• @ArcaneGadget
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    5711 months ago

    TIL: the Brits call the sidewalk “pavement”. I thought this was completely unreasonable at first…

    • XbSuper
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      411 months ago

      That threw me off too. I’m still struggling with it tbh.

  • @SimonSaysStuff
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    11 months ago

    This is great, but let’s be honest it should be Scotland wide. Where I live this is ridiculously common, they get half the car or more on the pavement, stick on their hazard lights and seem to think that’s OK.

    One more thing, the fine isn’t high enough in my opinion. There will still be people that’ll carry on parking like this because they justify it somehow. Looking at you Aberdeen Range Rover mob.

    • @[email protected]
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      711 months ago

      Where do you see people only half on? They alway appear to me to take as much of the pavement as they can. Wouldn’t want pedestrians to be able to use it.

  • @Olap
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    3011 months ago

    About time, pavement parking a menace in the city with the best bus service in the UK

    • @Olap
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      711 months ago

      Parking is a civic matter rather than criminal. So there were loopholes in enforcement essentially. Lots of roads very tight in urban environments in Scotland too, we never planned for the car! Unclear what they’re going to do for about delivery drivers still also

      • @them
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        511 months ago

        It’s mentioned in the article

        although there will be an exemption for delivery drivers.

      • kurikai
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        211 months ago

        They can use sack barrows and pallet jacks.

    • @[email protected]
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      411 months ago

      Blocking the pavement and driving onto the pavement are illegal everywhere in the UK. Gotta catch someone driving up the kerb though.

  • @[email protected]
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    811 months ago

    I think one of the first think I thought when I arrived in the UK is “how are so many people parking randomly on the street?”. Glad Edinburgh is taking steps, now let’s hope the rest of the UK follows…

    • @[email protected]
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      111 months ago

      It’s already banned in London, but it would be great if the other cities joined in and made it more widely unacceptable

      • HeartyBeast
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        311 months ago

        Well, except in London there are quite few marked parking bays that straddle road and pavement. It’s a reasonable solution where there is a wide pavement and you, for example - want to add a marked cycle lane

  • @HonoraryMancunian
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    411 months ago

    Genuine question — how does this work on residential that are less than three cars wide? The street I live on forces pavement parking due to this.

    • @stown
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      1411 months ago

      I guess you just found out that your street has no parking…

      Time to build a driveway and park on your own property.

      • @killeronthecorner
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        411 months ago

        They found out that you can only park on one side.

        You would be right about roads that are less than two car wide though.

  • ntzm [he/him]
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    411 months ago

    I wish this was everywhere in the UK, you can’t go anywhere without seeing cars littered everywhere

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    411 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Across the UK, parking on the pavement is only currently illegal in London, although police can take action if a driver is causing an obstruction.

    The Scottish government passed a law in 2021 that gives local authorities the power to stop pavement parking.

    The legislation will receive ministerial approval in December - meaning all councils are free to enforce the ban.

    Niall Foley, lead external affairs manager at Guide Dogs Scotland, said: "Parking on pavements is a nuisance for everyone, but potentially dangerous if you are a wheelchair user forced onto the road, pushing a buggy, or have sight loss and can’t see traffic coming towards you.

    Stuart Hay, director of Living Streets Scotland, a charity which promotes everyday walking, also backed the plans.

    If it goes ahead, the council said it would adopt a low key “soft approach” to ensure that any enforcement action considers the impact on drivers.


    The original article contains 452 words, the summary contains 150 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • @Olap
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      611 months ago

      often tarred instead. Paving being slabs of brick/concrete over here

      • blazera
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        011 months ago

        Right but their sidewalks are called pavement, so how are their roads made?

        • @killeronthecorner
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          311 months ago

          Bitumen over gravel at varying ratios, mostly. It’s not very hot here (for now)

          • @AA5B
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            11 months ago

            Some Brit terms may seem unusual to us in the US, but in cases like this, you could argue they’re more accurate. Why do we use pavers to build sidewalks and patios, but asphalt to build “pavement”?

  • fiat_lux
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    -111 months ago

    And I get annoyed about people leaving rental bicycles scattered on the footpath where I live. Jesus Christ. Does this not run afoul of public infrastructure accessibility laws in Scotland or are there just none that cover the topic?