Pavement Parking Problems 

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You missed one: Rule 145. You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.

There are too many cars now on UK roads now, and common sense tells you this can’t continue. There will always be people who show little regard for anyone but themselves, who seem to have no awareness of there surroundings when they stop their car. Just wait until the charging leads start crossing the footpaths!

Ashley: if you can’t park safely, find a different space and walk. Drivers: you want me to do what?! Thanks for highlighting this issue. A lot of comes down to driver entitlement and decades of car dependent policy.

"[if not possible] find a different space and walk". I am constantly amazed by the number of fit, healthy people who are apparently incapable of doing this or even considering it. It's almost as if walking 10 or 20 yards is inconceivable for some people.

With regards to the Highway Code, rule 145 says "You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency." In order to be parking on the pavement one must necessarily have driven on or over it...

I'm a wheelchair user, and I would love it if a law was brought in to say that you must leave at least 1m of pavement clear for pedestrians/wheelchair users/pushchairs etc. I get that there are some roads where parking partially on the pavement is necessary, but some people definitely take it to extremes!

Story in Scotland a few months ago where a 90 year old man on a motability scooter had to go into the road cause he couldn't pass a car parked on the pavement but on the way to the road the scooter tipped over and he fell into the road. I'll never get over the laziness of some drivers, unwilling to park somewhere else and walk

"... and if this isn't possible find a different space, and walk." Sound advice, and it's something I do, but witnessing the Zoo that is parking near the entrance of my local supermarket, it seems most people would rather trade paint than walk.

It is an offence to drive on to a pavement, contrary to s.72 of the Highway Act 1835 and s.34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988). Rule 145 of the Highway Code states You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency

Thanks for this one! I can drive but because of where I live I have no need for a car. Therefore I'm a pedestrian for much of the time and some drivers seem determined to park *as close as possible* to the building they wish to visit with no apparent thought for any other road or pavement user. It's very frustrating!

Excellent video. Perhaps the best bit for me was one way traffic solutions. I am blind and live in a Victorian terrace. The road is wide enough for people to park fully on the road on both sides (although there is one entitled ignoramus who parks his truck at 45 degrees across the pavement) but the result is that two-way traffic is almost impossible. There are 4 parallel roads in this block so it would be easy to introduce a looped one way system pairing the roads which would be safer for everybody. The local authority are simply not interested because this is not the wealthy side of town. They are happy to spend taxpayers money in the leafier suburbs where their voters are but don't give a sh!t about the older parts of town. Poliitics and public service have become divorced bedfellows.

Regarding the rule 242 "contradiction": the pavement is part of the road, thus an unnecessary obstruction of the pavement is an unnecessary obstruction of the road by definition.

I like the Japanese take on it. If you want a car. Your proposed parking area will be measured and you can only buy a car that will fit into your space.

Thanks for clarifying the Scottish situation at the end of this video. I came across a large Merc (of course!) parked almost entirely on the pavement on the opposite side of the road to everyone else, despite there being plenty of space to park normally. My guess is that they wanted to park bang outside the house they were visiting and minimising the distance they had to walk to the front door... 🙄

You missed one out Ashley, they had to drive on the pavement to actually park. 145. You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.

There's a gym near me with a large public carpark on the opposite side of the road yet the gym users feel entitled to park across the pavement forcing pedestrians to walk into the road, there's even parking restrictions shown and duly ignored. At a guess it's often leg day for the gym queens who are unable to walk far after a good session of running in the mirror...

"Find a different space and walk" LOL. How many drivers who park on the pavement walk more that 30m. 🙂 Also tradesmen and their vans. I get it that they may have some tools to unload but once that's done why not move the van to a more suitable parking place?

As a wheelchair user I would like say thankyou! It's truly amazing how many will park completely blocking the pavement, or right next to a lamppost so not enough room for me to pass, forcing me into the road, which on busy roads is dangerous for me and frustrating for drivers. Another annoyance is those who insist on parking across the drop kerbs, blocking access to/from pavement.

