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news
Pavement parking (WMP/Twitter)Police ask public to submit photos of selfish parking to add to "thousands" of drivers fined
A traffic officer at West Midlands Police has encouraged the public to keep submitting evidence of selfish parking, as well as other traffic offences, saying the community can often do "a lot better" than dedicated operations.
With that said, PC Mark Hodson's comments come with the context of Operation Park Safe, a West Midlands scheme that has resulted in "thousands" of motorists parking dangerously or thoughtlessly getting a fixed penalty notice through the post.
Furthermore, hundreds of dangerously parked vehicles have been removed, some of which turned out to be stolen, since the operation's launch in 2018.
Currently in the UK, the law on pavement parking differs depending on your location. In London a ban is written in the Greater London (General Purposes) Act 1974 and can result in a parking ticket.
The Highway Code states: "You must not park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs."
A national prohibition was enacted in Scotland in November 2019 but has yet to come into force, leaving the curious situation of it not being an offence to park on the pavement, but an offence to drive on one.
Outside of London, parking on pavements can be prohibited by a local authority via a Traffic Regulation Order. The separate offence of unnecessary obstruction of the highway includes pavements, as well as roads, meaning proceedings could be brought by the police under criminal law, but local authorities would be unable to enforce against obstruction using their civil parking powers.
The Department for Transport is "actively considering" a ban in the whole of England after a consultation, with a spokesperson saying: "This is a priority and we will publish the formal consultation response and announce next steps for policy as soon as possible."
Under the, at times, muddled context of the above, Dudley Council and West Midlands Police launched Operation Park Safe four years ago, with the aim of making streets outside schools safer for children, staff and parents by asking the public to report dangerous parking.
PARK SAFE: Our Road Harm Reduction Team has been out with @BoldmerePaul on the lookout for cars parked dangerously, forcing pedestrians into the street and causing hazards at junctions. 111 motorists prosecuted so far in Operation Park Safe. More: https://t.co/x5q4S0IM4V pic.twitter.com/lKfjzxVmU4
— West Midlands Police (@WMPolice) January 9, 2018
"If you ask people about policing priorities they say: parking, speeding, littering and dog poo. These come above robberies and anti-social behaviour. Pavement and obstructive parking impact on people's lives, especially those who are mobility or sight impaired," PC Hodson told Transport Xtra.
Reporting an incident takes around 20 minutes via an online form where images of the parking are uploaded, and prompts the police to review evidence before deciding whether, if necessary, to issue a fixed penalty notice or take court action. Introducing 50 School Streets in the West Midlands area — where driving is banned during drop-off and pick-up hours — has also been supported by community evidence.
"For a very small investment, we are getting a big return," PC Hodson continued. "We've found that we don’t need to enforce the schemes ourselves. We tell parents, 'if you have any problems send us photos and we’ll send the drive a ticket in the post'. Peer pressure takes care of things. If a parent drives into a School Street without good reason they’re going to dominate Facebook that evening.
"It's a case of 'anytime, anyplace, anywhere'. Someone else on that road who isn't a police officer could be recording your behaviour and submitting it to us."
The scheme has also seemingly proved effective at catching vehicles owned by criminals, not just the impatient school run. "Now that the public are reporting these badly parked cars we are getting lots of added value. With the public's help, we can quickly turn up and remove these vehicles.
"No criminal wants to admit ownership of a car bought with dodgy money, which would leave them open to all sorts of questions. So, we end up selling very expensive cars at auction. This means we're solving a problem, removing danger and generating revenue.
"There has been a rise in footage of driving offences being submitted by the public using dashcams, headcams and mobile phones. They are sick of seeing drivers committing offences and they want to do something about it."
> Near 25% increase in video submissions since Highway Code changes
The attitude Hodson outlines above carries over to close pass reporting: "By 2019 West Midlands Police had received almost 4,000 close pass cases involving footage from the public.
"You don't actually need that many cases – what you need is a good evidence base. And once people realise what is happening the impact on behaviour change can be huge. Third-party involvement in capturing offences such as mobile phone use while driving will become increasingly important.
"There is absolutely no point in us putting on an operation to catch people using mobile phones while driving because the public are doing it a lot better."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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44 comments
I'd like this to be much better done. I can also see why it's not working currently. Most important - it doesn't seem a priority to local authorities amid all the other causes screaming for attention. Public doesn't care or is anti restrictions. Government doesn't care. Police only care in rare cases.
