RNIB calls for law change to end the dangerous practice of pavement parking.

Campaigners say that a national ban on pavement parking would improve safety for all citizens.

Transcript

00:00So there's a lot of problems that it contributes to.

00:04It can prevent the effective use of mobility aids like white canes and guide dogs.

00:10It risks people colliding with parked vehicles, obviously, which can lead to injury and distress

00:14and just kind of a general exhaustion of just having to put all that work in to navigate.

00:19It forces blind and partially sighted people into the road in the path of moving vehicles

00:24and all the risks that that entails.

00:26And the frequency and unpredictability of all of these problems makes it common and

00:31tiring to deal with, which can lead to people with sight loss avoiding going out altogether

00:35or only going out when someone can guide them, someone sighted can go with them.

00:39What examples or anecdotes have you heard from people who are visually impaired?

00:44So RNIB has had reports of an individual who was hit in the face by walking into a van

00:48that had ladders strapped to its roof.

00:51Another person visited by the police about criminal damage he had apparently caused by

00:55knocking off the wing mirror of a vehicle parked on a pavement.

00:59A guide dog owner who had to walk in the road that faced a near miss with a vehicle not

01:03actually being hit, but close enough that it rendered her dog unable to work reliably

01:08for some time afterward.

01:09We forget that dogs are great, but they are sort of, you know, fallible and they can be

01:14frightened and put off by things in the same way that we can.

01:17We're currently in an election period where policy is being formed.

01:21Do you feel that a change in the law is necessary to address the problem of pavement parking

01:27and ensure the safety and accessibility for pedestrians with visual impairments?

01:32Yeah, absolutely.

01:34Current legislation and enforcement on pavement parking are clearly not working.

01:37The Department for Transport consulted on this in 2020.

01:42Embedding pavement parking has cross-party support, but there's been no progress in the

01:45last four years.

01:46So RNIB are definitely calling for the introduction of a law to address pavement parking across

01:51the UK as soon as possible.

01:53You really should consider there are people who don't feel able to leave their homes independently

01:58because of this problem.