Parking. Problem?

"Nothing will get done until there is a serious accident" 

That is what a neighbour of mine was allegedly told when she asked a member of our local council if something could be done about cars speeding down our road.   Added  to the speeding problem is the now common practice of parking across the pavement, thereby forcing pedestrians into the road at greater risk from the speeding vehicles.  The comment wasn't said directly to me, nor did the neighbour tell me who had made the comment, so it may seem somewhat unfair of me to repeat it.   However, the problem of speeding vehicles is raised again and again at our meetings with the council.  I have even raised it with the local police commissioner and little is done.  

At the last meeting between residents, local councillors and representatives from Kent police, we were told that the police couldn't afford to monitor speeding down our road more than "at present" - the previous occasion having been seven months prior to that meeting.  We can't have fixed speed cameras, and therefore I assume parking cameras either, because the cost 'can't be justified'.  But nobody could tell me what the cost was.  Our road has become a virtual by-pass for traffic wishing to avoid the traffic-light hell of the town, particularly at peak times.  It is a long road of Victorian terraces, built long before car ownership became commonplace, let alone the the rise of two-car households, people carriers and vans.  For much of the road, parking is permitted on one side, with the other side being allegedly protected from parking by double yellow lines.  There are two traffic islands.  These have completely failed to stop speeding, but have become a breeding ground for the lesser-spotted fly-tipper.  

For car owners in our road, I admit that parking is a problem.  Residents find themselves having to park in neighbouring streets, thereby exacerbating the parking problem in those roads.  For some car owners and, more commonly, for visitors to the road or to the shops on Delce Road, parking on the pavement is seen as a 'handy' alternative.  If you are lazy, selfish and completely devoid of any social spirit at all, parking on the pavement will save you a few seconds, whilst you load up with newspapers, cigarettes or kebabs.  In the quick run from your car to the shop / take-away, it is so much easier to avert your gaze from the parent struggling to negotiate around you car with a pushchair, the dog walker having to cross the road, the disabled person in a motorised wheelchair who has to ride into the road on a dark night, the elderly person with a stick or a frame who has to cross the road and cross back again because of your car, when every step for them is a struggle.  Just avert your gaze, jump into your car, get on your mobile and chat away whilst you stuff chips in your mouth. It is an unmissable dining experience.  If your phone battery is dying, you can always entertain yourself watching the number of pedestrians who have to walk into the road whilst your car blocks the pavement.     

Yesterday, I pointed out to a van driver that he regularly parks across the pavement.  His response was  to smirk at me and tell me that he had 'heard' I had taken a photo of his van, as if somehow I am the one with the problem.  The smirk annoyed me, not least because I do feel judgmental and as if I have very quickly turned into Mrs Mangle, but every day I see at least one person with a dog, toddler or wheelchair forced into the road by parked cars, whilst cars speed pass.  I pointed out to him that there is sheltered accommodation at one end of the road, and many of the road's residents are either elderly or parents of young children - all of these pedestrians are forced to negotiate the obstacle of his van by walking in the road to get to the shops, the health centre, nursery, kindergarten etc.   They all have a need and a right to walk safely on the pavement.  He explained that it was "only for a short time" whilst they were finishing work on the house.  He really didn't want to have the conversation - however since I took a photo of his van, he hasn't parked on the pavement.  

At least he was civil and seems to be making an effort to park legally.  I hesitate to challenge many of the drivers.  I might walk everywhere with a shar pei who looks as though he has been in a battle or two, but doubt that would stop some of those drivers from punching me in the face.    

The parking and speeding problems have been exacerbated in recent years and I am wondering if it is just because more people own cars or do we have less traffic wardens on foot? Have traffic wardens been mostly been replaced by "CCTV Approved Device Vehicles"?   I haven't seen the car with the camera for months and I can't remember the last time I saw a traffic warden.  Yet every single evening there are at least four vehicles parked across the pavement by Delce Road.  I have never seen any of them moved on or parking tickets issued.  Park too long across the top of the road and you get a ticket.  Park on double yellow lines overnight along the street or in a disabled bay without a disabled badge and you get a ticket - and  rightly so.  Park across the pavement every single day - and nothing is done.  As residents, what do we have to do to alleviate these problems?  Do Medway council really think it is better to wait for a disabled person or a toddler to be hit by a speeding car whilst they are walking in the road around an illegally parked car?  It isn't the council's fault that people park across the pavement, but it is a problem for everyone that they seem to do so little about it.  

I'm  fed  up of vehicles speeding down here, not caring about the potential consequences if they can save a few seconds,  I'm fed up of having to walk in the road to avoid parked cars and I'm even more fed up of waiting on the pavement whilst motorists drive along it to get past other vehicles.  I don't know what the ideal solution is, but I do know that little is said and even less is done.   I have requested a 20mph parking limit for the road, as advised by the police commissioner.   I will continue to ask for the parking and speeding problems to be monitored.  I get more like Mrs Mangle every day, but I don't want to wait for a serious accident to have this issue resolved.