7:05 that has happened to me a few times on driving lessons. I get my pupil to pull over and someone parks in their "usual" space, blocking the road. Occasionally people get arsey when we're parked in "their" space too... After living in the Netherlands, it's obvious to me that there absolutely are solutions to this, but the government can't be bothered. What they do differently is: 1. They redesign roads where the design no longer meets modern standards (e.g. in my area there are a few roads with absurdly wide pavements but no purpose-built street parking). 2. They design streets to avoid conflict as much as reasonably possible (e.g. making streets one--way, as mentioned in the video). Parking on main roads isn't allowed unless there is properly designed parking that doesn't interfere with any other function of the street. Meeting situations are rare which probably reduces the likelihood of damage to parked cars. Every activity/function of streets usually have their own place, so on a typical main road you'd have car lanes, cycle paths, pavements and parking, all separated to reduce conflict, rather than shared-use everything in this country. 3. They enforce parking rules much more strictly. 4. In areas with very limited parking, resident permit systems are used to control the number of parked cars. 5. New housing developments have purpose-built parking. Some areas even have a surplus of parking. In the UK, most new build estates (at least in my area) only have 1 parking space per house, which clearly doesn't work in a car-centric country. There is rarely proper street parking so it shouldn't be surprising that people park all over the place. 5. There are excellent alternatives to driving to avoid car ownership (including car sharing services such as Greenwheels). Because drivers are used to parking in purpose-built spaces, almost nobody is in the habit of dumping their car wherever they like. My area (Coventry, Nuneaton and Bedworth) is absolutely full of streets with terraced houses and no actual parking spaces, to the point where it's difficult to find cars to practice parallel parking because they're all dumped on the pavement or verge. There are constant meeting situations everywhere. Even my local test centre doesn't have parking spaces so you have to park on the street, blocking half of it.

Not nice for the residents perhaps but what about double yellows up one side? We none of us have a right to park on a specific piece of road like outside our house. I believe that in Tokyo they have laws about not having a car unless you have somewhere off road to park. That would not be popular so no politition is likely to do that. Speaking as a not young pedestrian with a shopping barrow and a council tax payer, pavement parking should be banned even if it means allocating resident parking areas with the consequence of less houses. One last thought, is not driving on the footway unlawful? You have to drive there in order to park there. If it is not unlawful then why can't we cycle on the footway? Whats the difference?

i remember walking down a main road where i live, to find a woman pushing a 'side by side' buggy, stuck by a van which had been lazily parked on the pavement, and it was clear with the van half out in the road there was no way her buggy would fit without also being partly in the oncoming lane so i ended up walking out into oncoming traffic in order to stop the flow in both directions so this poor woman could get her buggy past, there were a few angry honks of the horn and shouted abuse from the drivers aimed at me until they saw what i was doing and even then one idiot on a moped decided to simply overtake everything stationary and blaze past us putting the woman, her kids and myself at risk , but once she was safely past everyone went about their day. but for one moment i held up one of the busiest roads in my city inconveniencing dozens of people, just because some inconsiderate driver had plonked his van on the pavement

One cannot drive on a pavement unless it is to gain lawful access, a driveway for example, so how does one park on a pavement without illegally driving onto a pavement?

My pet peeve is cars parking right next to you in a public car park say a supermarket, after I have intentionally parked miles away from the entrance in an empty car park to avoid door damage, trolly damage etc, only to find a car parked right next to me!

Looking at the bigger picture, it's interesting to note how drivers often get upset at pedestrians crossing the road in front of them (particularly at side streets and even with the new HC changes). And yet, drivers have no qualms about taking up pavement space that's supposed to be reserved for pedestrians. Drivers, you can't have it both ways! And aren't all drivers pedestrians at some point?

It is also worth noting that the construction of the roads and footpaths are different in order to take the weight and stress for the intended traffic. In general the main carriageway is designed to carry the full weight of Cars and large lorries. The footpath on the side of the road is not built to the same standard and is only designed to accept the weight of pedestrian traffic. …. So if you ask you local council to put in a drop kerb to allow you to drive onto your driveway they should also dig up the footpath and build it to a stronger design to allow for the extra weight of your car. This is to stop you crushing the electric cables and gas pipes that are laid under the Footway. [in effect the Footway is converted into a drive way entrance] …. So when you see cars bumped up onto the Footway they are technically damaging the Footway. but in most cases the extra weight of the odd car won’t make much difference. It is when you see a large truck or lorry on the footpath that is of a real concern. …. But saying that… [6:10 in this vid you can see a BT manhole] The manhole covers in footpath are not designed to accept the weight of any vehicle whatsoever, so you if you park with your wheel on one of these you could break it and cause the manhole cover to collapse. … So if there is a manhole outside where you want to put a new driveway, they will either have to move the manhole to the side or replace the cover with a reinforced type designed to accept the weight of heavy traffic.

