Person tripped over my outside cable cover whilst charging car...

HillStreetBlues

Okell said:

born_again said:

Section62 said:

WellKnownSid s

Having been involved in the drafting of some highway related legislation I know that creating a regulatory framework for on-street EV charging is going to be problematic. And given the state of local authority finances, it isn't realistic to think that the facilitation of private on-street charging is going to be cost-free to the owner.  Nor is it likely that each EV owner will be given a dedicated parking bay outside their home, so having paid for the facilitation of an EV charging cable, there will be no guarantee the owner will be able to use it.  That might make private on-street charging so unattractive that, coupled with extended vehicle range and better regulation of council/corporate charging points, few people bother with it.

Plenty of councils have on street charging & there are no issues with it...

But isn't the issue that they aren't on every street and aren't outside everybod's house?

None of the houses within a half mile radius of mine have drives and there are no on-street charging facilities.  You have to travel over a mile either to Waitrose or Asda to find charging facilities.

As long as it's possible for foolish people to charge at home by simply laying a trip hazard across the pavement, some people are going to do it.

As a society we seem to have thrown a lot of of effort into encouraging people to buy EVs but haven't ensured the infrastructure to support them is in place first

The support and grants have just been focused on those that are able to charge at home, the very people who would have it installed anyway, rather than plan and invest for those unable to charge at home.

Baldytyke88

prowla said:

As I understand it, an obstruction is something which blocks the highway (ie. so you can't get past), as opposed to something which causes an inconvenience (like a cable cover or a sleeping policeman).

(We recently had a case where an authority claimed the vehicle was causing an obstruction, but we pointed out that the video evidence showed multiple vehicles passing unhindered, so the alleged obstruction was nonexistent.)

When you can not get past, does that just apply to pedestrians or does it apply to someone in a wheelchair?

I think you will find that blind people think any car parked on the pavement is an obstruction.

There are instances every day, of cars double-parked obstructing the highway to bin wagons and fire engines.

The police would not prosecute someone for putting a high cable or a cable buried in the pavement, so if it is 99.99% safe, would that be ok?

Lots of things are illegal, but we see them on a regular basis, electric scooters for instance.

Hoenir

Okell said:

As a society we seem to have thrown a lot of of effort into encouraging people to buy EVs but haven't ensured the infrastructure to support them is in place first

Always been a personal choice.  The transition is realistically going to take decades. No one has yet explained how it's going to financed either. The sums involved are mind boggling. 

Section62

Baldytyke88 said:

prowla said:

As I understand it, an obstruction is something which blocks the highway (ie. so you can't get past), as opposed to something which causes an inconvenience (like a cable cover or a sleeping policeman).

(We recently had a case where an authority claimed the vehicle was causing an obstruction, but we pointed out that the video evidence showed multiple vehicles passing unhindered, so the alleged obstruction was nonexistent.)

When you can not get past, does that just apply to pedestrians or does it apply to someone in a wheelchair?

I think you will find that blind people think any car parked on the pavement is an obstruction.

There are instances every day, of cars double-parked obstructing the highway to bin wagons and fire engines.

The police would not prosecute someone for putting a high cable or a cable buried in the pavement, so if it is 99.99% safe, would that be ok?

Lots of things are illegal, but we see them on a regular basis, electric scooters for instance.

These wouldn't be police matters anyway - unless there was a separate offence involved such as manslaughter.

Proceedings for Highways Act 1980 offences (e.g. S162) would normally be instigated by the highway authority/council.

QrizB

HillStreetBlues said:

Okell said:

As a society we seem to have thrown a lot of of effort into encouraging people to buy EVs but haven't ensured the infrastructure to support them is in place first

The support and grants have just been focused on those that are able to charge at home, the very people who would have it installed anyway, rather than plan and invest for those unable to charge at home.

Not true.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electric-vehicle-chargepoint-grants

maxmycardagain

might be cheaper to charge at a charging station after all........lol

kerching

Bonniepurple

Grey_Critic said:

Section62 explains things in far more detail than I did but I receive regular updates from the Heath & Safety Exec which also list various accidents/injuries and Deaths of people that were all avoidable if someone had actually just givem a little thought.

