Most drivers who park up on the pavement do at least leave two wheels on the carriageway leaving a little space for pedestrians. There are however a minority of more ambitious parkers who park with all four wheels up on the pavement and thereby achieve a far higher standard of obstruction. I would like to introduce our new exclusive ‘whole hog club’ for such drivers. To be eligible to become a member a motorist must:
1) park with all four wheels on the pavement
2) Leave less than 800mm of the legal footway available for pedestrians (800mm is evidently the legal minimum internal door width for disability discrimination legislation!).
Here are some examples, the first was one I saw this morning – I challenged the driver in a very careful, non-threatening way and got a load a abuse (as I have learnt to expect from time to time). I do however know that many people do change their behaviour next time after being challenged. The next was taken in Dudley recently by cyclistpaul. The rest are from my collection.
Going the whole hog in Ipswich
Diagonal Dudley hog
Sorry mate, didn’t see the sign!
The only way past is on private property or on the carriageway
‘but this is why I have a 4 wheel drive vehicle!’
Pedestrian Liberation 
If you check out the top photo in your Flickr photos you’ll see a police car completely obstructing the pavement, all 4 wheels off the road. I complained to Sussex Police about it, about the fact that it was also obstructing the ramps provided for wheelchair users and people with child buggies, but, as yet, they haven’t even had the decency to respond. That shows just how much the police down here respect the rights of pedestrians. It’s no wonder that members of the public park in the same fashion when they see the police doing it.
Sorry, some other photo’s there so I thought I’d better link to the photo I’m talking about.
Thanks that that Graham.
Peter,
As soon as I saw the Land Rover, I thought off-road driving, but you got there first. I have been into London specifically for various protest cycle rides including the recent one around Parliament Square. While I didn’t notice any pavement parking – I was too focused on the traffic, I did see an inordinate number of Range Rovers and other very new and shiny 4x4s in central London. Clearly, these vehicles never see real mud, only the spray-on type and only get to ‘off-road’, in supermarket and shopping-mall car parks.
As an Islington resident I’ve not seen such selfish parking since about 1992 when we first got residents’ parking controls. The good thing about having to have a resident’s permit is that all parking is controlled and anti-social parking is seen off pretty quickly. If only local authorities used their powers to fine anti-social parkers there might be some money to invest in other walking friendly measures.
Of course in London you do have a legally effective ban on pavement parking anyway. I know that some London boroughs have caved in and don’t enforce the ban effectively and that they do sometimes allow limited pavement parking using painted markings but it must make people a bit more cautious.
That’s certainly true Peter. You see quite a bit of allowed on-pavement parking in the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley and Croydon, designated by the “P” sign with a car on the pavement image underneath. In the exmaples above, however, the immediate concern has got to be, as Graham says, those with pushchairs and other unwieldy apparatus
Ha! You should check out my town: http://mamastodromo.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_3885.html (Athens, Greece).
Thanks! I have added a link to your site (translated into English) to the blog-roll. Your issues make our problems look like nothing at all!
Thanx! Whenever you need some photos that’ll make you count your blessings, just let me know… 😉
Many thanks!