There is no silver bullet, that would fix the problem immediately, but there are solutions that can be implemented slowly. There are 3 main actions that are all part of the solution 1. Reduce the need for on-street parking. This boils down to couple of different things. Most people, that need a car, should have their own space (on their driveway or garage). This is possible in most suburban and urban settings, but not everywhere. There are reasons why on-street parking is needed, like parking space for visitors, or not having a driveway or parking garage nearby while needing a car for work. But if you have a driveway or garage, keep your cars there. Garages and driveways are for storing cars, not other stuff. 2. More efficient use of space. Could the street be one way street, eliminating the need for passing places? Could you permit parking only on one side of the road? Could you build dedicated passing places, and have rest of the road with parking on 1 or both sides? Would it be better to have 1 unobstructed sidewalk instead of 2 obstructed ones? 3. Reduce the need for car use/ownership. Do you really need 3 cars, or could you get away with 2 or even 1. Offering alternative means of transportation (cycling, public transit etc.) reduces the need for car ownership in general, thus lowering the need for parking. Most people don't own a car, because they like them. Most people will use the most convenient transport option available, and it doesn't matter wether it's a car, bike, bus, train or their own feet. Also, building future developements in a way, where people in general have shorter trips to work, shops, school etc. will also reduce the need for car ownership and parking. None of these can be done overnight, but they can be done as the roads are resurfaced. Opposition to change should be weak, if the change benefits all parties. As a personal note, if I know that I need a car for my work or lifestyle, I make sure I have a dedicated space for it either on my driveway or garage. Lucily, where I live, parking on the pavement is illegal, and most people keep cars on their property.

At 6:02, the Mondeo Estate parked taking up that much pavement and at an angle like that is unbelievably lazy. I'm not sure if the situation with adjacent cars was different when they arrived to what's in the video but either way, absolutely no excuse to park in such a lazy selfish way.

Australian authorities here in our cities like Sydney have it all sorted out with signs designating where you can't park & where you can, especially in the inner suburbs with narrow streets (usually made one-way with either parking limited to one side, or none at all). Parking on footpaths is illegal for the reasons you described, & is enforced by police, parking-officers, & council-rangers, providing a good source of revenue from the mugs who choose to flaunt the rules (usually because they're to lazy to walk)!

Pavement parking is usually a form of bullying. The victims are the weakest in society (the old, children, and the disabled) and the bullies are those able to afford and drive a car.

As a wheelchair user you can imagine my views on this... Parking on the pavement is not the same as blocking a pavement..... Not far from my home people park 50/50 that's fine I can fit.... Till they don't consider the massive telegraph pole also on the pavement (reduced width) ect. And yes I have been wedged before now because I could fit going into the gap but because the vehicle was not parked straight then you can guess the rest... So please THINk or WALK that extra 10 feet.

As a driver I’m not parking my car on a pavement because I don’t want it damaged. If someone completely blocks the pavement they deserve to have their car keyed same with those assholes that park on dropped kerbs blocking people’s drive

In Japan and several cities in America it is actually illegal to park on any residential street. And especially in Japan, if you don't have a garage, or parking pad, covered driveway off the road you are not even permitted to purchase a vehicle unless you can prove you have someone to store it. People around where I live, not only don't park on the sidewalk, they park 1 to 2 feet away making the road VERY narrow to pass. and no one does anything about it. There is also a law here that you can't leave your vehicle parked for more than 72 hours, and any neighborhood with an HOA will enforce that rule with impunity. Even if the garages built these days are too short to park most vehicles, while claiming its a 2 car garage. Yeah maybe if you owned 2 VW Beetles.

With local councils and police forces massively underfunded, it doesn't really matter what's advisory, illegal, dangerous or selfish. With little chance of being caught and penalised, many people seem do whatever they like on the roads these days.

It's the sorta thing you don't think too much of until you're ever about with somebody in a wheelchair. Then frankly you just want to dynamite half the cars for how thoughtless and selfish the drivers clearly were ...

