Why a ban on pavement parking is long overdue - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Eleanor Roaf, Stockport.
As part of its new Road Safety strategy, the Government is encouraging local authorities to ban pavement parking. This is long overdue.
Far from being a 'victimless crime', pavement parking is one of the reasons parents give for not allowing children to walk independently to school and it can stop older and disabled people from leaving their homes.
Over recent years, cars have got bigger and more households have two or more cars, making pavement parking, once a rarity, more common but no less dangerous.
Most of us need to exercise more, so pavements need to be kept clear for people to walk, to use wheelchairs and other walking aids and to push prams and buggies.
When the streets are busy and parking is scarce, it's time to rethink our reliance on cars, and stop them dominating our lives and the lives of others.
New year, new habits. Let's make 2026 the year we rethink our relationship with cars: our streets in our cities, towns and villages should be designed for people not for cars.
We'll also all benefit from cleaner air, better health and higher footfall and spending in local shops - truly win-win-win.