Dear LPG readers,

LPG are always saying that there is power in pictures and I think that this one has a story to tell.

I am a writer in more than one sense of the word.  Not only did I write this message but I also write quite a few letters, and I happened to be leaving my home for the Post Office in order to post a letter abroad when I saw this scene.  The way that the car is parked is not unusual and I often see cars parked like the one in the picture, but on this occasion, I decided that it was worth getting my mobile phone out and clicking.

Before I continue with my story, I just want to say that I did get the permission of my neighbour who owns the bottom half of the body you can see walking.  He is a young man who lives just a couple of doors up the road, behind me as I took the picture and he was just passing.  I am standing just outside my front gate and the gate in the picture belongs to next door.

I am wondering if readers can see why I took the picture? 

The photographed pedestrian is young and can manoeuvre around a car parked in this way fairly easily but, at my age, with balance issues and my walking stick it is a bit more of a challenge.  Just before my neighbour walked past the car, a lady with her baby in a pushchair had to push the child out into the road to get past because of the challenge that using the available pavement would have caused.  Would she have been held responsible if the car was scratched by the pushchair and what if the child’s fingers got caught between the chair and the car?

She was also quite young, but what if a blind person was trying to pass or a person in a wheelchair.

It was a Saturday afternoon which meant that it was legal to park there in spite of the yellow line which is not visible, but perhaps more than anything else, I took and sent this picture to illustrate our need to be vigilant, whether we park or are visited by someone who parks their car like this.

I do appreciate that it is a double-edged sword.  In our borough there are streets marked where cars can legally park, and I have to say I can think of a few such streets, where most would agree that it is not really practical from a pedestrians point of view, but I also understand that drivers need to be able to park safely and fairly near to their destination. 

Perhaps we need to make sure that the drivers around us take a good look at the space they are leaving for pedestrians, as well as the road users, when they pavement-park on a pavement which is not marked in such a way that it is legal.  It is also to be noted that, even if you don’t drive, but take a look out of your front window to see a similar scene where your visitor is the owner of the car, a subtle reminder could be the way forward.

MP, Lewisham Park

LPG found a little information…

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