighbours, compared to those who park partly on pavement. Those are the facts..

and?  Neighbours tutting because you don't park on the pavement - ignore them FFS


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:17 am
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There is nowhere to park outwith the estate for more than a few hours at Lidl or the like. Those who park wholly on the street seem to attract the most negativity from the neighbours, compared to those who park partly on pavement. Those are the facts..

This could be interpreted that the property isn't suitable for car ownership. Or in many circumstances it may be that the vehicles are too large.

It is one the fundamental reasons I think it would be difficult to introduce a nationwide ban, because we've, very slowly over time, backed ourselves into this hole that simply can't be undone overnight. It absolutely should be undone though.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:20 am
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^^^ many people will endeavour to live harmoniously with their neighbours and not cause conflict, again, fact..

if people consider bumping up on the paving to be the most harmonious solution they will adopt it. That’s human nature.  In an estate with a youngish demographic and few residents who need assistance I think this is just the way it’s going to end up, unless there is additional parking built in at Planning, and that won’t happen as there is more money to be made by firing up houses.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:22 am
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Or that people think slightly inconveniencing car drivers is far more of a crime than serious inconveniencing pedestrians with mobility issues

Its really a non issue - just park legally and safely.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:23 am
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Is pavement parking as described illegal in Scotland ? And it could be argued that it is safer to property in this scenario !

and yes, I am playing devils advocate TJ 😁


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:25 am
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unless there is additional parking built in at Planning

It’s not to do with putting more houses up, it’s to do with planning restrictions on how much parking you can have (IIRC). As private cars are a massive source of CO2 emissions (if memory serves the rise of SUVs has completely offset the CO2 effect of efficiency/emissions improvements) then this isn’t going to change.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:26 am
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Can you not see how selfish it is to block pavements even partially?

If people (and wheelchairs and prams) can get past your car safely without having to go into the road, then how are they inconvenienced? Faced with the choice of actually breaking the law (rule 242) and not (rule 244) then what?

My choice would be; same rules as London, but I doubt cash strapped LC would be able to enforce it, and there's some places where you'd have to change the law to allow it because there's no other option open to residents who live in places that weren't designed with cars in mind that are now a reality of most folks lives.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:27 am
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Is pavement parking as described illegal in Scotland ?

Yes.  law is not being enforced yet but any wheels on the pavement is illegal


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:28 am
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so what’s the acceptable to the residents solution in an estate such as I describe, probs 200 houses, and 30% of them have a 3rd and in some cases a 4th car

Don't buy a new build on a sh*tty new build estate without enough space for your family's car needs.
We recently viewed a house and decided not to buy and one of the main reasons was not enough space to park more than one car.
(Also, smaller cars, scooters, bikes, buses and feet are available instead of a car).
HtH.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:28 am
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If people (and wheelchairs and prams) can get past your car safely without having to go into the road, then how are they inconvenienced?

How about double buggies?  How about those who need someone walking alongside them?  How about those who want to walk alongside their kids?  How about the blind?

loads of situations whereby any pavement parking is an inconvenience or a danger to a minority.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:30 am
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Not come here to say its ok to park on pavements ... but ... round my way because of parking issues the council has embarked on a program of yellow line painting. So whenever an area gets heavily used for school drop/collect parking, even if its a totally legitimate use of the road they're parking on (no one is blocked in, no lines, just maybe slightly inconvenient for those living on that street/road) the council turns up and double yellow lines it in order to 'alleviate parking issues'. The total actual street parking has reduced by around a third I reckon in just 2 years. At the same time off street parking hasn't increased. The net effect? People are making their own off street parking on verges and wide pavements. Once a place is established as parking, people start using it more of course. As you could easily have predicted would happen. So while I don't agree with people doing it in general, its also easy to see why its happening in some places.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:35 am
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I kinda get people parking with a couple of wheels on the pavement. Happens around my SIL's estate. Built in the 1950's everyone has a drive that can fit two cars but lots and lots of people have more than two cars and when guests visit parking becomes congested. The general consensus is that people park with a couple of wheels on the pavement which allows wheelchairs and double buggies through but also leaves the road clear for bin lorry, ambulances and fire engines. Doesn't strictly comply with the highway code but general works ok.