I live in a cul-de-sac which has a very narrow road and there’s a couple of large Mercedes works Sprinter vans, that park on the pavement. They’re a bloody nuisance 🤬

*Obstructing the Highway* Highway Act (HiA) 1980 §137: “Penalty for wilful obstruction. (1) If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to [F1imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or] a fine [F2or both].” The footway is part of the Highway, so to prevent free flow along the footway is to obstruct the highway.This amounts to a MUST. HiA 333: "No provision of this Act relating to obstruction of or other interference with highways is to be taken to affect any right of a highway authority or other person under any enactment not contained in this Act, or under any rule of law, to remove an obstruction from a highway or otherwise abate a nuisance or other interference with the highway, or to affect the liability of any person under such an enactment or rule to proceedings (whether civil or criminal) in respect of any such obstruction or other interference.". Common Law nuisance (see, for example _Pratt and Mackenzie’s Law of Highways_ ) applies to _actual_ obstruction, so if you obstruct the footway your vehicle may be towed away. The law trumps Highway Code (HC) _shoulds_ . Laws are logical unions, so just because one law does not expressly make something an offence does not mean another does not. So, Road Traffic Act 1988 §22 (referred to in HC242) does not give permission to contravene HiA 1980 §137 on obstructing the Highway. Just because London has created a special law making it explicit that footway parking is illegal does not imply it is legal in the rest of the country. And just because you cannot find somewhere legal to park that you deem (personally consider) suitable does not give permission to obstruct the highway. The comment 1:55 ". . . the pavement is the only place to park without obstructing the carriageway . . ." is wrong - it assumes a right which does not exist in law. 7:50 gives an example where “any vehicle that's not parked on the pavement partially would not leave enough room for any other vehicle to pass on the road.” It is an offence to park on the road as it would obstruct the highway, and it is also an offence to park on the footway as it would obstruct the highway. But, we can see vehicles parked off road in such a way that there is no obstruction to the highway - so the suggestion that the only solution is footway parking is clearly false. 8:02 There is a suggestion that parking on the footway (and obstructing pedestrians) is better than obstructing vehicles. PEDESTRIANS COME FIRST. We are all pedestrians, or assisted pedestrians (e.g. wheelchairs) at some point, and only motorists for short periods of our lives. In any case - both obstructions are equally illegal. *Driving on the Footway* It is illegal to drive on the footway (except to access property) as laid down in Highway Act 1835: “LXXII Penalty on Persons committing Nuisances by riding on Footpaths, &c ; by injuring the Road ; by damaging Banks, Causeways, Direction Posts, Milestones, &c. ; by making Fires ; by baiting Bulls ; by laying Timber, &c. ; by running of Filth. “And be it further enacted, That if any Person shall wilfully ride upon any Footpath or Causeway by the Side of any Road made or set apart for the Use or Accommodation of Foot Passengers ; or shall wilfully lead or drive any Horse, Ass, Sheep, Mule, Swine, or Cattle, or Carriage of any Description, or any Truck or Sledge upon any such Footpath or Causeway ; or shall tether any Horse, Ass, Mule, Swine, or Cattle on any Highway, so as to suffer or permit the tethered Animal to be thereon ; or shall cause any Injury or Damage to be done to the said Highway, … “ *Solutions* There _are_ solutions to this: obey the law, do not drive on the footway, and do not obstruct the footway. If you cannot park close to home then find somewhere else to park, or see how you can change your life to live it without a car. I am also appalled that at 8:46 AN, a driving instructor, advises on how best to drive illegally on the footway.

My son is in an electric wheelchair pavement parking is a nightmare we can be walking to the park and we need to cross using zebra crossing’s, but unfortunately due to pavement parking this makes it extremely difficult. There’s not enough dropped kerbs so we can safely get around these vehicles, and with his chair being slow due to him being 2 that increases the danger because we are in the road longer. I’ve also reported this problem to the council and police but it’s fallen on deaf ears, I genuinely don’t know what to do?

In the US, there are sometimes residential roads that are narrow, and we usually ban parking on one side of the street. This allows traffic to flow and still allow adequate parking. Of course, we never allow parking up on the pavement/sidewalk or parking against the flow of traffic.

It's rather a pain when I'm out running to have people pavement park. The 'door zone' still applies so it breaks your tempo to have people park inconsiderately.

I think it becomes habit for some people who always park with two wheels on the pavement even where there is plenty of width in the carriageway.

One thing that people seem to forget is that the “road“ that you’re not allowed to obstruct includes the pavement. That’s part of the roadway too. You’re not allowed to obstruct it, by law.

Glad you brought this up, I was walking home from work just before Christmas and a delivery driver down the road decided the best place he could park his Transit van was right on the path blocking it completely, so when I got to the van I shouted him over and politely asked him to move it, to which he replied "I'll only be 5 minutes" I wasn't going to wait so I told him to move it or I'll be walking over it. Not impressed with what I said he responded with "walk over it and I'll knock you out" but as soon as I heard walk over it I got straight to it, jumping onto his bonnet and then casually walked over his roof.. I could have walked around it sure, but why should I have to walk into a busy road because some selfish idiot??

