I think it already is. It just doesnât get enforced.
I think it is illegal to completely obstruct a pavement to the point that wheelchairs, pushchairs etc canât get past.
But parking your car and leaving a bit of a gap is apparently fine.
When I had driving lessons, it was taught that most people think thatâs the rule, and in real life it practically is the rule, but itâs on the books as illegal to put your car on the pavement at all, and youâll be penalised for it during the parking parts of a driving test.
I think the specific offence is driving on the pavement, which parking obviously requires, but I could be wrong.
I know youâre not allowed to put an HGV on the pavement, but I thought everything else was ok.
We have the same issue in Germany. :( Car drivers just get away with absolutely everything unfortunately.
Itâs not the rule.
So what happens is this, someone says youâre allowed to park on the pavement as long as you donât obstruct the road, then someone else says no and quotes the highway code. Then you point out that the only thing youâre not allowed to do is park on the payment in London, and elsewhere you should basically not do it if you can avoid it.
No one is going to get arrested for parking partially on the pavement outside of London unless youâve been a complete dick about it, or if itâs unnecessary. For where itâs necessary as long as thereâs no other parking restrictions then you should be fine as long as pedestrians can get past.
The highway code is fine in principle, but the people who wrote it have never been further north than Bedford.