An obstruction (the EV cable) across a footpath after dark is just begging for someone to fall over it. From a personal perspective we have had (and continue) to spend a lot of time looking for possible trip hazards as my wife suffers from Osteoporosis and a fracture to the spine besides other conditions. She is fragile enough that a fall could be fatal.

Should for some reason it was to be her walking along the pavement and tripping are you prepared for the consequences.

H&S is a pain I agree but it has to be taken very seriously. When people query such things with me I always quote a phrase used in a Ford Motor Co training session - Put Yourself in Their Shoes -

I’m an ambulatory wheelchair user.  The OP’s cable protector would cause me issues, but I can-and have-got out of my chair, bumped it over a too high ramp and got back in.  Some people can’t.  My late father in law would not have seen that and would have tripped over it.  He was partially sighted and I suspect that just before he died he would have met the criteria for blindness.

Just because one person ( who knows it’s there!) doesn’t have an issue doesn’t mean that everyone will be okay.

HillStreetBlues

QrizB said:

HillStreetBlues said:

Okell said:

As a society we seem to have thrown a lot of of effort into encouraging people to buy EVs but haven't ensured the infrastructure to support them is in place first

The support and grants have just been focused on those that are able to charge at home, the very people who would have it installed anyway, rather than plan and invest for those unable to charge at home.

Not true.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electric-vehicle-chargepoint-grants

The issue is if you only have on street parking how can you be sure you can park where the charger is, same with a gully.

TooManyPoints

The issue is if you only have on street parking how can you be sure you can park where the charger is, same with a gully.

Exactly.

Of the third who do not have off road parking or the potential which allows them to splash out ten grand or more paving their front gardens over, huge numbers of them are never able to park directly outside – and in many cases reasonably close to - their houses regularly. Since London has been mentioned, in the suburbs there are huge numbers of roads of terraced houses with no off road parking possibilities and residents have considerable difficulties parking nearby. For them, the solution of a cable gully is simply a non-starter as they would be rarely able to use it. 

In any case, the provision of these is subject to strict conditions. They will only be provided to go straight across the pavement at right angles to the carriageway; they will not be provided within 2m of a lamp post; they cannot be provided if there is a grass verge between the property and the road; they will not be provided if tree roots have undermined the footway as excavation will not be permitted if tree roots are disturbed by the works. Nobody in my road could have one as there are mature trees and grass verges - not forgetting lamp posts -  throughout its length. Virtually all of the residential roads in my area – which include many with terraced house and no off-road parking – are similar and whilst that’s anecdotal, I doubt it’s unique. 

The Utopian vision of running an electric vehicle is that you drive onto your front lot, plug in and charge your car on night-time leccy at 7p per unit. For many millions of car and van owners that vision is simply unachievable and they are unlikely ever to be able to charge at home no matter what provisions are made available. Instead they will be scrabbling around to find a public charger and paying many times the rate that home chargers enjoy. Because they might have to do so only once a week makes it no less onerous, especially when they can see others more fortunate who suffer none of the aggro at a sixth of the price. 

So no, it has not been properly thought through. When EV’s become more numerous there will be literally millions of drivers who, if they want to charge at home, will have to resort to something like the OP has. It won’t be pretty and it won’t be safe. 

WellKnownSid

TooManyPoints said:

The issue is if you only have on street parking how can you be sure you can park where the charger is, same with a gully.

Because they might have to do so only once a week makes it no less onerous, especially when they can see others more fortunate who suffer none of the aggro at a sixth of the price. 

Be interesting to see what that means to house prices for those with a drive.

There are lots of ways this could go.

In 15 years or so when the volume of EVs reaches a tipping point, Councils may well find voters prioritise solving the riddle of EV charging over everything else.

Perhaps 24 hour slots where people can park outside their homes will become a thing.

Perhaps the economic situation at the time means people who don't have a drive cannot afford a car anyway.

Perhaps a drive tax will mean people who have a drive can no-longer afford a car.

Perhaps only autonomous vehicles will be allowed after Admiral Insurance v HM Government in 2037.

Perhaps some authorities will execute a land-grab, knock down all the terraces and rebuild every house with a drive (to sell to those who can afford the drive tax).

Perhaps we'll all be speaking Mandarin.

I do know that fossil fuel cars will be around for 30+ years so local councils aren't going to see this as a now problem.