An Aberdeen wheelchair user has hit out at drivers who continue to park on Granite City pavements despite the ban.
Ean Watt, was one of a number of people that took to the streets outside the Town House in Aberdeen this morning to raise awareness on the issue.
The pavement parking ban came into force in Aberdeen on July 1.
Speaking to The P&J, Mr Watt, a board member of charity Future Choices who arranged the event, said: “I’ve almost been knocked down, because you have to go on to the road.
“I almost got hit once by a lovely BMW.”
Addressing concerns that the new rules are another war on motorists, he does not think this is the case and says it is more than being an “inconvenience” to wheelchair users.
He added: “When you go down a certain part of a pavement, you get to where a car’s parked, you can’t get past.
Pavement parkers force wheelchairs into traffic
“You’ve got to come off, there’s no dropped kerb and you’re dropping into live traffic sometimes with cars who you can’t see.
“Some wheelchairs that are electric, they can’t turn in a circle on a tight street, so they’re stuck.
“They have to get someone to help them and there’s people with buggies and blind people.”
Activists set out a number of no parking signs on the pavement outside the offices of city councillors to spell out the same word to get their message across.
Future Choices chariman David Forbes said today’s event was to: “Step up the awareness campaign on behalf of the vulnerable and those with visual impairments to say that it’s not right that you park on pavements because it obstructs the accessibility.”
Earlier this week, The P&J reported that a Kincorth man and his neighbours were fined for parking “half on, half off” the pavement and grass verges outside their homes and Mr Forbes has heard people saying that parking like this is not a “big issue”.
Pavement parkers urged to ‘put their shoes on the other foot’
However, he urged people to “put their shoes on the other foot”, adding: “I understand there is a lot of challenges of being able to park outside your house, I get that.
“But we have to be the voice of disabled people and the vulnerable and say, ‘look, the law is there, it’s clear you can’t park on pavements’, because it does impact on the daily lives of those.”
Earlier this month, Aberdeen City Council announced that 12 streets in the city would be exempt from the new rules, including Bedford Avenue and Great Northern Road, and this is something that Mr Forbes said he “understands”.
“I appreciate that some streets have to be exempt, I totally get that and we’re not arguing that,” he added.
‘It is inconsiderate to park on pavements’
Former Scottish Government transport minister and MSP for Aberdeen Central Kevin Stewart was at today’s event and said he was “really pleased” that the Scottish Parliament approved this legislation.
He added: “I’m pleased that Aberdeen City Council are finally getting round to enforcing this. There is a real difficulty with pavement parking in certain parts of our city, which impedes wheelchair users, those with buggies and those who are infirm on their feet.
“It is inconsiderate to park on pavements and hopefully this will make a real difference to folks’ lives and make folk feel safer.”
Conversation