Round the corner from me are the local shops. Has lots of dedicated parking but there are people who insist on parking on the pavement when going to the pharmacy or picking the kids up from pre/post school club. Exhibit 1 below.

Dodgy pavement parking

Edit: We used to live in a Victorian house so everyone parked on the road and no pavemeent parking. Worked as you could still get a car down the middle and no-one pavement parked. Now moved to a new-build and one of the plus points is the ability to get 3 cars on the drive (just) and 2 cars out the front on our own bit of road. Ooooh very middle class. We only have 2 cars, 1 for wife and me and eldest child has a car. But it's handy when people visit and drive.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:36 am
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Wonder what’ll happen when the young adults living at home, with the offending cars, end up in EVs - will we have extended charger cables over the grass/drive and onto the pavements ?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:38 am
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I think the plan is to incorporate charging points in lamposts?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:42 am
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I hate pavement parking as it often creates a unsafe situation for pedestrians, especially wheelchair, pram, pushchair users etc

But (and this is a big but) the designers of new build estates, increased car ownership and car size have created the perfect storm.

I live in a 15 year old estate where the roads are narrow, so you definitely cannot get a car through if cars are parked properly on each side, and in some places it is hard to get a larger vehicle past if one car is parked properly on one side. To add to this the designers in their wisdom gave some houses what I call half drives (sometimes in front of a garage), where if that homeowner parks their car in front of their garage or house, half is on their drive, and half is on the pavement. The upshot of this is pedestrians are often forced to walk on the road due to inconsiderate parking. The pavements are quite wide, so in some places (with thought) pavement parking can have less impact, but often drivers don't seem to think of the implications.

How to solve it for existing estates I don't know as enforced fines for pavement parking would cause outcry or just push the problem down the road. I do think there should be rules for new build estates which result in wider roads and safer parking.

The ideal solution would be less cars, but that doesn't look like the way we are going!


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:49 am
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I think the plan is to incorporate charging points in lamposts

I've heard it suggested. Someone on STW said it wouldn't work as they don't deliver enough power to charge speedily. But my (petrol) car only does 25ish miles a week, plus maybe one weekend away per month. So for me, a trickle charge from a lamppost would be fine. Trouble is, on my street there are about 8 cars for every lamppost!


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:50 am
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Don’t buy a new build on a sh*tty new build estate without enough space for your family’s car needs.
We recently viewed a house and decided not to buy and one of the main reasons was not enough space to park more than one car.

I love all the 'artist's impressions' of new build estates.. a car here and there, a family running with a kite down the road, holding hands and laughing, people cycling everywhere, flocks of songbirds in the mature trees, and beautiful warm sunshine...


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:53 am
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On my street there are  6 parking spaces for 20+ flats.  same all over the city.

I think we should take the dutch solution to this.  If you park on a pavement or a cycle lane many of the folk going past will key the car.  as a result its not really an issue there.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:54 am
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Well each lamppost could serve two cars if parking bays are intelligently marked (and used). There's no reason why additional stand-alone chargers (again serving two cars) can't be put at the pavement edge. Even 3kW will surely serve the vast majority of users.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 10:59 am
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loads of situations whereby any pavement parking is an inconvenience or a danger to a minority

And on those occasions when it's not, and faced with a choice of breaking the law (rule242) and not breaking the law (244) then what?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:01 am
 kilo
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I think the plan is to incorporate charging points in lamposts?

I parked my car in a resident’s parking bay by a lamppost about a month or so ago (I have been away since then).
Since then the lamppost has had an e vehicle charging point fitted (in this bit of London they appear to only be for one vehicle) and some “concerned EV user” has left a note on my windscreen saying I must move my car.

There has been no change to the parking bay, it’s still a normal resident’s bay but obviously the electric car only comes with a short lead and a sense of entitlement 😉 .

I can’t see lampposts being a solution, on a residential road with end to end parking they are quite sparse.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:03 am
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In an estate with a youngish demographic and few residents who need assistance I think this is just the way it’s going to end up
that's absolutely mad fingers-in-the-ears-singing-la-la-la thinking though! Those residents will age, more will need assistance, even more cars will appear but further down the line the problem will be even more ingrained and harder still to implement an actual solution!

