The law states:
3.1 Section 137 Highways Act 1980 states:-
(1) If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.
Merseyside police state:
Parking on pavements
It is an offence for a person to park their vehicle on a pavement and they would normally get a parking ticket.
See www.merseyside.police.uk/html/informationstation/m.htm#parkingIt is an offence for a person to park their vehicle on a pavement and they would normally get a parking ticket.
It is not clear why the local police forces do not to enforce this.
What the local police have done
Letters of complaint have been sent to the local police.
Informal contact suggests that the police sympathise with vehicle drivers who are 'trying to be helpful in keeping the traffic flow moving'. This would seem a short-sighted approach - a better way to reduce vehicle congestion would be to ensure that pedestrian flow is not obstructed, and so reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
We are waiting for a full response.
What the police could do
The police spend a lot of time dealing with injuries to and deaths of pedestrians. We would like them to devote more resources on prevention of these tragedies.
This could include:
• More prosecutions of the worst examples of obstruction of pavements
• Contacting more problem drivers to tell them that their behaviour is illegal and dangerous and that they risk prosecution.
In Worcester, the Police have provided Community Support Officers to patrol problem areas.
See www.worcesternews.co.uk/search/display.var.1775496.0.school_run_goes_crazy.php
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