"Find a different space, and walk". Fantastic advice, and would also help the obesity problem in the UK. There's a community centre on my road, and needless to say, people attending various groups & events all park as close as possible, even if that means double parking, on the pavement, parking right on the corner and blocking residents' driveways; I've had to contact them a few times to get someone to move their car. One of the nights they host is for a weight watchers type group... ;)

I can safely say I would not want to be a wheelchair used in today's day and age. I cannot imagine the difficulties they must sometimes face simply for wanting to have a wander in their local area.

Ash , If the road is like you say with one parked 2 wheels on the pavement , otherside cars in the curb , the road NEEDS to be made ONE way ! I have the same where I live ..

In order to park on a pavement a vehicle is (albeit for a short duration) being driven on a pavement, according to the law this must not be done. So there you go, that's another dilemma.

Another thing that motorists should think about when parking in residential areas, is access for emergency services.

I use a mobility scooter and face this on a daily basis. Especially from shop owners who park their cars fully on the pavement. I have begun to take photos and send in to parking officers. I will continue to do so as it is totally unsafe for me to drive on pavement. So if your parking on a pavement leave room for us disabled people and people with prams.

I have a theory that pavement parking started with cars getting alloy wheels and low profile tyres. Before you could rub the tyres on the kerb when parking without problems, but alloys get ground up if you misjudge it. So people started putting two wheels on the pavement to save their alloys. Over the years I have noticed they park further and further on to the pavement to protect their cars from passing traffic. It's now so bad near me that cyclists are having to go back on the road because they can't get through on the pavement any more!

Controversial but perhaps we could learn from Japan? There it's basically no parking space = no car. We could have: residents on street parking = 1 car, driveway for 1 car and room for on-street parking = 2 cars, single car driveway on a narrow road = 1 car etc.

Where I live, the house opposite mine is owned by a professional football club and new signings live there until they're settled in the area. One of them often parks on the pavement outside my front door and I would regularly get notes from an unknown neighbor asking me to move the car (which wasn't mine anyway as I already have a driveway) but at first I'd ignore them...until my partner arrived home from work and the neighbor confronted her, demanding she move the car, refusing to listen to reason when he was told it wasn't ours. Now we know who this person is, we realised the only reason he was angry that the car was on the pavement was because he couldn't park on the pavement on the opposite side of the road, meaning he had to walk an extra 15m to his house 🤦‍♂

My daughter uses a wheelchair to get about and pavement parking is the bane of her life. The other thing that grinds is the number of ablebodied drivers that use disabled parking bays. "I'll only be a minute" in which time the disabled driver has had to park further away in a narrow bay.

Ashley you seem to forget to mention the following motoring law: You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency. So if you have parked on a pavement you have broken the law to do so, and driving back off it to go onto the road is also an illegal. If the road is not wide enough for you to be able to park your car legally then you shouldn't park in that road - no argument.

In some cases I've heard of councils buying part of the front gardens of houses in order to widen the road/pavement (lots of front gardens are just ugly patios that need cleaning and are used for nothing) Another solution I've seen is to reduce a road to a single pavement on one side so that houses on the other side exit by crossing (usually works best in low traffic volume roads) An example of both is here (52°30'19.5"N 3°58'43.1"W) where as you can see one side of the road is missing their pavement and the other is missing most of their front garden. With this sacrifice the road is wide enough to accommodate two lanes and further along even two directional traffic with street parking (non-hgv).

There are a fair few roads in London that have signposted/marked pavement parking, some full vehicle, some straddling. But these are an exception and are always clearly marked. Clean Air/No idling areas are one to be aware of. Nearly got stung a couple years ago on a crazy hot day at work...went out to van to cool down with AC...5 mins later, a little tap on the window from a very angry looking warden (who turned out to be lovely). She explained the rules and was very understanding and shared a quick laugh about the paradox of me having to now keep driving round the block for my break. (I fully agree with the clean air zones, I was simply oblivious that day).

I remember me and my auntie who uses a walker nearly got ran over on the pavement cause a woman wanted to park right outside the tan shop and they put up poles to stop people from doing that, so she just tried to drive right into us like we were in the wrong.

