Is it illegal to park on the pavement

samsung_laptop

I got a fixed penalty notice today for parking on yellow lines outside my house even though i wasn't causing an obstruction, but their was cars and vans that was parked on the pavement but the police didn't touch them, so i would like to know if it's illegal to park on the pavement.

s_b

you need to refer to your local council some accept on pavement parking
if you think about it you were causing an obstruction to traffic by the fact you were on the road
perhaps police prefer wheelchairs to be obstructed rather than charabangs

lemontart

see section 244 of the highway code

244

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.

Ghostrider

samsung_laptop wrote: »

I got a fixed penalty notice today for parking on yellow lines outside my house even though i wasn't causing an obstruction, but their was cars and vans that was parked on the pavement but the police didn't touch them, so i would like to know if it's illegal to park on the pavement.

Depends where you are, it can be in most of central London and some other cities, Exeter City I believe still has a restriction on parking on the pavement.

But generally speaking if there are no specific local parking laws or restrictions in place then no it isn't in itself an offence.

But, it can be a lot more complicated, for instance parking on the pavement or grass verge to avoid actually being on red lines is an offence, sometimes the entire area may be classed as a "zone" and a sign at the entrances to that zone may outline the parking restrictions in place, residents permits etc.

Its a difficult one to answer, but generally speaking, no its not specifically an offence to park on a pavement.

Nearly_Old

Not directly illegal as posted above as footways, verges, etc are all defined as part of the "Highway" under the Highways Act. However as already noted there are a lot of local Orders; e.g. in London for parking on the pavement. Also a vehicle parked on the pavement or verge could receive a ticket for causing an obstruction; e.g. blocking the sightline from a junction so best not to do it.

Out of interest was your FPN for Parking or for causing an Obstruction?

samsung_laptop

Nearly_Old wrote: »

Out of interest was your FPN for Parking or for causing an Obstruction?

Ah29 no waiting.

hollie.weimeraner

You can't complain about the ticket as you have contravened the double yellow line system for which you have been issued a FPN. (You can pop across to www.pepipoo.com to find out if the ticket has been issued lawfully )

Just as an aside, the "Highway" isn't just the road but includes the footpaths as well so in effect the vehicles parked on the footpath are also contravening the double yellow line system.

The other vehicles may also have been committing an "obstruction" offence but obstruction is classed as

Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 (as amended by sections 38 and 46 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Schedule 7) provides an offence of wilful obstruction of the highway.

137(1) An offence is committed if a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway.

NOTES:
(i) In the case of Hirst & Agu v CC West Yorks Police 1986 (when some animal rights supporters were peacefully handing out leaflets) suggested that proof of this offence could be considered in three stages:

* is there an obstruction? Any stopping or slowing of traffic on the highway (more than a trivial hold-up) is an obstruction (traffic could be vehicular, animal or pedestrian in this context).

* is the obstruction "wilful" or deliberate (as opposed to accidental). The activity in which the person is engaged must cause an obstruction, but there is no requirement to show there was an intent to cause an obstruction.

* is the wilful obstruction without lawful excuse? Lawful excuse may be by way of express permission, such as the licensing of charity collections or the observance of directions from a traffic police. However, ANY LAWFUL ACTIVITY CARRIED OUT IN A REASONABLE MANNER MAY AMOUNT TO LAWFUL EXCUSE. The concept of implied lawful excuse may be relevant to political demonstrators provided their protests are reasonably limited in space and time, mere transitory inconvenience to traffic (including pedestrians) may not amount to an offence.

A substantial address to a sizeable crowd on a public highway, which meant that the highway was not completely blocked, but was less convenient and commodious, was unlawful obstruction - Homer v Cadman 1886.

(ii) Obstructions of the highway may also be an offence at common law under public nuisance.

So if the vehicles were preventing passage of perhaps anyone pushing a pram without walking in the road then this would be classed as an obstruction.

Personally I'm surprised the other vehicles weren't ticketed as well.

sarahg1969

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

Personally I'm surprised the other vehicles weren't ticketed as well.

If the others weren't on double yellows, and weren't causing an obstruction, it probably wasn't of much interest to the police.

hollie.weimeraner

sarahg1969 wrote: »

If the others weren't on double yellows, and weren't causing an obstruction, it probably wasn't of much interest to the police.

the "Highway" isn't just the road but includes the footpaths as well so in effect the vehicles parked on the footpath are also contravening the double yellow line system.

sarahg1969

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

the "Highway" isn't just the road but includes the footpaths as well so in effect the vehicles parked on the footpath are also contravening the double yellow line system.

I am aware of that.

However, my point was that the OP has not said that the other vehicles were parked in the area of the double yellow lines, only that she was. I inferred that she was aggrieved because she was ticketed for being parked on the double yellows while they, who had parked on the pavement (albeit possibly not in the area of double yellows) were not.

grizzly1911

Whilst the Yellow lines are on the roadway the restriction applies to the pavement and grass verges to the "fenced" boundary of the roadway.

I only learned this recently when ticketed on a verge well away from the actual lines, in a remote rural spot where parking had previously been tolerated. There was no obstruction.