Merseyside Police is highlighting the risks posed by those drivers who drive or park their cars on pavements, placing pedestrians at an increased risk of injury and worse.

Between 2012 and 2016, 1,212 pedestrians were killed or seriously injured in Liverpool. They accounted for 16% of all road users but 38% of road casualties and continue to be among the most vulnerable road users in Merseyside.

Many pedestrians are knocked down while they are in the road, either while crossing or forced to walk in the road because the pavement is blocked by a parked car. In 2016, a four-year-old girl was killed after being struck by a delivery vehicle which was driven onto a pavement in Neston.

Paul Mountford from Merseyside Police (Roads Policing) said: "It is a common sight all over Merseyside to see a car parked on a pavement. The drivers who do so show no consideration for pedestrians, children in prams, the disabled and partially sighted who are forced to walk in the road.

"Those drivers also fail to consider the end results of their driving on to pavements – broken paving stones and muddy verges which not only present further risks for pedestrians but are repaired at an additional cost to the tax payer”.

"It is an offence to drive on to a pavement and an offence to cause obstruction to other road users, including pedestrians. Vehicles causing obstruction may be issued with a fixed penalty notice and in some cases removed at the owner's expense.

"The driver of any vehicle deemed to have caused or contributed a road traffic collision by its dangerous positioning risks prosecution and potentially imprisonment".

In addition to enforcement, Merseyside Police is promoting the use of a small card that can be placed on the windscreen of an obstructing car, containing advice for the driver. These are available to members of the public.

Ian Campbell from Wirral Pedestrians Association said: "Many pedestrians have suffered near misses when vehicles are driven on to footways to park, and at least two children have been killed by vans - one in Neston by a Wallasey driver, and one in Glasgow.

"Many pedestrians have been forced into the carriageway, which for parents with buggies, and for those in wheelchairs or walking with a Guide Dog can be terrifying".

Separately, Liverpool City Council has drawn up a list of hotspot areas where its team of Civil Enforcement Officers will be cracking down on pavement parking in the near future. They are Riverside, St Michaels, Greenbank, Kensington, Old Swan and West Derby.

The city council is to secure an experimental Traffic Regulation Order to give it the powers to prevent parking on pavements on roads where there aren’t already double yellow lines.

Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet member for highways, said: "Pavement parking makes life extremely difficult for wheelchair users, parents using buggies and prams and puts pedestrians in danger.

"I welcome and support Merseyside Police’s efforts in targeting this issue, which complements the work that our team of Civil Enforcement Officers are doing.”

The Force has recently updated its website with advice to drivers on the issue of pavement parking.

This is part of the Force’s ongoing strategy to reduce road casualties in Merseyside and its media campaign #WhatsTheCost.

About time this was highlighted.

The other night there was a Range Rover parked on the grass central reservation on the Prom outside the theatre.

It is just showing up the selfishness and lack of respect and consideration for other people. They seem to think their tin box is more precious than the freedom of people including the Blind with guide dogs to walk on the FOOTpath. The sooner the tickets start being issued the better.

I walk a lot and I am fed up to the back teeth with pavement parkers who want to block the whole pavement by also putting out their bins next to their car, or the really idle clowns who take half the pavement to park whilst the other half is taken up with their overgrown hedges.

Removing baulks of timber from the gutters too and making the residents pay for the kerb to be lowered too would be a welcome addition.

What is the alternative? That everyone purchases a house out of town where they can park safely? That would mean 99% of the population living outside of main areas leaving the towns deserted - or that the council allow certain areas of land for parking instead of building even more houses on every bit of land which attracts even more cars? The original roads were not built for so much traffic and are comparatively narrow - however, when new housing estates are built they build the roads to the same width because they want as many houses to be built as possible. The councils should allow certain plots of brown fill land to be used as free parking areas.
The hospital parking situation is completely ridiculous. Staff are forced to park outside of the hospital grounds - yet, if there was an emergency, those same staff would need to get to the hospital as fast as possible. - What? They first have to find a parking place??
More and more housing projects are being built and single occupancy houses are being turned into multiple occupancy for greater profits - get the rent money, f.. where they will put the cars! There is no work in the local area - so the new inhabitants will have to commute by road to get to work. They need to park their cars near their homes - many have more than one car. Towns have limited space - it needs good planning to be able to resolve the problems that have now been created. Don't blame the drivers - what is a planning office for?

should be a simple wheel chair type test , if a wheel chair cant get past ...ticket

but that would be sensible , some people cant / not allowed to make decisions

I recently reported a Transit van that parks on the pavement in St.Clair Drive, to the Police. The reply was, yes it is breaking the law, but so are all the other vehicles parked on the pavement, and it really wouldn’t be practical to give everyone a ticket.

Originally Posted by justbecause

I recently reported a Transit van that parks on the pavement in St.Clair Drive, to the Police. The reply was, yes it is breaking the law, but so are all the other vehicles parked on the pavement, and it really wouldn’t be practical to give everyone a ticket.

Again, if the Police were allowed to recover their costs " with tickets" that would solve the situation but that is too simple a solution for central government.

Down most side roads if two cars are parked on only the road, one right, one left there would be no possibility of another vehicle to get through on many occasions!

I know its illegal but what do we do, ban cars?? not everyone has a driveway either, perhaps they need a van etc for their business. And it seems the Police aren't going to bother either.

So all those carping on about it, besides fines what do we do....... realistically.

Originally Posted by paulollie

Down most side roads if two cars are parked on only the road, one right, one left there would be no possibility of another vehicle to get through on many occasions!

I know its illegal but what do we do, ban cars?? not everyone has a driveway either, perhaps they need a van etc for their business. And it seems the Police aren't going to bother either.

So all those carping on about it, besides fines what do we do....... realistically.

I think there are levels that are acceptable and those that just don't give a monkeys. two wheels on the pavement giving access to the road for emergency services in my opinion is acceptable. As long as there is enough room for at least a double pram.

Something like this...



is 100% unacceptable and yes he does park like this all the time. I've confronted the man personally and reported him twice to the police via their twitter page.

hesketh drive is another bad one, Often see cars double parked down there!

Originally Posted by Ceam

I think there are levels that are acceptable and those that just don't give a monkeys. two wheels on the pavement giving access to the road for emergency services in my opinion is acceptable. As long as there is enough room for at least a double pram.

Something like this...



is 100% unacceptable and yes he does park like this all the time. I've confronted the man personally and reported him twice to the police via their twitter page.

hesketh drive is another bad one, Often see cars double parked down there!

Couldn't agree more with that tosser, not a BMW either.

If walking along the pavement with the pram an i come across a car thats been parked in such a way it leaves a near impossible gap to go through i just keep going and if it means taking lots of paint off and a wing mirror i will squeeze thru sod the car .