I have to say that when it comes to pavement parking in permiited areas in London the majority that I have seen have been well planned with plenty of space for pedestrians too for the most part, parking fees not so much but each council to their own :D The council for our area go street to street to look at cleanliness of front gardens, drives and parking and will knock on the door if there is an issue that needs putting right like parking on the pavements in front of houses (not seen them do this in quite a while but it is a big area covering the whole borough). A little ironic really considering the road I live on has dedicated parking around the corner for anyone to use and it is always empty go figure and every house has a drive, even when the parking bays are full the road where the parking bays are is wide enough to park down one side without being on the pavement. I guess it is just the height of laziness to walk the extra few step to get to the front door than it is to park outside their house on the pavement.

Unfortunately, there are far more cars than cities can cope with. So the only solution, that could help with the situation a little bit, is developing and incentivising public transport to remove the need for people to own a car. However, as far as I'm aware, public transport is pretty decent in the UK anyway. So the residential roads are probably going to be filled with cars forever.

There are far too many selfish drivers on the road that only care about their own convenience and couldn't care less how it impacts anyone else.

It should be that you are allowed only if you leave enough room for a double buggy and as you say many streets being made one way would help as would clear markings. Then theres hgvs they do alot of damage to the pavement but need to deliver goods or get into somewhere tight. No easy solution and a complete bad isn't the answer for many areas.

Rule 244 is Shocking wording in my view as the “pavement” is the part of the road we drive on, the part we walk along is a “footway” so how would the law read that if brought to courts 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have a driveway. I used it. So many people don't and prefer to park on the pavement outside the house. I believe a lot of this is down to people avoiding reversing in or out of the driveway. My advise would be, don't avoid it, do it, do it everyday and in not too long you will wonder why you were afraid of reversing. My 5yo daughter used to struggle to get out of the car in the drive because of the wall on the passenger side. So I parked on the street a few times while I had her. In October the neighbour across from me, reversed out of her drive way straight into the side of my 5yo GT86Pro. Smashing in the drivers rear quarter panel. Took 12 weeks to get it fixed. I'd hate to see the bill on the insurance for that, I'm figuring £4-8k.

7:50 - I live in an area that's even narrower than this and all of the surrounding streets are the same. Good to see someone acknowledge that in some cases it's genuinely impossible not to park on the pavement. Occasionally people visiting the area cause utter chaos by parking "legally" and blocking the entire street.

Part of the problem is that so many drivers think that they MUST park outside their house, and that they have an inalienable right to do so. I frequently can't park on my road, or even within a couple of hundred metres. It's a nuisance, but it is my problem. Making it a problem for pedestrians or fire engines is not the answer. Another problem is that cars are a foot or so wider now than they were 30 years ago, many roads that were wide enough for parking and cars to pass in opposite directions aren't any more as 4ft has been lost to extra metal. And people complain about cyclists taking up space...

@6:00 The space left on the pavement was about 1500mm, which coincidentally is the minimum distance prescribed for two wheelchairs to pass and is the footpath width required from disabled parking up to the entry point in a building so that I would say that most cars parked reasonably but the black car did not. Parking on the pavement is in most cases a pragmatic solution although sometimes prohibited by law. The law unfortunately cannot account for all circumstances so in many cases it is counter productive. Many Victorian terraced streets barely have enough room to allow a car to pass between two rows of parked cars even on one way streets. the pavement widths can be only up to 1.5m wide that is technically insufficient for two passing wheelchairs but a constricted pavement can still work with a little inconvenience to the pedestrians if cars are allowed to park on the pavement. Pavement parking must be controlled to prevent abuse so that as on the continent a white line on the pavement defines the allowable parking zone and woe betide anyone parking over it. Keeping streets open for the emergency services is vital an since it is unlikely that they will use smaller vehicles for specific locations then their movement must be accounted for. We also need to accept that unless we ban car ownership in some areas parking cars is always going to need to be catered for. Pedestrians, cars, emergency vehicles and delivery trucks all have to be accommodated and within the physical constraints a compromise has to be reached with the least problem for all those users. One radical option could be that properties on affected streets could be demolished and carking courts could be created for residents and visitors cars.

I know mum always said that if you couldn't park off the road (ie up the front of your house or in a garage) you shouldn't have a car at all, as wise as she was I always felt that a little harsh; especially now that I know people who need a car to be able to get out. I'm lucky now in that I do rent a garage so my car is off road locked up behind locked gates too.

