I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to parking on verges and footways in England outside of Greater London and in Wales.
The Bill would give local authorities power to enforce against anti-social and hazardous pavement parking, and associated powers to enforce against obstructive parking of rental micromobility devices, including e-scooters and e-bikes.
Across much of the country, cars blocking pavements are one of the most common problems faced by pedestrians. Pavement parking can be especially dangerous for wheelchair users and those using other mobility devices, people with pushchairs and young children, and people with sight loss, like me, who can be forced into the road with traffic that they cannot see. Helen, a guide dog owner, described the impact of pavement parking when she came to Parliament to speak on the issue at the end of last year:
“My life hinges on my ability to trust in the safety of my surroundings, but when pavement parking obstructs the path, it robs me of my independence, confidence, and my trust in the world around me. Each time my trusted path is blocked, I lose a little more of my autonomy.”
Helen is not alone. According to research conducted by the charity Guide Dogs, four out of five blind or partially sighted people said that pavement parking made it difficult to walk on the pavement at least once a week, and nearly 95% of people living with sight loss have been forced to walk in the road owing to vehicles parked on pavements. That number rose to 99% for wheelchair or mobility scooter users.
As well as causing an obstruction, cars parked on pavements damage the surface, creating trip hazards, and one in five people with sight loss said they had been injured as a result. However, it does not have to be this way. In London, a law prohibiting pavement parking has been in place since 1974. Progress has also been made in Scotland, where the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 enabled local councils to enforce against pavement parking. So while progress has been made in some parts of the country, in many others pavement parking continues.
My constituent Kimberley spoke of the contrast when travelling outside London:
“I don’t encounter much pavement parking in London… But when I visit family elsewhere it is a different story. People park everywhere, and don’t leave enough space for me, my guide dog and my young son to pass. It means we have to step out into busy roads…I have to concentrate to make sure none of us gets run over.”
While we should commend the progress made on pavement parking in London, increasingly we are seeing abandoned rental e-scooters and e-bikes obstructing pavements. That remains a problem in my constituency. This Bill would increase the power of local authorities to introduce penalties for operators and riders of e-bikes and e-scooters left on pavements. It would replicate the existing offence of parking heavy goods vehicles on pavements or kerbs, and extend it to all motor vehicles. Civil enforcement officers could actually enforce that.