Don’t understand this?

Footways are for people and carriageways are for cars, there's a clue in the names. And yet it seems that this is all too difficult for the Council in Stroud in Gloucestershire. Parking on the footway can mean that mothers with children and people in wheelchairs have to walk/wheel in traffic to get by and if you're in a wheelchair you may have to backtrack several hundred yards to find somewhere where the kerb is low enough to get down. Residents have formed a group called POP (People On Pavements) to campaign against this anti-social behaviour. They are mounting a campaign asking locals to photograph offenders; these will be put on display and people will be asked to vote for the worst offender who will be given a "Biggest Plonker" award.

Council Parking manager Jim Daniels who I suspect neither uses a wheelchair or pushes a baby buggy too often, said that "The county council could impose a Traffic Regulation Order preventing parking on pavements and this is something we could consider for areas where there is a real problem. However, it would be impossible to impose a blanket ban for the whole county as this would reduce parking spaces and make the lack of availability a very real issue". Mr Daniels or his legal advisor perhaps needs a little more on the job training. Section 72 of the Highways Act 1835 makes it an offence to wilfully drive a carriage of any description on the footway. So what Mr Daniels seems to be saying is that he is happy to be complicit in condoning an unlawful act for the convenience of car owners even if it inconveniences pedestrians and puts their lives at risk. Nice one Mr D.

 

Comments

[Paul Barter]

I totally agree. This post prompted me to do a little searching on walkway parking. This seems to be an issue almost everywhere. I quoted you in the resulting post: http://www.reinventingparking.org/2010/09/walkway-parking-problem-almost.html

Thanks!