Grumble Thread

[oddoneout]

Perhaps a fellow forumite can remind me when the Highway code stopped advising that pedestrians walked on the side of the road facing oncoming traffic? This used to be Rule 2 in the Highway code. I can find no evidence of its withdrawal but it seems to be completely ignored by the vast majority of pedestrians, who seem blithely unaware that the rule exists to promote their safety.

Moreover, I hadn't appreciated that it was no longer a requirement to indicate left when leaving a roundabout or at a junction. Likewise, the number of users that join the carriageway without the courtesy of an indication. High time, methinks, for compulsory resits of the driving test theory every 10 years, and practical whenever totting up, say,6 points on the licence.

Pedestrians facing the wrong way is even more of an issue now that so many have their ears plugged and so are totally unaware of what's around them.

[smittims]

One thing I used to think was illegal, but cannot find chapter and verse for, is parking a car with two wheels on the footpath. It used to be rare , but is now so common that I suspect many drivers think that is the way you are supposed to park.

[oddoneout]

One thing I used to think was illegal, but cannot find chapter and verse for, is parking a car with two wheels on the footpath. It used to be rare , but is now so common that I suspect many drivers think that is the way you are supposed to park.

I had always thought that too but apparently it is subject to local byelaws rather than national restrictions, so in most cases may well not be an offence. Where it is locally prohibited there must be signs up to say so. London is different as one might expect!
Just found this

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/managing-pavement-parking/pavement-parking-options-for-change

[smittims]

Thanks. I had heard about the proposal but then silence, so I thoughtit had been upstaged by the pandemic,etc.

[Petrushka]

One thing I used to think was illegal, but cannot find chapter and verse for, is parking a car with two wheels on the footpath. It used to be rare , but is now so common that I suspect many drivers think that is the way you are supposed to park.

Only two wheels on the pavement? Here they park with all four on the pavement! There are two sections of wide pavements in town where drivers seem to get away with this and on more than one occasion I've had a vehicle behind me honking the horn telling me to get out of the way - on the pavement!

It's a case of keep death off the roads - drive on the pavement!

[french frank]

One thing I used to think was illegal, but cannot find chapter and verse for, is parking a car with two wheels on the footpath. It used to be rare , but is now so common that I suspect many drivers think that is the way you are supposed to park.

A recent council election candidate made it part of his spiel to clamp down on (two) wheels on the pavement parking in the ward. Lead balloon in our narrow street where residents park like that to avoid being repeatedly scraped, or having their wing mirrors knocked off; to say nothing of allowing the waste collection lorries to get through. There seem to be only two solutions: the council putting double yellows on one side, which would be unpopular with residents as well as people in nearby streets where parking is also pretty impossible. Or they could make it an RPZ - unpopular with all the local businesses on the main road who need to park in the neighbouring streets.

[The prospective candidate duly got elected (he wore the right colour rosette) but we've heard nothing further about parking on the pavement.]

[Sir Velo]

I had always thought that too but apparently it is subject to local byelaws rather than national restrictions, so in most cases may well not be an offence. Where it is locally prohibited there must be signs up to say so.

Rule 244 states that: "You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it." In other words, in the absence of sign to the contrary, you should not park on the pavement!

[french frank]

In other words, in the absence of sign to the contrary, you should not park on the pavement!

We DEMAND the council take action. Double yellow lines, at least on the corners so that vehicles can gain access. An RPZ. A response to residents that their waste hasn't been collected because the lorry couldn't get into the street. Given that the council has to fund wardens to patrol an RPZ or pay people to paint yellow lines, I guess they just keep a low profile. As for potholes on the main road: it looks as if a drain cover is about to collapse into the drainage system at any moment.

[Serial_Apologist]

Rule 244 states that: "You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it." In other words, in the absence of sign to the contrary, you should not park on the pavement!

And yet so many ignore that. The problem is doubly worsened by virtue of the size of so many private vehicles these days - something dramatically brought to my attention whenever I watch old movies from the 1950s and 60s in which one sees cars and other vehicles then regarded as medium-sized which would now be considered small - and the way some councils (including this one) are replacing asphalt pavements with costly-to-maintain (let alone install) pavements. And homeowners will continue paving over their forecourts to create off-street parking, adding to flooding problems resulting from climate warming, itself a consequence of oil exploitation.

[Serial_Apologist]

We DEMAND the council take action. Double yellow lines, at least on the corners so that vehicles can gain access. An RPZ. A response to residents that their waste hasn't been collected because the lorry couldn't get into the street. Given that the council has to fund wardens to patrol an RPZ or pay people to paint yellow lines, I guess they just keep a low profile. As for potholes on the main road: it looks as if a drain cover is about to collapse into the drainage system at any moment.

Which in turn raises a further grumble about the failure to maintain painted road markings in general these days, which becomes especially dangerous in the dark wet months, when road markings are in any case less visible. I was apologised to the other day when narrowly avoiding being knocked off my bike, the driver saying to me "Sorry, I didn't see markings for a cycle lane".

[french frank]

Which in turn raises a further grumble about the failure to maintain painted road markings in general these days,

Same answer as before: cuts

[oddoneout]

Rule 244 states that: "You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it." In other words, in the absence of sign to the contrary, you should not park on the pavement!

Using the wording "should not" is advisory and doesn't imply it's illegal (although you could still get penalised if doing so falls into one of the other categories, or is prohibited under local regulations) whereas "MUST NOT" is the legal requirement.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/legal/parking-on-the-pavement/

[oddoneout]

And yet so many ignore that. The problem is doubly worsened by virtue of the size of so many private vehicles these days - something dramatically brought to my attention whenever I watch old movies from the 1950s and 60s in which one sees cars and other vehicles then regarded as medium-sized which would now be considered small - and the way some councils (including this one) are replacing asphalt pavements with costly-to-maintain (let alone install) pavements. And homeowners will continue paving over their forecourts to create off-street parking, adding to flooding problems resulting from climate warming, itself a consequence of oil exploitation.

Someone coined the term "autobesity" to describe the trend to fatter,longer, heavier cars. Their impact, beyond the immediate problem of taking up too much space and being more dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists, in terms of pollution and fossil fuel use is depressing.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/24/motor-emissions-could-have-fallen-without-suv-trend-report

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Using the wording "should not" is advisory and doesn't imply it's illegal (although you could still get penalised if doing so falls into one of the other categories, or is prohibited under local regulations) whereas "MUST NOT" is the legal requirement.
https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/l...-the-pavement/

In other words it’s rather wishy-washy. What’s good for London should be good for the rest of the country.

[oddoneout]

Which in turn raises a further grumble about the failure to maintain painted road markings in general these days, which becomes especially dangerous in the dark wet months, when road markings are in any case less visible. I was apologised to the other day when narrowly avoiding being knocked off my bike, the driver saying to me "Sorry, I didn't see markings for a cycle lane".

Probably also related to cuts, but in recent years round here it is noticeable that even when markings are renewed they wear off much more quickly than used to be the case, and I don't think it can all be blamed on increased traffic. What was being put down often looked like slightly thick paint, rather than the more paste like material of old that leaves a raised as well as coloured line, that takes longer to wear away.