Written evidence submitted by Andrew James Wood (PPA0194)

1        Summary

1.1  I am mobility impaired disabled person who makes use of multiple forms of transport including walking with aids, a mobility scooter, an adapted electric bicycle and an adapted automatic motor car.

1.2  Parking on pavements can cause significant obstruction for disabled persons when walking or using a mobility scooter or wheelchair.

1.3  Parking on pavements and shared use cycle/footways disproportionately impacts disabled cyclists.

1.4  Convention dictating half on/half off parking on narrow residential roads prevents disabled people from parking when they need level access to their vehicle.

1.5  Clarification and better enforcement of anti-social parking will stop vulnerable people from being exposed to confrontation.

1.6 A complete ban on pavement parking will improve the ability of disability people to fully access the urban environment and be as active as they can, an important priority of Public Health England.

2 Introduction

2.1 […]

2.2 I am submitting this evidence based entirely on my personal experiences as I feel I am in an unusual position to comment on this as it affects me in a number of differing ways.

3 Obstruction of pavements

3.1 The presence of vehicles on pavements causes a number of obvious difficulties when walking. As I lack balance when walking the presence of vehicle on a footway creates a constriction which is difficult to pass, particularly when the pavement is busy with other pedestrians.

3.2 When using a scooter pavement parking can cause severe difficulty of access. The UK is blessed with many historical urban environments but many of these are not ideal for access for the disabled. This is often compounded by the allocation of generous levels of space to motor vehicles on roads never designed to accommodate them. In most cases councils have mitigated against the resulting uneven paths, narrow footways and abundant roads by carefully placed drop curbs. The presence of vehicles can of course physically block pavements but it is just as serious when they block drop curbs, or less obviously, access to dropped curbs. This can also be dangerous: often the only way to avoid such obstructions with a wheelchair or scooter is to use the road for an extended period. The presence of parked cars can force you further into the road where you are vulnerable as a relatively small and poorly visible vehicle.

4 Obstruction of cycle paths

4.1 As noted in 2.1 I make use of a specially adapted bicycle, it is electric but also features special pedals and a “drop-saddle” enabling me to lower the saddle so as to be in a balanced position when stationary. I am able to ride relatively long distances (upwards of 10km) but I can be quickly exhausted if forced to stop repeatedly and especially unexpectedly. Cycling provides a huge boost to both my physical and mental health as well as being a practical method of transport for me as an active disabled person.

4.2 Pavement and other obstructive parking has a significant effect on cycling with a disability. Due to the increasing number of shared-use surfaces it can block or restrict cycling facilities. This has a disproportionate impact on disabled riders for the reasons noted in 4.1. Finally, pavement parked vehicles force cyclists into the carriageway, typically where it is clearly obstructive for a car to be parked on the carriageway alone but where a driver has “pinched” a bit of pavement to create room and thus park a car in an unexpected position.

5 Difficulty in accessing car

5.1 I also drive and typically make use of my scooter which is stored in the boot of the car. It is important for me that the car is level in order for me to get in and out of the car and also to be able to unload the scooter from the car. In many places now it is an adopted convention that cars must park half on/half off the pavement in order to permit cars to park on both sides of a narrow road. As I am unable to do this it prevents me from parking in such areas, with clear implications for equality of access.

5.2 As an example, I was forced to cut short a visit to my parents because of this behaviour. I arrived early and parked my car legally on the carriageway so that I might access the car. Subsequent cars parked in the half on/half off fashion until one did so adjacent to my vehicle. I was then effectively implicated in causing an obstruction and was so compelled to leave, as no suitable parking spaces were then available in this residential area.

6 Enforcement

6.1 The current rules, splitting the responsibility for enforcement between the local authorities, for parking offences, and the police, for obstruction, creates huge ambiguity. Because of this it is convenient for each to attempt to ignore uncertain problems and many motorists have become all too aware of the very low chances of being caught when they are causing difficulties, but not formally causing obstruction.

6.2 This has the effect of making the some of the most vulnerable in society left both disenfranchised and with the responsibility of confronting instances of anti-social parking simply for them to be able to move safely around the urban environment. Clarification and simplification of the law, with clear responsibility for enforcement, will rectify the lamentable current situation.

May 2019