I think the plan is to incorporate charging points in lamposts?
I'm sure I saw (can't remember if it was an artist impression or actual trial scheme!) some kind of shallow conduit buried into the pavement so the charging lead can exit through the kerb. Obviously would weaken the footway though so those pavement-parking ****s better steer clear 😂


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:04 am
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Park somewhere else where you do not break either rule.  Its never acceptable to park on the pavement.

You never know when someone is going to need the full pavement.  I have personally experienced this with mobility impaired and blind folk.  enough room for a person with no disabilities to get past.  a big challenge for those that have disabilities

what you are basically saying is its OK to inconvenience a disadvantaged minority for the convenience of the majority.

If I owned a car i would often have to park up to half a mile away


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:05 am
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Just had a look on google streetview – all the cars outside your gaff parked on the road, none on the pavvement. Pavement is very narrow. 2 wheels on that and you cannot walk past

and how often do you reckon I get to park within 200 yards of my house? You really don’t get this at all, so you? 😂


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:05 am
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that’s absolutely mad fingers-in-the-ears-singing-la-la-la thinking though! Those residents will age, more will need assistance, even more cars will appear but further down the line the problem will be even more ingrained and harder still to implement an actual solution!

^^^ absolutely, but in the here and now that’s the way it is. I don’t think many of the residents will adopt behaviours now that will not benefit them for many years,


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:05 am
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The basic problem is that councilors and MPs don't want to do anything vaguely anti car as car drivers will not vote for them. Look at therecent by-election result affected by ULEZ.

We just need to make not taking action against cars a vote loosing strategy.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:05 am
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The meaning is “should not”. It’s not rocket science

So why does it not say must not?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:11 am
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because its not illegal.  Just against the code.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:16 am
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We just need to make not taking action against cars a vote loosing strategy.

Mostly it isn't, as shown by the widespread failure of anti-LTN candidates in the local elections. The problem is that radical drivists are noisy; the ULEZ is a specific issue (as discussed on the SKS thread) to do with misinformation and it's likely that once it's in, it'll be a non-issue.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:17 am
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@nickc that's 60% over 3 decades which is even more depressing.

I think the plan is to incorporate charging points in lamposts?

Which are all on the side away from the road where I live. I'd love them on the kerb, it would stop the take away delivery from driving along it because he hasn't figured out which number is which after **** knows how long delivering to the same houses.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:18 am
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Binners - I do get it.  Car drivers think they can do what they want and sod anyone else.  I'm suprised at you tho 🙂  Not very socialist not wanting to share 🙂


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:18 am
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Would help alleviate the problem if people had smaller cars, imagine how many more cars could be parked safely if no cars were bigger than a Fiat 500.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:19 am
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what you are basically saying is its OK to inconvenience a disadvantaged minority for the convenience of the majority

No, what I'm saying is don't park on the pavement, but faced with actually breaking the law or (and if you don't inconvenience people), then not, then choose the latter. Which is also what the HWC wants me to do, so I'll stick to that.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:20 am
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because its not illegal

So to summarise, pavement parking is legal?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:21 am
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@squirrelking, yes you're right! that's even worse.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:21 am
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Would help alleviate the problem if people had smaller cars, imagine how many more cars could be parked safely if no cars were bigger than a Fiat 500.

I was in Paris last weekend and it was immediately noticeable how many cars were basic small hatchbacks, Renault Clio type things. Lots of those tiny Twingo cars, Fiat 500 etc and very few obnoxious behemoths. There were some but even then it was rare to see anything bigger than a BMW X5 (and even the older ones of those aren't "big" compared to a modern Range Rover).

Traffic was still shit and there were still some "creative" parking but they've got it right on the car size issue.

There was a report somewhere that reckoned if everyone in London swapped to a golf buggy, average traffic speeds would increase by nearly 2mph due to the extra road space freed up.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:26 am
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I was in Paris last weekend and it was immediately noticeable how many cars were basic small hatchbacks

I think (don't quote me) that there's a new additional tax based on vehicle weight that came in last year (I think) it's pretty punitive.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:30 am
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But (and this is a big but) the designers of new build estates, increased car ownership and car size have created the perfect storm

It's always someone else's fault. How about housebuyers and tenants don't choose to live somewhere where they can't park their car safely? Or how about they match their transport to where they live?

