Pavement parking sparks fury as streets left impossible to walk down - maddening pictures

Pavement parking sparks fury as streets left impossible to walk down - maddening pictures
Twitter/@lucy_khall
Jack Walters

By Jack Walters


Published: 04/05/2023

- 11:20

Updated: 04/05/2023

- 14:20

A short clip circulated on social media showing a pedestrian struggling to use the pavement as cars parked on the kerb

Britons have been left fuming after footage shared on social media showed cars mounting the pavement on a busy residential street.

Residents in Norwich were forced to squeeze past parked vehicles and bins as car chaos made it almost impossible to navigate a nearby path on foot.


Twitter user @lucy_khall posted a 27-second clip of the situation on social media.

In a post uploaded on May 1, she also said: “Went for a walk today - or tried to.”

A blue wheelie bin meant the resident had to evade another object obstructing the pavement

A blue wheelie bin meant the resident had to evade another object obstructing the pavement

Twitter/@lucy_khall

The video showed the Norwich City resident walking close to four cars in quick succession.

The vehicles were parked half on the pavement and half on the road.

A blue wheelie bin, which was clearly labelled as coming under the jurisdiction of Norwich City Council, added insult to injury.

The resident followed up the video by sarcastically adding that the “stretch of public amenity land in highly desirable NR2” had been “donated to a dozen car owners”.

Britons outside of London can currently park on the pavement, advice from the Department of Transport has confirmed.

However, motorists in the capital should avoid doing so as they can be issued with fines.

Highway Code rule 244, in place for nearly 50 years, states that drivers “MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it”.

However, outside of the capital, the language changes, with “should not” replacing “must not”, enabling motorists to mount the kerb in much of the United Kingdom.

The path to walk through was very narrow

The path to walk through was very narrow

Twitter/@lucy_khall

The clip has been viewed more than 1.3 million times on Twitter.

Other users on the social media platform shared their dismay with the situation.

One said: “I had to yell at a guy who parked just in front of me as I was walking on the sidewalk two days ago. He cut me off the sidewalk.”

Another added: “I was almost knocked out by a security van wing mirror several years ago mounting the pavement at speed.

Motorists in the capital should avoid parking on the pavement or risk facing fines

Motorists in the capital should avoid parking on the pavement or risk facing fines

PA

“Regularly see drivers treating the pavement as road.”

However, another user suggested nothing will change until motorists receive fines for mounting pavements.

They wrote: “Fine people for driving and parking on the pavement - if it’s not illegal currently make it so - they , the drivers , would be less inclined to do this if it resulted in a fine.”

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