howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#1
Andy B
- Location: dover
- Registered: 10 Nov 2012
- Posts: 1,829
#2
Theres just so many more cars about now.I started driving back in the early 80s and the difference from then to now is incredible.There will always be some streets where you just have to put your wheels up on the kerb because the streets are so narrow but its just the amount of cars we have on our roads now plus i think alot of peoples driving standards have fallen,nobody seems to give a toss anymore plus we now have many more foreign drivers visiting with some whos standards of driving fall well short of ours.Back to the amount of traffic on our roads for example i have somewhere an old picture taken in tower hamlets where we used to live in 1972 and there was just 8 cars in the whole street in the photo.I recently went to clarendon street and there wasnt a single parking space for the full lengh of the road apart from right at the end.For a road of that size its unbelievable.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#3
I look out onto Clarendon Street and it is always like that day and night. Last Saturday an ambulance had an emergency call and stopped for at least an hour in the middle of the road whilst they attended a house. Like many roads up and down the country they were built in a time when cars were not around. Many a time I see someone vainly trying to manoeuvre a mobility scooter or baby buggy onto the pavement or have to go out into the road near a busy junction because of pavement parking.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#4
I can understand sensible pavement parking it is the selfish thoughtless ones and those that do it on wide roads like mine who really annoy me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#5
It would be sensible where there are wide enough pavements to mark out how far vehicles can park on the pavement. In the case of Clarendon Street I would have parking one side only thereby forcing those who have garages or run ups at the back to use them.
Andy B- Location: dover
- Registered: 10 Nov 2012
- Posts: 1,829
#6
Another thing that doesnt help is the width of modern day cars.They are so much more wider than cars produced say 25+years ago like Cortinas,Morris marinas etc.If you go back to the 60s just look at the width of a Ford Anglia compared to a modern day car.A good example is trying to park a modern car in a standard council lock up garage which most were built in the 50s and 60s.You will struggle to get out of the door.Cars now are just to big and wide for many of the streets they park in.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#7
Not just wider cars but we get company vans from civil engineers, rail contractors, people carrier taxis etc now that businesses do not keep depots.
Clarendon Street an hour ago.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#8
Belgrave Road earlier, there is always a car parked badly at the junction with Folkestone Road.
Andy B- Location: dover
- Registered: 10 Nov 2012
- Posts: 1,829
#9
Looks pretty quiet to when i,ve seen it,i can actually see parking spaces!
Guest 687- Registered: 2 Jun 2009
- Posts: 513
#10
My step-son lives in Widred road and his neighbour opposite has 6 cars and an ice cream van and completely monopolise parking. They were once my neighbour and asked if I could sort out the parking problems in our road(Eaton Road). They genuinely couldn't see they were the problem as they were when they moved for a while to Belgrave road.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#11
Courtesy of the Times
Motorists face fines of up to £70 for parking on pavements under rules designed to declutter the roadside.The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was considering an overhaul of traffic laws to prevent vehicles from blocking paths and causing difficulties for wheelchair users, people with pushchairs and blind pedestrians.
It could allow councils to make it illegal to park on the kerb unless they expressly grant permission, potentially landing offenders with fines of £50 or £70.The move would bring the rest of England into line with London, which has had an all-out ban on pavement parking for more than 40 years. Local councils have long pushed for the change, saying it was a “nonsense” that those outside London were treated differently. Two years ago, the DfT suggested that a review of pavement parking would be carried out as part of a reform of measures designed to promote more cycling and walking, but it was never carried out. However, the government has confirmed that an investigation will be conducted as part of a wider overhaul of traffic regulations that is expected to be completed this year.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, the motoring charity, said: “Motorists thinking that they’re doing their fellow road users a favour by 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.”
Edmund King, president of the AA, opposed a total ban. “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,” he said. “We would be concerned if there was a blanket ban because it is clearly possible in some areas to park on the pavement while still allowing room for pushchairs or people in wheelchairs to pass.”
Pavement parking has been banned in London since 1974. Councils can seek exemptions to the rule, with motorists often warned of changes through blue parking signs and white bay lines.
Outside the capital, parking on pavements is generally allowed except where vehicles are causing an obstruction, or on roads with other restrictions such as double-yellow lines. Councils usually have to resort to a traffic regulation order to impose an all-out ban in a local area.
In response to a parliamentary question, Jesse Norman, the transport minister, said: “The Department for Transport has been considering the scope for improving the traffic regulation order process. However, the department 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.”
