Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2016
I too congratulate Sandra White on persevering with the important issue of protecting vulnerable pedestrians. The Labour group supports the general principles of the bill.
When members speak to anyone who lives in a built-up area about motor vehicles parking on pavements, they will find that most folk have an opinion or an experience. I remember that, when my boys were small—I had twins when my eldest was two and a half—I often had to navigate cars that were parked half on the pavement and half on the road with a double buggy and a toddler standing on the buggy board.
There were times when I had to bump off the pavement on to the road with a toddler hanging on and then bump back up again. Going on to the road is obviously quite dangerous. I found it difficult—and that was 16 years ago when I was fitter and had much better vision. I therefore empathise with people who have a visual impairment or a physical disability, with older people and with children, who sometimes cannot see as their line of sight is blocked by vehicles parking on the pavement or double parking.
Pavement parking causes an obstruction for pedestrians and in particular for children; for people who are blind or partially sighted; for wheelchair and mobility scooter users; and for those with pushchairs or prams. As has been said, it is an offence to drive on to the pavement with or without the intention to park, but there have long been concerns about the extent to which the law is enforced in that respect.
Constituents have raised with me concerns about Police Scotland not attending incidents of pavement parking that pedestrians have deemed to be dangerous. As we have heard, Police Scotland does not seem to make such incidents a priority, even if a vehicle is causing a significant obstruction.
Police Scotland stated in a consultation document in October 2013 that, given the financial savings that it required to make, parking enforcement was not a priority area. That resulted in the local paper The Courier publishing the headline:
“Councils fear ‘driver anarchy’ as Police Scotland withdraws from parking enforcement”.
Laws are only as good as their enforcement. The bill’s provisions would be enforced by Police Scotland where parking is criminalised and by traffic wardens in areas with decriminalised parking enforcement such as Dundee, Aberdeen, Fife and Edinburgh.
Fife Council noted concerns—which are shared by many authorities—that the bill would raise expectations; that traffic wardens would have to widen their beats to cover more areas; and that, without additional resources, local authorities would be unable to enforce the provisions, especially given the Scottish Government’s unprecedented cuts to local government.
I suppose that it is important to ask why drivers park in this way. For a few, it is due to thoughtlessness, but for many it is due to the physical constraints of the built environment. When many of our housing schemes and towns were planned for and built, the current level of car ownership and use was never expected. In addition to supporting and progressing the bill, we ought to acknowledge the constraints, look for innovative ideas on how to resolve the matter and talk further with town planners and transport planners.