Should we ban parking on the pavement?

AnY attempt by Holyrood and Westminster to make it illegal to park any part of a car on the pavement (letters) might look like a good idea — until you consider how impracticable this regulation would be in practice. At present it is illegal to park a car on the pavement, but common sense prevails in most cases where there is no alternative. In my narrow street, like many thousands of others across the country, if two cars parked opposite each other, it would be impossible for any other vehicle to drive down the street. Binmen who use large council lorries to take away our rubbish each week would have no chance of performing their duties. And how would the emergency services cope? To suggest that residents use a local car park is ridiculous, as there are many more cars than spaces. When most of our streets were built, cars were the exclusive preserve of the rich; the ordinary working people lived in houses with no garages. For them, the thought of owning a car was the equivalent of winning the lottery today. There are times when I think that members of parliament and councillors have lost all contact with ordinary citizens and have no understanding of just how real folk cope in our world of ridiculous regulations and petty council laws.

COLIN BOWER, Sherwood, Notts.

IT IS correct that the Highways Act 1835 criminalises driving on pedestrian footpaths (pavements) countrywide, but, because of a legal quirk, that law does not apply to parking on pavements. Despite the fact that in order to park on the pavement you have to drive on to and off it, only the driving on and off is a criminal offence, enforceable by the police. Parking on pavements is a civil offence. Pavement cycling is the most common openly practised criminal traffic offence, which many police forces choose to ignore.

TONY PURTON, London W13.