Parking fine for two wheels on pavement!!

padzster

Morning!
We went to a BBQ yesterday (Sunday!) and parked in a residential road. We parked on the road but with 2 wheels on the pavement in order to leave enough space for cars to park on the road. The pavement was very wide so even with the 2 wheels parked on there, there was the width of one car available for pedestrians etc on the pavement. We came back to find that we'd been given a parking fine. :mad:
We were parked in the London Borough of Sutton. I've checked the council website and found the following:

Footway Parking
9.12.17 Under the Road Traffic Act 1991, the parking of vehicles on the
footway became a decriminalised offence and the Council is therefore
able to enforce the footway parking ban. Any vehicle parked with one
or more wheels on any of these areas is liable to receive a PCN unless
fully parked within an exempted footway parking area. The ban covers
any part of the public highway that is not carriageway. This includes:
• pavements,
• grass verges,
• central reservations,
• traffic islands, and;
• the link between private property with the road (crossovers).

9.12.20 Except in special circumstances, the following clearance widths are to
be maintained when considering Footway and Verge Parking
exemptions:
• 1.2m Minimum clear footway width to be retained
• 1.8m Assumed width for parked vehicles (standard bay width)
Clear carriageway width (i.e. excluding parked vehicles): -
• 6.0m Strategic Roads and Industrial Estate Roads
• 5.0m Borough Distributor Road
• 4.0m Local Distributor Roads
• 3.5m Local Roads This is sufficient for emergency vehicles but
would not allow moving vehicles to pass without giving way, i.e.
effectively alternate one-way working past parked vehicles.

9.12.21 Exemptions from the ban on footway parking are only introduced if the
following criteria are met:
• Carriageway widths will not accommodate vehicles parked wholly
on the carriageway, on both sides, and still retain the clear width set
out above.
• The footway width is sufficient to permit exemptions and retain the
minimum clear distances as set out above.
• There is a history of parking over the footway by a significant
number of vehicles.


I have taken a picture of the car and amount of space left for pedestrians.
Do you think I will be able to appeal?

Thanks.

pinkpong

I am sorry to dissapoint you, but you will have to pay up eventualy.
I would deffinately try to epeal to prolong the case, but I think you find that it is illigal to park on the pavement even though many people do it.

padzster

The only problem I have with appealing is that it is currently a £50 fine, but if I don't pay within 14 days it will be £100.

McKneff

pay it and then appeal it. If you let it get to £100 and still not pay
it, it will then escalate by £50 or £100. Did you ever see "Bailiffs" on
the telly. Some punters ended up paying up to £1000 for a £50 initial
debt.

colin79666

I would just pay up. Yes it's annoying but ultimately you were in the wrong - parking on the pavement is illegal.

lilac_lady

Parking on the pavement has become a normal practice. I don't think that many drivers realise that they can get fined for parking there. I'd pay and and make sure I didn't do it again.

alanrowell

And don't park in that street again as if there is insufficient space to park correctly you will be obstructing the public highway

Wig

Your quoted rules and regs, will not get you off the ticket. The rules are saying tickets will be issued unless the road has been given exhemption status. The criteria for applying for and recieving an exemption status are blah bla blah.

i.e. just because the road could theoretically qualify for exemption, it is not currently exempt, therefore all tickets will stand.


I would look into appealing it though (after paying it within 14days as said already) because as I understand it within London if they don't photograph the car the ticket is unenforceable.

Having said that, in order to pay your ticket within 14 days you have to have the ticket in your possession, in other words it must have been "served" so I'm not sure how that relates to the requirement to be photographed. Perhaps the photo defence can only be used to argue that you never recieved the ticket in the first place.

Perhaps someone can explain the London requirement for a photo of the ticket on the windscreen, or is it a just a photo of the vehicle in an illegal act?

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Most people who park on the pavement do so unnecessarily. Although I'd recommend going to https://www.pepipoo.com to check if the council has followed the letter of the law, I have little sympathy with your plight. You'd no doubt be upset if pedestrians were blocking the road while you were driving.

padzster

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

Most people who park on the pavement do so unnecessarily. Although I'd recommend going to www.pepipoo.com to check if the council has followed the letter of the law, I have little sympathy with your plight. You'd no doubt be upset if pedestrians were blocking the road while you were driving.

The point is that there was enough room on the pavement to get a CAR through, so there was absolutely no issue for pedestrians which is why I did it. However, if I had left it fully on the road then a large van/lorry would not have been able to get through, so I believe it was necessary. So sensibly speaking I didn't do anything wrong - however it seems that the law is the law, whatever, and there is absolutely no common sense involved any more.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Well we'll have to take your word for it that there would have been no issue for pedestrians.

Blind pedestrians may beg to differ though. Similarly, parents with large prams, and pedestrians who end up tripping over the cracks in the paving slabs caused exclusively by vehicles driving on pavements.

I have parked on the pavement myself, but I wouldn't express surprise at being ticketed for doing so.