• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About DNS
  • Subscribe to DNS
  • Advertise with DNS
  • Support DNS
  • Contact DNS

Disability News Service

the country's only news agency specialising in disability issues

  • Home
  • Independent Living
    • Arts, Culture and Sport
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Transport
  • Activism & Campaigning
  • Benefits & Poverty
  • Politics
  • Human Rights
You are here: Home / News Archive / Minister calls for council action on dangerous pavement parking

Minister calls for council action on dangerous pavement parking

By guest on 25th February 2011 Category: News Archive

Listen

Campaigners have welcomed new measures that should make it easier for councils to stop motorists risking the safety of disabled pedestrians by parking on pavements.

Vehicles parked on pavements can force wheelchair-users, people with visual impairments and other disabled people into busy roads. They also damage pavements making it more likely that people with visual and mobility impairments will trip and fall.

Liberal Democrat transport minister Norman Baker has now written to local authorities to ask them to use their powers to stop pavement parking where it is a problem.

The Department for Transport has also given permission to all councils in England to use traffic signs to indicate a local ban on pavement parking, rather than having to seek permission every time they want to do so. Parking on pavements is already banned across London.

Baker said: “Parking on the pavement can be selfish and dangerous, putting pedestrians – especially those with disabilities or using pushchairs – in danger.

“If a vehicle is blocking the pavement then people often have no choice but to walk in the road where they are at much greater risk of being involved in an accident.”

Jill Allen-King, public relations officer for the National Federation of the Blind of the UK, said the announcement was “really good news” as the federation had been campaigning on the issue since 1979, when it launched its Give Us Back Our Pavements campaign.

Her mother-in-law died in hospital following a fall she sustained tripping on a pavement damaged by a lorry continually parking on it, she said.

She added: “It is not only the hazard it creates, you also can’t get past with your guide dog and have to go out into the road.”

Helen Dolphin, director of policy and campaigns at the charity Mobilise, also welcomed the government’s announcement.

She said cars parking on pavements can block the path of wheelchair-users, who have to put themselves in danger by using the road instead.

And she said councils could do far more to use the enforcement powers they already have to keep pavements clear of all obstructions.

23 February 2011

Share this post:

Share on X (Twitter)Share on FacebookShare on WhatsAppShare on RedditShare on LinkedIn
A photograph shows an audience raising their hands in a BSL sign. The words say: 'BSL Conference 2025. The future starts with us. Leeds 17-18 July. Be part of shaping the future of Deaf cultures and identities. Get 10% off with BDA10'

Related

‘Muddled’ blue badge reforms ‘are to blame for renewal delays’
6th February 2015
UN debate will be reminder of true inclusive education
6th February 2015
IDS breaks pledge on PIP waiting-times, as tens of thousands still queue for months
30th January 2015

Primary Sidebar

On the left of the image are multiple heads of different colours - white, aqua, red, light brown, and dark green - all grouped together, then the words ‘Campaign for Disability Justice. Sign up to support. #OpportunitySecurityRespect’
A photograph shows an audience raising their hands in a BSL sign. The words say: 'BSL Conference 2025. The future starts with us. Leeds 17-18 July. Be part of shaping the future of Deaf cultures and identities. Get 10% off with BDA10'

Access

Latest Stories

‘Disastrous’ cuts bill that leaves legacy of distrust and distress ‘must be dropped’

Four disabled Labour MPs stand up to government over cuts to disability benefits

Silence from MP sister of Rachel Reeves over suicide linked to PIP flaws, just as government was seeking cuts

Disabled people receiving care were ‘ignored by design’ during the pandemic, Covid inquiry hears

Disabled activists warn Labour MPs who vote for cuts: ‘The gloves will be off’

GB News says it has nothing to apologise for, after guest suggests starving disabled benefit claimants

SEND inspections find services in just one in four areas usually lead to ‘positive’ outcomes for disabled children

Disabled MP who quit government over benefit cuts tells DNS: ‘The consequences will be devastating’

Disabled peers plan to ‘amend, amend, amend, amend, amend’ after assisted dying bill reaches Lords

Minister finally admits that working-age benefits spending is stable, despite months of ‘spiralling’ claims

Advice and Information

Readspeaker
A photograph shows an audience raising their hands in a BSL sign. The words say: 'BSL Conference 2025. The future starts with us. Leeds 17-18 July. Be part of shaping the future of Deaf cultures and identities. Get 10% off with BDA10'

Footer

The International Standard Serial Number for Disability News Service is: ISSN 2398-8924

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site map
  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Threads
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 Disability News Service

Site development by A Bright Clear Web