If e.g. local authorities do more they'll get more complaints for sure. Yes - there are complaints about bad parking / lack of enforcement. I bet there are much less / they're less strident than those who've just got a fine.
I bet it's a cost overall even if the fines were heavy. I'm certain it's hard to get people to pay - probably more expensive than any reasonable fine. I knew someone who just used demands for firelighting (yes - eventually would catch up but not sure it was ever all paid - then the cycle would begin again). Add more parking wardens and that's upfront costs. Recruit the staff, the support admin, training - as well as ongoing wages etc.
It should be an easy win, but like most things it's a postcode lottery, with some areas better than others in doing soemthing about it. Most police forces will unfortunately say it is a council matter as they see it as parking enforcement. Could also be down to training, do police officers know that this is even a thing.
All we can do is raise the issues with your local force and keep pressuring them to try and get them to engage.
If there are double yellow lines, then this loophole can't be used. Parking on the pavement or verge alongside double yellow lines is still illegal.
If there are no parking restrictions, then they can only be done for driving on the pavement (officer witnessing loophole) or obstruction.
I'd agree but I'm pretty sure you still need to ensure that you can show there are no seasonal restrictions / whatever the marker plates are if any. There's also the "loading" get-out unless there are also marks on the kerb. I don't know if you can just snap all that on a phone or whether - I suspect more likely - you have to have a policeman / other suitable authority actually there. Possibly with a JP as backup.
https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/road-markings.html
As always I contrast the UK system with others. We've cars basically anywhere - where they're not allowed we have to put lots of fussy markings. I believe some other places have "no parking" by default and parking must be explicitly marked.
This is often the case in urban areas and there'll be a 'controlled zone' sign as you enter it... https://goo.gl/maps/zFkDnyhL9HNupMSq9
DYL is decrim so wouldn't be police.
yoid have to show a lack of continual loading which requires a min observation period. It is then up to the council to issue a ticket or not. Almost certainly not.
You're quite right - I'd forgotten. Mostly because I'd seen people parking in these regardless. It's certainly less "fussy" than all the markings. Again though the "enforcement" part is the issue - like most rules where not enforced people won't think it's worth the inconvenience of obeying.
Probably only "works" in central urban areas where there's a real premium on space and also near the seats of power / enforcement. That's not nothing I grant but this tends to be the case now anyway.
I'd still rather the logic be reversed as that's much clearer (e.g. everyone learns at the start - no parking outside marked spots, unless we've put up special signs / marks). People will happily ignore these (like other signs) as just more visual clutter.
But yes in theory - given enforcement - all we need to do is go round the chunnel entrance and all ports and airports and erect these facing "outwards" and we're good!
The only reason I remembered 'controlled zones' is I nearly got ticketed in one! Thankfully a traffic warden told me I couldn't park there, rather than waiting for me to leave and fining me!
And nosferatu is right that the police won't be interested in a double yellow infringement, unless it meets their threshold for dangerous parking.
Call me a sceptic, but when WMP says they have addressed 'thousands' of cases of illegal parking, I don't believe them. They couldn't even address my one case of very illegal being driven into side-on by a driver at a roundabout, witnessed by two eyewitnesses and resulting in a very noticeable back injury (logged with the NHS and the report forwarded onto them). No updates or prosecution after multiple reports filed and phone calls made.
If that's not on their list of priorities, then pavement parking ain't gonna be.
I've got over 150 police reports i've made to them of dangerous driving. They won't give feedback even when i've contact them and asked on the most serious incidents. They go back as far as 2020, when i got a cycling camera.
I even made a complaint to my MP about the force and their FOIA crime record last year.
Given that enforcing pavement parking, based on submissions from the public is pretty much open and shut, I would imagine it sits very high on their list of priorities. It seems totally plausible that their list of priorities bears a striking resemblence to their list of "things that have a very high successful closure rate for very little effort".
Yeah, I'm sure that's waaay up their list of priorities...
".......with a spokesperson saying: "This is a priority........"
I can recall them saying pretty much the same thing five years ago, ten years ago and twenty years ago. Still, not to worry, the comprehensive review of road laws will be here any day now.
Well, I suppose now Johnson's been appointed dictator then they can concentrate on all "the things the people want" (like bread, and circuses).
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