Pavement Parking. Grrrr!

I don’t know about you, but pavement parking makes me fume! As far as I’m concerned, the pavement’s over here, for me and my family to walk on. Road’s over there, for you to park your car on. Simple! Can’t fit your car on your front drive without being halfway across the pavement? Get a smaller car of a bigger front garden. Can’t find a parking space? The pavement’s not the place to go. Makes me especially angry when it’s outside the school, so that bone idle parents don’t have to walk too far, poor things!..
What do you think?

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Totally agree. I always thought that this became an offence which could be given a fine several years ago but nobody seems to have taken much notice. People parking in front of my driveway is equally irritating - my ex neighbours (now moved) visitors always used to block my driveway even when there was room to park outside my neighbours house. Sometimes I used to take my car out for a drive even when I didn’t need to just so they had to move and to make a point!

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I’m with you both on this one!! We had neighbours like yours Roz and I used to go out to get them to move the car! When our kids learned to drive we had the curb lowered and the front garden pebbled so they didn’t have to park on the road in front of the neighbours. Now they’ve left home we often get people parking on our dropped curb. I did hear of someone getting fined for this quite recently though.

I live in a very narrow close with large wide grass verges. We had someone park in the close and of course no one could get out or get in. So in protest some of the neighbours parked behind the car.

So when the owner returned much much later that evening (it had been left there for nearly 7 hours).

He had to knock on all 16 houses to ask people to back out of the close so he could then get out. You can image he got it in the ear from every single house owner, for blocking access to our driveways.

Lucky for me I didn’t need to drive any where that day as my car was blocked on the driveway.

While I sympathise with people who find their drives blocked, my issue really is that the pavement is the last refuge of the pedestrian- you should be able to walk in safety and not be forced to go in single file (or onto the road) so that some selfish driver can annex the pavement. I was standing outside the school today and some driver asked me to move so he could park on the footpath. I held out as long as I could but I had to go and fetch B… I know it’s against the law but no-one seems to do anything about it.

It doesn’t bother me if the pavement is wide enough for a wheelchair to pass with ease. But when someone uses the whole pavement so you can’t walk through even in single file let alone get a wheelchair or buggy through then that really annoys me.

I can’t believe someone asked you to move :open_mouth:

I once reported someone for parking on the pavement. It was by my children’s school, and they had parked so far over that you couldn’t walk on the remaining pavement, let alone get a pushchair through. About an hour later, I drove past the school, and to my amazement saw a car load of police officers going door-to-door, pointing at the car. When I came back, it had a large parking ticket stuck to it. It never reappeared.

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I don’t understand how people can park outside schools let alone outside the school on the pavement. From what I see when out walking the dog schools still have the restricted parking signs and no parking signs outside them.

But you should see what it’s like outside the private school just down the road I’m suprised no one’s been killed.

Poor little rich kids don’t have legs anymore so mummy has to pickup Johnny by parking two abreast outside the main entrance or on the pavement up against the school’s big brick wall.

If you report bad parking outside a school, the Police will make a visit, but as soon as they’ve gone, it’s back to normal. The person who asked me to move was quite rude when I didn’t- asked me how old I was as I should know I couldn’t stop his car. Of course I thought of a retort afterwards “How old are you if you can’t tell the difference between a road and a pavement?” Idiot man… I’d love to go by the school and see someone get a ticket.

I think the laws about parking on the pavement vary from one council to the next but I do know you shouldn’t park where you’ll block a dropped kerb do the owner can’t get on/off their drive (my mum has recently had trouble with a neighbour who wanted the whole end of their cul-de-sac double yellow lined so he could do a fancy 20 point turn to reverse up his drive instead of driving straight in like a ‘normal’ driver!) our village school is down a narrow road and parents have been banned from parking down there due to residents getting fed up of inconsiderate parking ( I’ve even heard of a parent asking someone to move his van from the end of his own drive so she could park to pick up her children!) but many still go down there.

I had a similar issue with a pavement being blocked the other morning. It was a window cleaner who had parked his van over the pavement and on the grass, so all I could do would be to walk on the road (a fast main road) with a buggy and three children in tow (two under 4) or drag the buggy around the vans open door and up a very steep bank, whilst trying not to tip my very ill daughter out of the buggy and trusting my 9 yr old with his three year old brother by the road. I chose the dragging option, as the van was parked on a blind corner and we couldn’t see round to walk in the road into the traffic. The man who was washing windows ‘kindly’ lifted the hose, which was at waist height to me, so I could ‘limbo’ backwards up the slope whilst dragging the buggy. I ended up really hurting myself in the process and feeling very stressed.
Some people really don’t think about the consequences of their actions. I am glad it was me and not one of my neighbours who need to use mobility scooters. I don’t know how they would have managed.

I used to live next to a school and not only did the parents block my drive (there was no car on it) once someone actually parked on my drive, ie, fully on my property next to my lawn! When I remonstrated she said she didn’t think anyone lived there - she didn’t apologise either.

I’m afraid that when some people get in a vehicle, they’re in their own little world where no-one exists except themselves. Jacqueline, that’s exactly the sort of situation that would make me apoplectic with rage! I would have given him an earful! Bring in on the spot fines for vehicles obstructing footpaths! Have pedestrians no rights? The answer, unfortunately, is, no they don’t.

The estate I live on (in a rural area) has very narrow roads, so people do park half-on/off the pavement too. If they didn’t a car could maybe just about squeeze past but no vans/lorries or emergency vehicles could. The same with some narrow roads on bus routes - if they didn’t park half on the pavement the bus wouldn’t get through. We are talking residents here mainly though rather than visitors, so we are all used to doing it and accept it’s just part of the bad design of the estate.

Well, I was a bit cross, but was more worried about my young children unattended by the road whilst I was dragging the pram backwards up the steep slope. I was muttering VERY loudly whilst struggling though.

People park very badly at our local school too. Every so often, the local police or a traffic warden turns up unannounced and has ‘little chats’ with the offenders and give out tickets where needed. Must be very frustrating for the people who live on that road.

I have to admit to pulling over to half of the pavement to send a text, but I didn’t park up and stay there. But other than that yes it is annoying. I try not to park on pavements as Im more than aware its tough to get buggies and kids past the cars.

It’s funny this should come up! On my way to work this morning I had to walk in the road because a car was parked completely on the pavement. Looks like they did it because there were double yellow lines on the road, but I’m guessing the double yellow lines don’t mean you should park on the pavement instead :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’ve just discovered this…


Quite a diverting read… :slight_smile:

Its all to do with inconsiderate drivers.
I was at my weekly market today in Wells and I have to park down a street outside people’s houses. I always park considerately, making sure I don’t park in front of peoples driveways etc.
When I came back this afternoon a volvo had parked in front of me, which meant there was no way the owner of the house could get out their driveway.
I would of been fuming if I was that home owner!!