Building MORE parking on new build estates is not the solution to any of this.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:38 am
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So to summarise, pavement parking is legal?

In england outside of london its in a grey area.( dunno about wales / NI)  because causing an obstruction is illegal as is driving on pavements.

Just because you can does not mean you should


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:39 am
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No, what I’m saying is don’t park on the pavement, but faced with actually breaking the law or (and if you don’t inconvenience people), then not, then choose the latter. Which is also what the HWC wants me to do, so I’ll stick to that.

the HWC does NOT want you to do that and there is a third option - park elsewhwere safely without obstructing pavements and you can never tell who you are inconveniencing by pavement parking


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:41 am
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If people (and wheelchairs and prams) can get past your car safely without having to go into the road, then how are they inconvenienced?

As the parent of a small child who spends a lot of time walking and cycling on pavements, I routinely have to watch out for cars driving on them, and watch him struggle to navigate around the ones that are already there.

Just having the number of cars we do on the roads around residential areas is an enormous inconvenience and issue of safety for children. That we can even think that it's of no inconvenience to also occupy the pavement, is indicitave of how bad the problem has become.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:46 am
funkmasterp, Bunnyhop, Dickyboy and 1 people reacted
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So to summarise, pavement parking is legal?

As explained earlier, driving on the pavement is illegal, which makes it impossible to legally drive onto the pavement in the first place, so it was never considered in law.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:51 am
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Mostly it isn’t, as shown by the widespread failure of anti-LTN candidates in the local elections. The problem is that radical drivists are noisy; the ULEZ is a specific issue (as discussed on the SKS thread) to do with misinformation and it’s likely that once it’s in, it’ll be a non-issue.

+1

I wonder what the actual number of cars in Uxbridge that would be caught by ULEZ is.

Petrol cars after 2006 (and a lot before that)

Diesel cars after 2015 (and a lot before that).

The closest stat I could find was that 94% of vehicles in the current zone don't pay the charge, implying that only 6% fail to meet the criteria, but that's after it's in place so includes the effect of people replacing their cars or just selling them.

So maybe it does matter, there were ~67400 registered voters, 46% turned out. Labour either needed to convince ~500 more to turn out or swing ~250 that did and in the order of 4000 voters will end up paying it (6% of the total).


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:54 am
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Just having the number of cars we do on the roads around residential areas is an enormous inconvenience and issue of safety for children

I just remembered the rules from my childhood - never try to cross a road from between two parked cars - and actually laughed out loud at the thought of people trying to follow that in my area

You'd be trapped for hours, circling the block and waiting for someone to move their car away 😅


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 11:55 am
funkmasterp, matt_outandabout, dissonance and 1 people reacted
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I think (don’t quote me) that there’s a new additional tax based on vehicle weight that came in last year (I think) it’s pretty punitive.

Kei class FTW!

It’s always someone else’s fault. How about housebuyers and tenants don’t choose to live somewhere where they can’t park their car safely? Or how about they match their transport to where they live?

But that's exactly what they're doing!

I don't agree with any of this BTW but you're just reinforcing the original point. These new estates are built entirely car-centrically with no public transport links and no active travel options. Oh they are supposed to have a token cycle path or something but often that gets pushed back to "phase two" or beyond that funnily enough never materialises. So really, yes, it IS someone elses fault, it's poor planning criteria and poor enforcement. People have to live somewhere, I'm sure as hell going to avoid all these pitfalls if I can help it but not everyone is as proactive. Right now there is a complete absence of both carrot and stick and the horse is lost somewhere in a patch of thistles.

