Should councils ban parking on pavements?

THE call from council chiefs to allow a ban on vehicles parking on pavements by law (it is already law in London) has made waves (Mail). I believe there is an existing law the police could use but rarely do, namely that driving on pavements is illegal (assuming the vehicle wasn’t put there by helicopter). Police will check on an offending vehicle only if it is deemed to be causing an obstruction to those with wheelchairs or pushchairs. If traffic wardens had the authority to book pavement parkers, we might see more prosecutions.

Parking on pavements seems to be habit-forming, even though it often doesn’t improve traffic flow.

ROBIN RIX, Draycott, Derbys. IT’S not only cars on pavements that need banning. There is also the problem of cars owned by inconsiderate homeowners who, having had their front gardens concreted over, use the space to park overlong ‘Chelsea tractors’ that overhang the pavement. If they also have their second (or third) car parked partially on the pavement outside, as is normal in my area, the poor pedestrian has no chance.

PETE WILLIAMS, hayes, Middx.

A BAN on pavement parking cannot come too soon. It is dangerous for pedestrians, especially those with pushchairs or wheelchairs, who have to go into the road to get past. Almost as bad is parking on grass verges, which creates deep, muddy ruts that are unsightly. BARBARA THOMAS, Billingshurst, W. sussex.

I WISH critics would concede that drivers don’t park on pavements to be annoying but for their own safety and that of other drivers, where it is dangerous to park fully on the road itself because of space limitations. KEITH CROWDEN, upton, Merseyside.