Pavement parkers on wrong road
A Wishaw man has blasted selfish drivers who force wheelchair users and those on mobility scooters onto busy roads around the town.
Kenny Croken has been using his scooter for the last past five years after suffering from Fibromyalgia, which causes increased sensitivity to pain and extreme fatigue.
However, he is growing increasingly annoyed by drivers who continually park on pavements around his home in Pather forcing him to use the road.
After posting his frustrations on social media, Kenny saw that many other people were also fed up and came up against the same problems across Wishaw.
He said: “I put a post up on Facebook complaining about the problem and within minutes I had messages from people living across Wishaw saying they had the same problem.
“For me it’s getting worse and it’s especially bad around schools.
“We don’t know what’s around the corner when we have to head out onto the road.
“For example when I go onto the road on Lomond Drive I’m going out into a bus route.
“I have emailed companies whose vans are blocking the pavement, including the council, but you rarely get any more than a reply saying that your complaint has been taken onboard.”
After over a decade of campaigning by groups like Living Streets Scotland, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill in October last year that will outlaw pavement parking across the country.
According to Living Streets, cars which are parked partially on the pavement can act as major obstacles for less mobile individuals, either forcing them into traffic or preventing them from travelling altogether.
The elderly, wheelchair-users and those suffering from other disabilities can all have their lives seriously impeded by this on a daily basis.
As well as ensuring that all pedestrians have equal use of the pavements, Living Streets has also argued that the bill could save local councils significant sums of money by preventing cars from causing damage to the pavements that must then be repaired.
Kenny added: “My message would just be for drivers to be a bit more considerate. It could be a buggy, a wheelchair user or guys like me on the scooter they are blocking.
“Some drivers’ attitude seems to be to get as close to their home as they can.
“They don’t seem to bother how it affects other people.
“If we could just get a bit more consideration it would go a long way and would help everyone.”