Parking on the pavement could soon get you a £70 fine

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Hugo Griffiths 2018-04-05 12:15

Rest of the country could join London in making it illegal to park on pavements

Parking on the pavement could soon get you a £70 fine, following news the Department for Transport (DfT) is considering a review of current legislation.

While Londoners have been prohibited from parking on the kerb since 1974, the rest of the country had been allowed to do so.

Rule 244 of the Highway Code currently states that drivers “must not” park on the pavement in London, and drivers caught doing so are typically handed a penalty.

But the Highway Code only advises drivers “should not” park on the pavement “elsewhere” – effectively allowing the practice in the rest of the country.

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Responding to a parliamentary question on the subject, the Times reports transport minister Jesse Norman said: “The department [DfT] is now undertaking a broader piece of work to gather evidence on the issue of pavement parking. We expect to be able to draw conclusions later this year.”

Fines for parking on the pavement vary across London, but Transport for London, which operates five per cent the capital’s roads, issues £130 penalty charge notices for parking on pavements – though this is reduced by half if paid within 14 days.

A previous Private Members’ Bill, which sought to make parking on pavement illegal, stalled at its second reading in the House of Commons in 2015. MPs questioned how making parking on the pavement a civil offence would affect drivers who live on narrow roads with no off-street parking.

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The same consideration was raised by Edmund King, president of the AA, in response to this latest development. King said: “There are some streets that are so narrow that if cars park on both sides it wouldn’t allow emergency vehicles or bin lorries to get through.” King said he would be “concerned” if a blanket ban came in.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said thoughtfulness could hold a solution to the problem: “Motorists…parking up on the pavement should also have an eye to the people whose paths they might be blocking, particularly in built-up areas where thoughtless parking can mean wheelchair users and parents with prams or buggies have to contend with motor traffic.”

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