Straying into bus lanes costs drivers £68m
Motorists are picking up 1.1 million fines a year for driving in city bus lanes. The RAC says that straying into the wrong lane is costing drivers at least £68 million after the number of penalty charge notices went up 5 per cent between 2015 and last year. Over the two years, about 994,000 fines were issued in London with 353,000 in Manchester, 339,000 in Glasgow and 268,000 in Cardiff. Fines range between £60 and £160. Simon Williams from the RAC said that the number of fines suggested that “something was awry” and many drivers did not realise they were breaking the law. He called for better signs and “smart bus lanes” which could be used by all vehicles when traffic was light. A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Councils make no apologies for enforcing the law to ensure the smooth running of bus services. The fact that more than 99 per cent of fines are not appealed clearly shows that the majority of those ticketed accept that they have broken the rules.”
Guest 1535- Registered: 27 May 2015
- Posts: 399
#12
Another money making spinner! I wander what else this government will come up with to steal of the common man. It is what is what it is more cars a change in times without change in giving more parking space for cars - so now its lets fine em only thing that will do is making money and clog streets worse than before. Some streets you wont be able to drive down if cars not parked part on pavement. Another not well thought out plan to just gain money...disgusting. I suppose they employ more enforcement officers to carry out this dirty deed - PLEASE EVERYONE WAKE UP SMELL THE COFFEE. CONTROL FINE, CONTROL FINE, CONTROL FINE. Sometimes I get pxxxed by cars that are parked blocking the walk way more so when not needed...but this issue gone beyond it now. Thanks for that information Howard. When will they tell the public or will be only when they dishing out fines?
If only everyone could be kind and honest what a better world we would be in.
Guest 1535- Registered: 27 May 2015
- Posts: 399
#13
'Local councils have long pushed for the change, saying it was a “nonsense” that those outside London were treated differently'.
Thing is London is different DURR LONDON is extremely over crowded with People and vehicles so don't know why Councils moaning and seems their hungry for money thats all and nothing more. If you going to start this business of fining people provide more parking spaces IT SEEMS THE ONE WAY OR THE HIGHWAY IN THIS CASE - Hope this applies to all cars as see Police cars parking on pavements.
If only everyone could be kind and honest what a better world we would be in.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#14
Difficult to find a solution to please everybody, emergency vehicles must always have free access which could mean double yellow lines on one side in narrow streets. London has survived for 40 years with no pavement parking, mind you it sometimes quicker to use public transport there rather than the car.
Guest 1535- Registered: 27 May 2015
- Posts: 399
#15
If only everyone could be kind and honest what a better world we would be in.
Guest 1535- Registered: 27 May 2015
- Posts: 399
#16
But howard we know the thing in London they may have survived but how and to how much suffering of those with motor vehicles. I mean a car owner pays a lot of money to have a car and then pays for having the car and then gets fines if that car does not comply with rules made up willy nilly. Maybe we all should go back to horse and carts and have sxxt on the streets maybe better option and not much difference
.
If only everyone could be kind and honest what a better world we would be in.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#17
I think we have crossed this bridge before
if we make all cars park on the road in belgrave road it will stop the 68 bus getting through
so theres no clear solution
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Weird Granny Slater
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 7 Jun 2017
- Posts: 3,095
#18
Frequent walks up and down Balfour Road have made me appreciate that pavement-parking drivers are unfairly characterised as displaying an insufferable sense of personal entitlement, and are primarily thinking of pedestrian safety.
Cars pavement-park on both sides of Balfour such that it's often necessary for a pedestrian to walk in the road in order to get an unobstructed passage.
But given that roads are generally in a better way than pavements, this arrangement actually helps to prevent pedestrians tripping over a drain cover, colliding with a recycling bin, or carelessly hitting a cyclist.
An added bonus is that, should an unfortunate pedestrian with a malfunctioning hearing aid fail to detect an oncoming car, or be too slow to sidestep into the tiny space between tightly packed bumpers, the ambulance crew won't need to faff around with the stretcher on the sliver of available pavement, but can simply reverse down the road and haul the body into the back, thus saving valuable NHS time.
Wins all round.
Jan Higgins likes this
'Pass the cow dung, my dropsy's killing me' - Heraclitus
Andy B- Location: dover
- Registered: 10 Nov 2012
- Posts: 1,829
#19
What also doesnt help is that the average car is now probably a third wider than a car built 40-50 years ago.Cars have just got bigger in general.The streets havent.
Jan Higgins likes this
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,948
#20
More and more cars coming on the road will just make the problem worse .
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
