For the last 50 years, pavement parking in London has been banned. And throughout that half century, many drivers in London have parked illegally on pavements.
Since 1974, rule 244 of the Highway Code has stated that drivers MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London.
While it’s true there are streets in London where signs permit pavement parking, as a general rule you can expect a fine of £65-£130 for pavement parking in the capital.
Driving on pavements is already illegal across Britain, but penalties are seldom enforced. Councils can issue fixed penalty notices if vehicles contravene parking restrictions, there is no specific ban on pavement parking. The offence of obstruction can be dealt with by police, but enforcement is patchy.
While the government dithers about pavement parking (we’ve lost count of the number of consultations), Scotland has recently introduced a nationwide ban.
In a change to the law seen as long overdue by anybody who has had to negotiate a blocked footpath while pushing a buggy, steering a mobility scooter or travelling by wheelchair, drivers who mount the kerb in Scotland can now be fined £100. Double parking and parking at dropped kerbs is also banned.
A nationwide ban across the entire UK is long overdue. After all, pavements are for people.
Mobility scooter insurance
Mobility scooter insurance from the ETA is great value at £65 per year for a scooter or powered wheelchair worth up to £3,500. And you can buy the same policy to cover two people at the same address for a total price of only £90 per year – a 30 per cent saving.
We offer a fully-comprehensive policy with no hidden costs; one upfront price covers you on any mobility scooter, and a host of benefits are included as standard:
- Theft and Damage*
- Personal Accident up to £20,000
- Personal liability up to £2m
- Breakdown Cover for you and your mobility scooter
- Hospital Benefit up to £250
- Personal Assault/Mugging up to £250
- Personal Effects up to £250
- Puncture cover up to £100
Find out more about ETA mobility scooter insurance here or if you prefer to talk to one of our friendly advisers, call 0333 000 1234.
* You can insure your scooter for £3,500, £5,000. £7,500 or even £10,000.
Vincent Edwards
To give some idea of how long this prevarication has been going on….. it was already an old issue back in 2001 when a Parliamentary Select Committee reported in favour of a ban on pavement parking. I wrote to my MP inviting him to support the measure. From his response, it seemed he didn’t see the problem, but he passed my letter on to Stephen Byers, the appropriate minister in the Blair government. A few weeks later I received a letter from the minister outlining all the reasons why pavement parking was hazardous to pedestrians and caused damage to underground pipes and cables etc., but then went on to say they wouldn’t ban it because to do so was “too dangerous”! Around the same time my local authority considered the issue and decided to take a “do nothing” approach. If only action had been taken twenty years ago we would not now have a new generation of drivers who apparently think parking on the pavement is compulsory (as, it seems, do their parents and grandparents).