It may well be true that the only way to park a car without impeding the flow of traffic is to park on the pavement. HOWEVER it is also true that legitimate pavement users impede the flow of traffic themselves when they are forced to walk slowly in the road by selfish, lazy, inconsiderate and ignorant operators of silly metal boxes-on-wheels. We get aggressively beeped, threatened and yelled at by those drivers who consider we should not be walking on 'their' road - while these same drivers beep, threaten and yell at us if we are using the pavement when they want to drive onto it. Talk about damned if we do and damned if we don't! In many areas, the pavements are barely wide enough to be used safely by a single pushchair or wheelchair even before a car or other vehicle gets anywhere near it, and surfaces are often appalling trip hazards for anyone with the slightest mobility problem. A stringently-enforced rule (with mandatory, prompt towing!) that a specified minimum width of unobstructed pavement MUST remain if it is to be used for parking would still permit pavement parking in areas where the pavements are genuinely wide enough for it to not be an issue which causes difficulty for others. I was a driver myself for almost 50 years, so I am not unsympathetic to the parking problems and frustrations faced by many people. However, frustration over parking problems should NEVER be allayed by putting others in danger purely for one's own selfish personal convenience.

A lot of people don't care, Councils and police can't be bothered. It's only gonna get worse.

What, about rule Rule 145. You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.?

You gave a solution at the end - find another space. I'd like to suggest another - if it is an area you need to get to regularly and there is no place to park reasonably, then you should not drive there.

There is a solution that has been used in Christchurch, that is to mark the limit of the parking space on the footpath, ensuring that so long as the vehicle is not parked beyond the marking sufficient space is retained for pedestrian traffic, while maximising the road width for moving traffic. I do like the idea of one-waying narrow residential street, that also helps reduce the traffic using this type of road as a rabbit run.

For me, it is context of the traffic flow, time of day and what sort of area it is. Industrial areas aren't often going to have visually-impaired people walking around, but a major high street? Absolutely.

In some cases this can be managed better. Near where I am a pavement was signed as a shared use (cycle/pedestrian) path, but historically cars parked partially on it because the road is busy and only just wide enough for two buses to pass if cars were parked wholly on the road. By marking out parking bays on the road to show that the road is wide enough and shift the virtual lanes slightly further away from the pavement, the vast majority of cars do now park wholly on the road. Obviously this only works where there is space in the first place.

This whole practice of pavement parking has become more widespread over time as cars have continued to get wider, plus car ownership has increased, requiring more curbside space to accommodate all those extra vehicles that households now own. In terms of car size, it's interesting to note that the current VW Polo is bigger than the original Golf. Ditto for the latest Ford Fiesta and original Focus. Plus we have so many more folks owning SUV's here in the UK now. Even folks who have a garage can't often fit their cars in or prefer to have their garage purely for storage or converted into some kind of living space.

What you don’t emphasise Ashley is that some people pavement park when they don’t need to. It is just a thoughtless habit when parking on the pavement is not needed.

There’s a guy in a wheelchair that lives down the road from me, he’s quite a large man as well. I walk down my road some days and look at the space, or lack of it, on the pavement and wonder what he does if he wants to nip out. He must have to go in the road or find another way.

Should be like parts of Japan where you can't get a car unless you have a parking space for it. Utilise out of town car parks so people then have to walk or cycle back home.

This is actually a simple matter - driving on pavements is illegal and therefore parking of vehicles other than motorcycles, cycles, etc. which can be pushed on to them is also illegal. You must go park elsewhere if you cannot park on the carriageway without causing an obstruction.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, whilst parking on the pavement is not illegal in the UK (apart from London), driving on the pavement is (rule 145). I have never yet seen any driver get out of their vehicle and lift it, by hand, from road to pavement, which means that they drove on the pavement to get it there.

Check out Goldsmith Lane in Kingsbury on StreetView. Cars parked on the pavement on both sides of the road, no space for buggies or wheelchairs. There's an SEN school just around the corner and signs on the road that say 'Disabled Children'. Greater London. Council just leave the residents to do whatever they want. Really dangerous, needs fixing. Not to mention that people go down this little lane at high speed because it's a shortcut :(

Hi Ashley, there are at least two areas outside London, Exeter and Hereford, where pavement parking is prohibited under local Acts of Parliament except where it specifically allowed. I am not sure how much enforcement there is of pavement parking contraventions in those cities but the local Act provisions are still in place.

We quickly went from not having private transportation to having it become a big nuisance after the car was made popular and affordable.

