 Are you fed up of having to navigate around vehicles that have parked inconsiderably or inappropriately on the pavement? Do you have a vision impairment, need to use a wheelchair or mobility scooter or have young children and push a buggy or push chair? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘Yes’, then we urge you to read on… I, Dave, am blind and earlier this week I walked in to a scaffolding pole that was sticking out of the back of a scaffolding truck parked blocking the pavement in my local area. This is only one example of the pavement parking problems I have faced but there have been many others and they are likely to be more if things don’t change. Therefore we are asking for your support to make a change and make the pavements a safer place for the people using them. Please help by responding to this consultation being run by Transport for London and supported by Guide Dogs (deadline 22nd November) - https://e-activist.com/page/68363/action/1?ea.tthe racking.id=email Further information about this consultation… The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a consultation on managing pavement parking. This is a fantastic opportunity to share your views and experiences about pavement parking and influence the government to make important changes. The DfT are researching ways to address pavement parking problems and, as part of this, are already working to simplify the process for local authorities to stop people from doing it. DfT are suggesting 3 options to address the problem of pavement parking, although are not limited to these. Option 1 This involves making the process for local authorities to stop people parking on the pavement in certain areas simpler, but nothing else. Option 2 In addition to option 1, this option would allow councils to issue Penalty Charge Notices against drivers who cause an 'unnecessary obstruction of the pavement'. Option 3 (this is Guide Dogs preferred option) In addition to option 1 DfT would introduce an England-wide law to stop pavement parking. Unlike option 2 which allows local authorities to enforce individual instances of pavement parking, this would create a standard where pavement parking is not allowed anywhere in England unless the council has specifically set a local exemption. These exemptions would be allowed where there are issues like narrow streets to ensure traffic flow, and would be shown by use of traffic signs and bay markings. All of the options are further explained in the consultation document which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/managing-pavement-parking/pavement-parking-options-for-change#options Guide Dogs have been lobbying the government for many years about pavement parking. You can read more about the Guide Dog campaigns at: https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/how-you-can-help/campaigning/our-current-campaigns/streets-ahead Thanks in advance for your support. We’re always interested to know about other people’s experiences and thoughts. Please share these by commenting… Interested to learn more about VIDA Training? Read about our Training and Consultancy packages, specialising in Vision Impairment and Disability Awareness, Communication and Team Building or contact us for further information.
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Our VIDA Insights...Following our experiences from delivering our Vision Impairment Awareness training days over the past couple of years, we know that there’s loads more that we could talk about and examples we could have shared. Whilst these won’t be a substitute for our training, they will give you an insight (hence the name!) into our thoughts, observations and experiences from each of our perspectives - Dave’s living with sight loss and Vicky’s from being a sighted person and working alongside and supporting people who have sight loss. Archives
December 2020
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