Parking issues, solutions, action and fines in Brookmans Park

[Editor]

I saw a disturbing incident today on Moffats Lane and again on Bluebridge Road.

An elderly woman, who uses an electric vehicle to travel to the shops, was unable to negotiate the pavements on Moffats because so many vehicles were parked on the kerb.

I saw her struggle to manoeuvre her wheelchair onto the road and around the parked vehicles. She was clearly frightened, so I watched out for her to make sure she made it back to the pavement as far as the next obstacle. Later, as I returned from the village, I saw her having to venture out into Bluebridge because of more obstructions.

It must be a nightmare for the elderly, the disabled, and parents with prams.

If drivers parked on the road it would free up the pavements for pedestrians and also probably help slow down traffic.

[Blue Friday]

How about the parent (?) that parks right on the corner of the edge of Pine Grove and the road to Chancellors at 3:20 pm?  Sometimes the driver parks on the grass verge, sometimes the driver really causes chaos by not managing to get the car up on the pavement at the corner and parking about a foot away from the kerb, that helps the visibility for the other drivers...NOT

The driver thinks that all is well as the car is from an expensive marque, but what about the child that gets in on the offside where the visibility is at its worst?

[freespirit]

  I have to say I am amazed at the parking on Bluebridge Road right opposite the Methodist Church.  The car is usually parked on the curb facing the wrong way and on the brow of a hill.  How better can they do.  I dont knnow who owns it but would have thought the drives of those houses could find space for one small blue car!!!!!!

[trinity]

I have to say I am amazed at the parking on Bluebridge Road right opposite the Methodist Church.

Or on Oaklands Avenue, where the spur from Bluebridge Road meets the "loop" part of Oaklands. When we lived in BP it wasn't at all uncommon to find a car parked right opposite the spur. Oaklands not being the biggest of roads, it made negotiations between a vehicle entering Oaklands from Bleubridge, and one trying to leave that way, far more of a pain than it needed to be.

[Gashead]

I noticed that fairly recently the yellow lines on the roads around the Green have been repainted/added. I also noticed that an awful lot of drivers do not take the blindest bit of notice of these lines. Does anyone know if there is a number where you can call a traffic warden on demand? I think that a few tickets on cars parked because people cannot be bothered to walk a little might straighten out a few attitudes.

Before someone jumps up and down, I will point out that my (thankfully ex) neighbour used to drive all of, I estimate, 150 yards to buy ciggies. Frequently.

Whilst I hold a driving licence, I do not drive at the moment, but it still incences me to the point where I would seriously like to put a large dent in the side of cars parked on these lines which are clearly causing other drivers bother, especially when the drivers of said vehicles are sat in them.

[James Bentall]

In Hertfordshire a couple of years ago, the police withdrew their funding for traffic wardens in the local area, although they do still have overall responsibility for parking enforcement. The lack of traffic wardens hardly discourages people from parking where they shouldn't however!

This responsilibity is passing to Welwyn Hatfield Council in June.

This webpage explains things:

http://www.welhat.gov.uk/search/default.asp?step=4&pid=473

James

[Abbot]

My wife informs me that they are cutting down trees in the station car park today.

Therefore there is a lack of space.
 
Expect non yellowed line roads around the station to have a few more cars parked there for the day.

[Alfred the Great]

Scorched earth policy, my missus said the chaps doing the work said it was because the franchise was up for renewal so they wanted to tidy the place up a bit.

[Editor]

it was because the franchise was up for renewal so they wanted to tidy the place up a bit.

I wonder what that means. Parking meters?

[Editor]

What do forum members feel about the number of cars parked on the pavement? It’s particularly common on the lower part of Moffats Lane and Bluebridge Road.

I have noticed two electric wheelchairs having to be driven on to the road because the pavement has been impassable. I have seen mothers with prams having to walk on the road in order to pass vehicles parked with their wheels on the pavement.

Sometimes the pavement is completely blocked and school children and other pedestrians are forced to walk on the road. It isn’t uncommon to have to avoid children walking in the road as they make their way to school because they can’t walk on the pavement. Surely this isn’t safe.

Perhaps parking on the pavement indicates that those who park in that way feel vehicles take priority over pedestrians? Perhaps they think it is safer for their vehicle than parking completely on the road.

How about all local residents taking on to ask contractors and visitors to park with all four wheels on the road?

I’d be interested to hear the arguments for parking on the pavement.

[shevans]

We recently moved out of Welham Green to Northaw, and now live in Northaw Road West. The road has a 30mph speed limit but the majority of traffic travels considerably faster.

Most days there are one or two vehicles parked on pavement forcing pedestrians into the road. In particular there is a repair company who are contracted to WHDC which are the main culprits. They don’t just park half on the pavement leaving two wheels on the road, but park completely on the pavement.

This make it impossible to squeeze pass and the only option is to walk on the road. As I have three young children with a double buggy facing a Bus or Lorry driving towards me at 40+ mph is a very scary indeed.

