​Parking On Pavements To Become Illegal In Scotland

Parking on the roadside always causes a bit of a nightmare for everyone.

Do you park with half your car on the pavement, limiting pedestrian and wheelchair access, or do you park fully on the road and risk someone knocking your wing mirror off?

Neither is ideal.

Soon in Scotland, that decision will be taken away from you anyway, reports the Daily Mail.

A new transport bill from the Scottish government will mean fines for any vehicle that's parked straddling a kerb.

The new bill also lines out plans to introduce low emission zones to improve air pollution in busy areas - a similar plan to what's going on down in London.

At the minute, parking on the pavement is only illegal in London, but the Department for Transport said in April that it was considering extending the ban across England and Wales. That would mean fines of £70 for anyone breaking the rules.

Alan Stanton (Creative Commons)

The new measures in Scotland will ban pavement parking and will also be introducing penalties for double parking (surely every motorist's pet peeve).

The low emission zones in London will mean that drivers of certain cars will need to pay £12.50 every time they enter central London from 2019.

The transport bill in Scotland promises to cut down on air pollution by reducing vehicle use - so a low emission zone could well be on the cards for densely populated cities.

They want to encourage people to use more public transport. Councils may be given more flexibility in running bus services.

It's also been suggested that smart ticketing technology would be standardised across the country (which makes sense), and that road works would be regulated.

PA

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: "This government will not stand by as bus passenger numbers decline."

He added: "This Bill will allow for decriminalised enforcement of low emission zones, double parking and parking on pavements.

"This will help transform our towns and cities into cleaner, more accessible and more pleasant spaces to travel and enjoy. By strengthening the technology and governance which underpins smart ticketing, people will be able to move between our cities with greater ease and convenience.

"By empowering local authorities and continuing to work in partnership with transport operators, we will continue to develop a cleaner, smarter public transport system with improved connectivity, accessibility and greater economic benefits for all of Scotland."

Improved public transport and no cars blocking the pavements? Sounds like an absolute winner to us.

Topics: UK News, Scotland, Cars

Daisy Jackson

Daisy Jackson is a freelance writer, who has previously worked at Shortlist Media and Trinity Mirror. She has written about the Manchester terror attacks and appeared on BBC Five live to discuss the aftermath, as well as interviewing an orthopaedic surgeon in Syria.