@thisisnotaspoon if you dip into the EV thread I posted a link last night to a load of DVLA stats if you want to put your spreadsheet ****er hat on and do some diving, you might find the info you're looking for.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 12:32 pm
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I love all the ‘artist’s impressions’ of new build estates.. a car here and there, a family running with a kite down the road, holding hands and laughing, people cycling everywhere, flocks of songbirds in the mature trees, and beautiful warm sunshine…

Reality...

https://twitter.com/PlanningShit/status/1671757353018880000?t=easvkkyIBHyFzkRQ7Pw-Zg&s=19


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 12:38 pm
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The estate where I live had 2 car parking spaces per house/flat. It also has the Metro and Buses at the end of the road.

There is a bike lane on a wide pavement. The problem is some people built extensions on there parking space and many residents choose to park on car on the road/pavement to avoid having to move the other car to get onto the road. Not many houses have more than 2 cars.

It also has mature trees not all new builds look like the picture above.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 12:46 pm
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You should have to prove you have a parking space before you buy a car.  As you do in Japan.

Either you chose a house with a space or you apply for an onsteeet space. If councils control on street parking and only issue as many permits as spaces, it would start to erode the car culture assumptions we have.

Some places in the UK are doing better. the Nottingham workplace parking levy charges city centre employers £500 per space but has put the £90 million raised (over 10years) into the tram and other public transport. Fewer people drive (or need to drive) to work in the city.

Which is the nub. Better public transport is needed.

@binners have you considered a Hebden Brudge solution? Club together and buy a small plot with enough spaces for you and your neighbours. Or club together and get a car club going so a few of you can get rid of your least used vehicle. Saves money and space.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 12:49 pm
funkmasterp reacted
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not all new builds look like the picture above.

Many do though - follow @PlanningShit on Twitter for lots of examples!


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 12:51 pm
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As explained earlier, driving on the pavement is illegal, which makes it impossible to legally drive onto the pavement in the first place, so it was never considered in law.

How do I get to park on my drive then?


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 12:51 pm
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I'm a fairly easy going person but must admit I'm guilty of pushing a pushchair along the side of a car (BMW obvs) that would park on the pavement on the brow of a hill.  No idea what their thought process was or if there even was one to be honest...

Left some fairly sizeable gouges too but **** em.

On that same street, they were planning on building 3 new 4 bed homes, with 1 parking space for each of them.  Thankfully it got rejected until they put 2 spaces in for each house.  Which as others have said isn't really enough...

If you park on the pavement the pavement side of your vehicle is fair game for "incidental damage" as far as I'm concerned.

"New" estates seem to be particularly bad for it too without the "there were a lot less cars" excuse of Terraced Streets.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:07 pm
funkmasterp reacted
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How do I get to park on my drive then?
is this a trick question & you can't actually drive and don't even have a car? (as this would explain your complete ignorance of the Highway Code 😉)


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:08 pm
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not all new builds look like the picture above.

No, but none of them ever look as idyllic as the artist's impressions suggest they will be like.

How do I get to park on my drive then?

Boringly, you can drive over a pavement with a dropped kerb.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:10 pm
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You can drive across the pavement if you have a dropped kerb to reach your drive.  Not the same as pavement parking.

On new builds - a development of flats near me that is about 15 years old has 0.6 parking spaces per flat


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:11 pm
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On artists impressions - another development near me on the side of the old dock basin had images of speedboats and sailing boats on the basin.  There is no access to the sea any more as the swing bridge has not opened for 40+ years.  the only way you could get a boat in there would be by road and crane adn the only place you could go is round and round the basin which is a few hundred m long


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:13 pm
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Binners – I do get it. Car drivers think they can do what they want and sod anyone else. I’m suprised at you tho 🙂 Not very socialist not wanting to share 🙂

*sigh*

Let me try and explain this as simply as possible

I live in an area of Victorian-built terraced streets with a narrow road and wide pavements on both sides of the road.

All the local residents know the score. If you park on one side of the road, no kerbs involved, if you park on the other side of the road then you need to bump your wheels onto the kerb by a few inches to allow single file traffic through

There is nowhere else exceptthe street to park your car in our area. And I do mean NOWHERE!

This still leaves ample room on the pavement to get a pushchair or wheelchair though, not that you ever see either on our steep residential road

At no point (unless you’re a total bell end) does anyone ‘block’ the pavement

Clear?