I have been taking pictures with my phone of the offenders (capturing their number plates), whilst I decide what course of action to take.

By the way, if there is just enough room for the pram to get past, it makes a nice set of lines in paintwork! 

[Albert Ross]

It is lack of consideration for others that annoys me. There is no excuse for pavement or verge parking. People think that by parking on the pavement or verge they are keeping their vehicle out of the way of other road users. This is not always the case. They often park leaving a gap almost big enough for 2 cars to pass. If they are wide vehicles this often causes mirrors to bash and the parked car gets scraped. If they used their, obviously tiny, minds they would realise that by parking fully on the road they are less likely to get their vehicle damaged. Do they forget that they become pedestrians when they get out of their vehicle? Perhaps the next Neighbourhood Watch newsletter should contain a paragraph reminding people that as well as being anti social it is an offence. A few tickets given out might make people think.

[Max]

Well, In Athens where I live, pavements are viewed by all as being car parks, and most pedestrians choose to walk in the road whether the pavements are blocked or not. Personally, I see no harm in parking on the pavement as long as it is a wide one with enough space to get by in a wheel chair. You shouldn't do it really, I suppose, but it isn't something that I could get that upset about. 

[Fiona]

Max, I think you'll find people are complaining because there is NO room on the pavement. This is a modern day anti-social activity, rather like people who let their dogs foul the pavement, and sadly it has been going on for just as long.
Seven years ago, when my first son was a baby I was walking back from Welham Green along Station Road with him in his pram. On approaching the scout hut, I discovered to my horror, not just one car parked completely on the pavement, but FIFTEEN. All in a long row. All by mothers who a few years earlier must have had babes in prams just as I did now. There was nothing I could do, but walk in the road for a considerable distance with cars speeding past me doing the national speed limit..or more. I complained to the Scout leader and sent a letter to the local newspaper, which was published at least twice over the following six months.
But nothing changed.
Perhaps the following incident will explain why. A couple of years later, I was walking along the same road, this time with my elder son walking next to me and my younger son in a buggy. On turning the sharp bend from the Brookmans Park Station, I discovered two huge maintenance lorries parked completely on the pavement. Not only was my route completely blocked, they were so vast I could barely see any oncoming traffic. Used to the ignorance of some peoples parking by now, I ventured out into the road. Again the traffic was doing the national speed limit, again whizzing past me and my terrified children. My walking son was so petrified he could barely move. Imagine my relief when I saw the familiar flashing lights of a police car. I walked up to the policeman and complained about the pavement being blocked.
His response : Why didnt you shout, then I could have instructed the traffic to stop to let you past?
Me:   You could neither see me or hear me above the noise? Can't you tell the drivers not to block the pavement, then I wouldnt need to walk in the road with my children. (My son was still shaking.)
Policeman: Drivers get too upset! Not my place.

Wonder how many casualties on the road are caused by people being forced off of blocked pavements.
Lets keep the pavements for pedestrians and leave the roads to the vehicles!

[Dubhagan]

A few years ago I made a point of knocking on doors and asking people to move their cars off the pavement as they were blocking my right of way. But I soon got tired of this as it became more and more prevalent. I asked a policeman his opinion on this anti-social behaviour and he just laughed and said it is hardly a priority. Let us hope that the new wardens in the area will make it a priority. After all, PAVEMENTS ARE FOR PEOPLE>    Dubhagan

[jet]

I have allways based my parking on Safety, if the road is too narrow to park on the roadway I go elsewhere. why? because its an offence to park on the pavement, it could lead to tragedy and I don't want my car scratched. The answer is to park somehwre safer and walk.
In BP there was allways that "I will do as I want attitude".
I hesitate to comment on the usual type of vehicle that parks inconsiderately.
I am astounded at the police attitude. They could issue fines for a few minutes "work" and they don't bother.
It used to really annoy me when I was walking to have to walk round cars etc, especially when there were driveways they could have gone in to.
Perhaps some householders don't want their contractors/visitors vehicles making their drives look untidy.
A similar thing is the dumping of builders materials on the road/verge while another monstrosity is being thrown up.
The sad thing that the perpatrators are ones own neighbours/villagers, says it all.
I think there was a thread on this in the past?
regards,
jet

[James Bentall]

Seven years ago, when my first son was a baby I was walking back from Welham Green along Station Road with him in his pram. On approaching the scout hut, I discovered to my horror, not just one car parked completely on the pavement, but FIFTEEN. All in a long row. All by mothers who a few years earlier must have had babes in prams just as I did now. There was nothing I could do, but walk in the road for a considerable distance with cars speeding past me doing the national speed limit..or more. I complained to the Scout leader and sent a letter to the local newspaper, which was published at least twice over the following six months.
But nothing changed.

We have now staggered our pickup/drop off times to try and avoid these problems, and do try and encourage people to lift share. If anyone is still having problems with this, please do let me know. As we are inside looking after the kids at the start and the finish of meetings we are not always aware of what is going on in the car park or outside the gates and do rely on others to tell us.

