Pavement Blocking In West Reading

Talk about inconsiderate people blocking pavements with their vehicles!

For parents with buggies, people using wheelchairs or elderly people who need support to walk, having pavements blocked by parked cars can mean there is no way through without being forced to risk walking in the road.

We are making a specially designed flyer available for residents to print out, via our website -- www.readinggreenparty.org.uk. They are also asking the council to display these leaflets in the Civic Centre. Residents will then be able to put the flyer on the windscreens of cars blocking pavements. These flyers explain why blocking pavements has such a harmful impact on local pedestrians, and asks the owners to park in a more considerate way.

Green Party campaigner Rob White said:

"We all see cars and vans blocking pavements every day. Half the time drivers probably don’t think about the problems they’re causing for anyone using buggies or wheelchairs. But in some parts of Reading they’re making life very hard for people simply trying to get about their daily business, and it’s the most vulnerable that get affected the most. Not only that, but pavements aren’t built to withstand the weight of vehicles – by driving onto them footpaths get damaged, creating trip hazards that cause even more problems.

"It’s unacceptable to block pavements with vehicles and force people to walk on the roads, when over 33,000 people on foot get injured by vehicles every single year. We want to get our pavements back and be able to walk around safely - that’s why we’ve started this campaign."