‘Dangerous’ parking must stop, says charity

[dutchman]

Careless treatment of pavements across the county is a danger to everyone, says a partially sighted Harbury man who has had two falls on damaged pavements in Leamington.



Eighty-one-year-old Arthur Turner, who is blind in his right eye and has 50 per cent vision in his left, broke his arm on one of the occasions - but it is not compensation he is after.

The pensioner was shocked when he received a leaflet from the Guide Dogs Association for the Blind that claimed Warwickshire County Council had spent more than £34 million on repairs to pavements, kerbs and public footpaths between 2006 and 2010, following a Freedom of Information request submitted by the charity.

Mr Turner said: “I was absolutely amazed at the amount of money involved. People are parking their cars on the pavement everywhere. Last week I saw the same lorry parked on a bend on a main road on three separate occasions. That’s a serious hazard.

“There should be more double yellow lines to stop this from happening. People should be more responsible about where they park.”

Terry Smith, Guide Dogs’ engagement manager for Coventry and Warwickshire, said: “We’re campaigning for safer pedestrian walkways so blind and partially sighted people can enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else.

“We urge motorists to be more considerate. Blocking the pavement is also dangerous to wheelchair users, parents with pushchairs and many others.

“We also call for councils to use the powers given to them by the Government to ban pavement parking.”

A spokeswoman for the county council said the charity’s figure was inaccurate and that the council had actually spent just over £7 million on both planned and repair works to pavements, kerbs and footpaths from 2006 to 2010.

She said the budget for routine maintenance works on such surfaces has since increased, adding: “The council’s highways team encourages the public to report any significant road or pavement safety defect.”

Call 412515 or visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/roads

[dutchman]

A particular problem I have is people who park half-on/half-off the pavement so I often have to choose whether to risk having my eye gauged-out by an overgrown thorn bush or risk stepping into a busy road to walk around the car. There are also those who insist on parking right across the entrance to a public footpath so I have to walk right around the car in order to get onto it!

I can only imagine how much worse it must be for those who are visually impaired or who are accompanying small children?

[Spuffler]

It can't be as bad as Athens - yet!! The council there concreted inverted-U shaped pipes into the pavements to stop parking. Owners of 4x4s just drove up, pushed them over, and parked on top. They park completely blocking pavements, so the only option is to walk in the traffic - and if you've ever seen Athens traffic, you'll fully appreciate what that means for you! But we have the problem here too. Often people on the main road in our village park on the pavement, preventing people from even squeezing between car and hedge or wall. Illegal, selfish, thoughtless. But there are morons everywhere.....

The other thing that angers me is seeing fit healthy young people usually in expensive cars parking in disabled bays; you most often see it at Little Chefs, for instance. I liked and applaud the Swedish judge who sentenced someone who did it there to a day in a wheelchair. I bet he didn't do it again after that!

But you know, we used to have a caring society, didn't we? Now it seems to me that the British have become self-centred, selfish, mean-minded and often petty. What have we done wrong? I know Thatcher encouraged selfishness and greed, but it can't be all due to that....? Can it?