A BROMSGROVE mobility scooter user has slammed ‘selfish’ and ‘inconsiderate’ drivers for parking on the pavement which often means she has to go into the road, risking her own safety.
The resident, who did not want to be named, said: “It wasn’t until I began driving a mobility scooter a few years ago I realised just how selfish and inconsiderate some people are.
“Every time I venture out on my scooter I come across vehicles parked on pavements.
“A number of times recently when travelling along the Stourbridge Road between the Princess of Wales Hospital and the town centre I have come to a complete halt.
“This road is incredibly busy, there are multiple vehicles parked partially on the pavement on a regular basis.
“Navigating them is extremely hazardous not just for me but for other road users as well.”
She said it was not just the main roads, side streets were just as bad with cars parked too close to junctions making it ‘doubly dangerous’.
Other problems included wheelie bins which were usually put out in an orderly way by residents but ‘left all over the pavement once the refuse teams had emptied them’.
Branches from bushes got in the way, particularly at this time of year when everything grew so fast.
“This is particularly bad on Kidderminster Road, opposite Sanders Park.
“The foliage is growing towards the safety railings by the crossing and it won’t be long before I am unable to travel along the pavement without my scooter being damaged.”
Appealing to Standard readers she said: “Can I appeal to you, not just for myself but for every other disabled person in the area, whether they are visually impaired or have other mobility problems, to think ‘what if I was disabled?’ Could I negotiate around this vehicle safely?’.”
Guy Revans, Bromsgrove District Council’s head of environmental services, said: “We have looked at the photographs provided by the resident and can only apologise that the bins were put back on the pavement in this way.
“Our managers will be reminding the crews that they should always put the bins to the back of the pavement when replacing them to avoid residents having issues like this.”
He said when it came to cars, the on-street enforcement the district council undertook was done on behalf of the county council and only applied to the enforcement of Traffic Regulation Orders lines and signs. The council could not take any action against drivers who parked their vehicles on pavements unless there were double yellow lines.
He added new traffic regulation orders would have to be considered and implemented on the individual roads.
“Where a vehicle is parked dangerously or causing an obstruction outside of a regulated area the police are the only ones who can carry out enforcement as they have the powers to do so.”
