Merseyside Police is highlighting the risks posed by those drivers who drive or park their cars on pavements, placing pedestrians at an increased risk of injury and worse.
Between 2012 and 2016, 1,212 pedestrians were killed or seriously injured in Liverpool. They accounted for 16% of all road users but 38% of road casualties and continue to be among the most vulnerable road users in Merseyside.
Many pedestrians are knocked down while they are in the road, either while crossing or forced to walk in the road because the pavement is blocked by a parked car. In 2016, a four-year-old girl was killed after being struck by a delivery vehicle which was driven onto a pavement in Neston.
Paul Mountford from Merseyside Police (Roads Policing) said: “It is a common sight all over Merseyside to see a car parked on a pavement. The drivers who do so show no consideration for pedestrians, children in prams, the disabled and partially sighted who are forced to walk in the road.
“Those drivers also fail to consider the end results of their driving on to pavements – broken paving stones and muddy verges which not only present further risks for pedestrians but are repaired at an additional cost to the tax payer”.
“It is an offence to drive on to a pavement and an offence to cause obstruction to other road users, including pedestrians. Vehicles causing obstruction may be issued with a fixed penalty notice and in some cases removed at the owner’s expense.
“The driver of any vehicle deemed to have caused or contributed a road traffic collision by its dangerous positioning risks prosecution and potentially imprisonment”.
In addition to enforcement, Merseyside Police is promoting the use of a small card that can be placed on the windscreen of an obstructing car, containing advice for the driver. These are available to members of the public.
Ian Campbell from Wirral Pedestrians Association said: “Many pedestrians have suffered near misses when vehicles are driven on to footways to park, and at least two children have been killed by vans – one in Neston by a Wallasey driver, and one in Glasgow.
“Many pedestrians have been forced into the carriageway, which for parents with buggies, and for those in wheelchairs or walking with a Guide Dog can be terrifying”.
Separately, Liverpool City Council has drawn up a list of hotspot areas where its team of Civil Enforcement Officers will be cracking down on pavement parking in the near future. They are Riverside, St Michaels, Greenbank, Kensington, Old Swan and West Derby.
The city council is to secure an experimental Traffic Regulation Order to give it the powers to prevent parking on pavements on roads where there aren’t already double yellow lines.
Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet member for highways, said: “Pavement parking makes life extremely difficult for wheelchair users, parents using buggies and prams and puts pedestrians in danger.
“I welcome and support Merseyside Police’s efforts in targeting this issue, which complements the work that our team of Civil Enforcement Officers are doing.”
The Force has recently updated its website with advice to drivers on the issue of pavement parking.
This is part of the Force’s ongoing strategy to reduce road casualties in Merseyside and its media campaign #WhatsTheCost.
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