It’s born of necessity and inconveniences no one … well… apart from you, apparently 😂

The next thing we’ll have is you telling us all to get EV’s where there’s no off road parking anywhere and you can rarely park within 100 yards of your house

Oh… and before you say we don’t need cars, public transport in the area is non-existent!


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:13 pm
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There is nowhere else exceptthe street to park your car in our area. And I do mean NOWHERE!

Shame - have to park further away then

its still no excuse to block pavements and as above - what about those who need to walk side by side?  Double buggies?  The blind? there is never any excuse for pavement parking and I am glad the ban is going to be enforced in Scotland( hopefully)


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:16 pm
Pauly, funkmasterp and jeffl reacted
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binners have you considered a Hebden Brudge solution? Club together and buy a small plot with enough spaces for you and your neighbours

A plot of land? Around us? It’s streets full of Victorian terraces. There’s no plots of land anywhere and if there was it’d be snaffled up by property developers for 100 times what we could afford to pay for it


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:18 pm
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Kei class FTW!

I'm totally for that. Having had kids learn to drive, our second vehicle child just be a local wagon and an electric Kei car would be the shizzle for us.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:18 pm
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Shame – have to park further away then

Nah… I’ll just park on the pavement 🤪

its still no excuse to block pavements and as above – what about those who need to walk side by side? Double buggies? The blind?

If you can push a double buggy with two small children and some shopping up the 25% gradient from the town centre to our house, without having a heart attack, I’ll sell my car 😂


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:19 pm
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On that same street, they were planning on building 3 new 4 bed homes, with 1 parking space for each of them. Thankfully it got rejected until they put 2 spaces in for each house. Which as others have said isn’t really enough…

This is a catch-22 though. New builds are supposed to be incentivising a lower-car lifestyle, they're supposed to be considered alongside facilities (shops, schools, Dr, etc) and they're supposed to be integrated into local transport measures (bus, tram etc) and to provide active travel infrastructure while also discouraging rampant car ownership.

Naturally of course very little of this materialises. The developer will promise a bike lane which will get progressively watered down until it's little more than a dark alleyway which rapidly accrues dog shit and needles and broken glass and no cyclist would ever use. The council is supposed to introduce a new bus service but "cost/efficiency/resources" mean that never happens. The supermarket is not interested in opening a small branch to cater for 100 people in a new build estate so it builds an out of town behemoth 3 miles away next to a dual carriageway.

And you've created a car-centric world - more than that you've created a world where you HAVE to own a car. Or two. Multiply this up by '000's all over the country since the 60's/70's and that's where we've ended up.

My sister lived (very briefly) in such a development and it was horrible. Every morning, a queue of cars from the estate would be trying to get out onto the main road, every evening there'd be queues and near misses on the main road as everyone tried to turn back into the estate. The supermarket was "only" a mile away - but with no pavement for some of the trip and on said busy main road. It had no cycle parking. A car was essential. It was terrible design. But a combination of developers seeking maximum profit and inept/ineffective council controls meant it got the go-ahead.

And adding in 2 or 3 free all-inclusive car parking spaces per home simply incentives more car ownership.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:23 pm
Pauly, ratherbeintobago, doris5000 and 1 people reacted
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If you can push a double buggy with two small children and some shopping up the 25% gradient from the town centre without having a heart attack I’ll sell my car 😂

Mrs_oab is a independent and determined woman. She was known for pushing our double buggy with kids and shopping up our old street.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:27 pm
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Nah… I’ll just park on the pavement 🤪

*adds Binners to the list*


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:33 pm
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The problem with scratching the **** out of cars parked on the pavement is that the owners don't realise they've been scratched because they were parked on the pavement...

In any case, this is all tedious bollocks. The more important question is this: where am I going to park the trailer for my battleship if I can't park it on the pavement? There is literally no battleship trailer parking anywhere on my estate.


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:39 pm
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Mrs_oab is a independent and determined woman. She was known for pushing our double buggy with kids and shopping up our old street

With the greatest respect to Mrs_oab, our street is a damn site steeper than that.

It’s part of the national hillclimb series, as TJ well knows because he’s endured the hell of riding up it

Nobody is going to be pushing a double buggy or a wheelchair up there, believe me!


 
Posted : 27/07/2023 1:40 pm
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