Existing laws cover parking on pavements
REGARDING, drivers parking on pavements facing fines, I ask all your readers to respectfully consider the following legislation, which can be found by checking government websites using various search engines.
Being able to be prosecuted or given a fixed-penalty notice for parking illegally outside or around your own property is not new and any changes to legislation might either complicate things or confuse.
If one checks regulation 103 of the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 you will find the offence of “causing unnecessary obstruction” that can be prosecuted by virtue of Section 42 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
A further check of the Road Traffic Act 1988, section 34 (1)(b) and you will find the offence of driving on a footpath and, similarly, by checking the Highways Act 1988, Section 137 you will find an offence of obstructing a highway. I believe the definition section of that Act will confirm road / path is a highway.
That then lends itself to the following: Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 prescribes that offences under sections 34 and 42 of the Act can result if prosecuted at court with penalties achieving a maximum of level three on the standard scale – circa £1,000.
However, Section 51 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 – Schedule 3 is of the utmost interest, I would venture to suggest.
This area of the legislation covers fixed-penalty notices in relation to various offences and particularly Section 34 Road Traffic Act 1988 – drive on a footpath; Section 42 Road Traffic Act 1988 – construction and use offences, ie cause unnecessary obstruction; and Section 137 Highways Act 1988 – obstructing a highway.
It therefore would seem to follow no new legislation is required but perhaps those vested with the power to issue fixed-penalty notices should simply carry out their duties, so law-abiding citizens can go about their daily lives without hindrance from such unlawfully parked vehicles.
I am sure every one of us in our own locality will see or be aware of vehicles that contravene various regulations. We are all not alone.
I hope this is of assistance.
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