You mention that in our older housing estates the roads cannot accommodate car numbers today. I agree. However, in my opinion, new build is even worse as the roads are even narrower.

Apart from obstruction, damage to pavements and driving on the pavement, there's nothing wrong with anti-social parking. Every argument for parking on the pavement has a argument for not parking on the pavement. In general, pavement parking is done by idiots with no idea of the problems it causes.

The road we live on is a little loop in a residential area. Most houses have room for one car on their drive, so everyone has one car on the road. It’s just about wide enough to park cars on either side without obstructing the road, but it is on a bus route so the buses can turn around. As a result we all park partly on the pavement (including my disabled neighbour who has a bay). The unspoken rule on the street though is that we leave enough room for a double buggy to get through, and this only works if both sides park on the pavement a little rather than one side not doing it at all. It seems to work for everyone around here, even if it might not seem like what should be done. Oh yes and mirrors in on both sides for sure!

It is the case in London that pavement parking is specifically allowed in some streets and signage shows exactly where pavement parking is allowed and also how far across the pavement you may park so as not to impede the passage of a wheelchair or a pram to pass along he pavement safely when a vehicle is parked partially on the pavement. It is notable that this exception to the pavement parking ban in London is entirely in line with Ashley's excellent advice at the end of the video in which he states that,if you have to park partially on the pavement as in the case where parking on the road would prevent the passage of emergency vehicles, always make sure you leave enough room for a wheelchair or a pram to pass on the pavement and, if there is insufficient room, then find a safe place to park elsewhere.

I'm glad pavement (footpath) parking is banned (and rare) in Australia.

There is no "both sides". If you block sidewalks and crosswalks, expect car damage, and if you don't have a parking space, you don't have the right to own a car. Incidental damage for parking violators should be legalized, too. The person who painted cars in Manchester is a hero for getting the point across. If fogduckers don't want pedestrians walking on the road, stop parking on sidewalks. 1:55 - Japan has it right: If you don't have legal personal parking space, you're not legally allowed to own a car. If I can't walk down a sidewalk without my metal cane contacting their side panels, that's their problem for parking illegally. 4:20 - If you can't afford damage to your car, YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO OWN A CAR. Sell it. 6:08 - That pinhead deserves a new paint job.

Pavement parking really gets my goat. I have spoken to the traffic wardens, and they say it's down to the police. spoken the police and they say it's down to the council 🙄 Can someone tell why 4x4 driers have the urge to park on Pavements when they don't need to 🤣

When my 2 kids were in pushchairs, if a car was so far over the pavement I had to go in the road, if I could still squeeze down but scratched the car then tough. Pavements are for pedestrians 99% of the time. If was walking in the road I would shouted at by drivers. So tough. I'm not putting my kids at risk by having to walking in the road. Dont mind parking on the pavement but make sure there is room for everyone!

You can indeed get a ticket for parking with your wheels on the curb, I knew someone who did. That said some roads seem to be completely unenforced in this regard so being respectful while having a bit of local knowledge is useful.

Yes I concur. Fold your mirrors in. Not only is it good manners, but it also serves as a visual cue to would-be car-robbers that your car has been locked.

The Uk roads and pavements is till pretty much from the early days, the amount of people owning and or driving vehicles however has increased massively over the last few decades, ie the infrastructure has mostly not kept up to the pace of todays society but don't worry because the WEF have a plan to reduce vehicle ownership and you will be happy apparently?

It's fascinating how much more lax the parking regulations are in the UK in comparison to my native Sweden. Here it is illegal for any wheel to be on any part of the pavement. If you can't park without blocking traffic, then you can't park there at all. There are many other things that are much stricter here, parking facing the direction of travel is also illegal for instance.

I passed my test in 1967 when it was illegal to park on the pavement.

Some others have already mentioned rule 145 ("You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency."). I'd like to understand how this doesn't make parking on the pavement illegal. After all, how are you going to park a car on the pavement unless you drive it there? Teleportation? Not even a Tesla can do that yet as far as I'm aware. Flying? Not aware of any road legal cars in the UK that can do that either. Walking? Not aware of any cars with additional legs to walk on to the pavement either.

It does seem an intractable problem. Too many people, too many cars, not enough space.

One of the things we need to do is enforce a slightly wider street in new build developments. They are always built with narrow, twisty streets these days, which makes it impossible to visit anyone whose drive is full and park a car without going on a pavement or causing an obstruction on the road.

I do think motorists choosing cars that are wider over the years has made this problem worse.