If I recall correctly, the time which you complained about was when we were coming back from a cub camp by coach and were stuck in traffic, and the parents were stuck waiting outside the hut. We now use alternative drop off and pick up poiints for camps when we may be delayed which have more offstreet parking - e.g. URC or Chancellors - to avoid these problems.

James
Scout Leader, Brookmans Park

[Fiona]

Thank you James for your reply. I didn't mean to make you feel guilty, after all the incident did happen seven years ago.
One point I was trying to make and obviously didnt do very well, was that even Mothers who themselves battled against bad parking can become guilty of the same offence once the buggy is no longer needed. It was really a comment on how short our memories can be.
Of course. I'm one of the lucky ones. It only affected me while I had small children in buggies and prams. If however, I was disabled and in a wheelchair, inconsiderate parking would be an ongoing problem.

[Max]

Well, obviously, inconsiderate parking is never a good thing, whether on the pavement or not. If I came across as being tollerant of pavement of verge parking, it is probably because I frequently drive along "The Gardens" where the on road parking frequently necessitates a good deal of concentration, especially where there is that curious and unecessary bend in the road. If people parked in part on the verge along there, it would not inconvenience pedestrians at all and would leave a lot more space for the road. I would be quite happy to see any car parked in such a way as to cause difficulties to someone with a pushchair or in a wheel chair towed away.

[Mary_Morgan]

Glad to hear from James that the scout big pick ups and drop offs are now done away from the scout hut.   Traffic was a lot less when the scout hut was built, I cannot recall but probably early 60s.   But it does now seem unfortunate that it so close to a bend in the road.  As far back as the 60s some friends of mine were quite seriously injured on that bend by a car going too fast which mounted the pavement where they were walking. 

I think that in most cases parking on the pavement is wrong, and certainly where it blocks the pavement to pedestrians, prams and wheelchairs, but there are places where it is appropriate to keep width to the road.  An example would be some of the wide pavements in front of the shops in BP - better to get a vehicle off the road when delivering or picking up than to block the road and make it dangerously narrow.

We have the opposite out here in Abu Dhabi.  Whilst the standards of parking on the street are generally appalling, you rarely see a car parked on a pavement, probably because most of the pavements are pretty high.  However, the pedestrians still like to walk down the middle of the road when the pavements are perfectly clear.  I had cause a couple of nights ago to suggest to a lady that I thought her children would be far safer if she walked with them  on the pavement rather than in the road and she looked at me with amazement!   She was walking close to a T junction, the exit from an underground car park and the exit from an on ground car park, so the traffic though moving pretty slowly was coming all ways.

Mary

[Abbot]

When walking down Moffats, you even have the trees invading the pavement by the kink. Trying to push the pedestrian into the road.


At least the building work on the otherside has almost finished.

Who should cut back those trees??

[Albert Ross]

Further to the comment by Max with regard to verge parking in The Gardens. This is all very well but the verges are there to make the area attractive (when they can be bothered to cut them) and if people continually park on them they soon become damaged with big ruts especially in the winter. This not onlt makes them an eyesore but also a danger to anybody crossing them as they become a mass of slipery mud. Most of the people in The Gardens and surrounding roads already have driveways and garages large enough to take all their cars but choose to reserve their piece of road outside their house. If they were more considerate, once again, there would be plenty of room to get the largest vehicles through and preserve the green appeal that attracts people to the area. I think the Council should renew the signs that warn people to not park on verges or pavements.

[jet]

As a former Gardenite, the bonus of the restricted roadwidth caused by parked cars is/was that traffic has to really slow down to pass through.
The law used to be that one could only park a car if it allowed 2 car widths to the offside of it.
Hardly matters in a kind of dead end road though.
regards,
jet

[Neville Hobbs]

I spotted this van today completely blocking the pavement.

[jet]

No doubt it was white van man dropping off the wages and had difficulty parking because of the great big Jag and 4WD opposite
regards,
jet

[Cassie]

 

I presume it would also restrict the view for other drivers.


I started a thread about this when I first joined this forum.


Rule 116 of the Highway Code states:

Do not let your vehicle stand on a footpath, pavement or cycle path.


(My highway code book is quite old but I presume this rule number is the same)

[John_fraser]

Now changed to:

218: DO NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, the visually impaired and people with prams or pushchairs.

The Highwaycode online

N.B.
Although failure to comply with the other rules of the Code will not, it itself, cause a person to be prosecuted, The Highway Code may be used in evidence in any court proceedings under Traffic Acts to establish liability.

[Cassie]

Thanks 


Maybe we should get some stickers made - could then stick them on windscreens (and make sure they are the ones that are really hard to get off)


Mind you we would probably get prosecuted for doing it!!

[John_fraser]

something like this poster (click here) with a few changes should work.

[Abbot]

I know that villagers have a right to park on the yellow lines in the village. Even when there are parking spaces available.  But please could they also ensure that they block the dropped kerbs for pedestrians as well.

This way they can bugger up the flow of vehicles through the village and make it difficult for Pedestrians.