Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scott Begbie: Aberdeen’s selfish convenience-parkers need to think of others

Wouldn’t it be nice if some drivers at Union Square stopped being thoughtless and watched out for pedestrians?

Motorists parking outside Union Square for their own ease are putting pedestrians at risk. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson
Motorists parking outside Union Square for their own ease are putting pedestrians at risk. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson

Sometimes karma delivers.

Like it did last week, to the sour-faced driver parked on zigzag lines hard against the zebra crossing on Palmerston Road at the back of Union Square.

I was trying to get over the road, but had to peer gingerly round the side of this outsized four-by-four to make sure I wasn’t going to walk into moving traffic.

My stony stare at the wifie sitting behind the wheel earned me a look of indifferent entitlement, with just a hint of a curled sneer. Clearly, I was an oik with attitude, presumptuous enough to question her right to put pedestrians in danger.

And it wasn’t just this madam. You couldn’t see the zigzags or double-yellows either side of the crossing for parked cars, engines running, just putting their convenience ahead of the safety of others.

So, imagine my delight when, at that precise moment, a cop car came round the corner and pulled up into a space further down the road. I swear the bobbies stepping out of their car were caught in a shaft of heavenly sunlight as angelic choirs sang hallelujah.

The response from the swarm of danger-parkers was hilarious. They scattered like a pack of hyenas confronted by lions. So much so that there were a couple of near misses as the panicked motorists tried to pull out in front of each other to escape a telling-off and a ticket.

I would have loved to watch Mrs Discovery’s resting haughty face turn to wide-eyed flight mode. That’ll learn ye.

But, the question is, will it? It was great to see the police move in and the motorists move on, but I wager others will replace them, day in, day out. I know because I see it morning and night as I wend my way home.

I’ve even seen someone stopped right on the crossing itself – and getting foul-mouthed when people have shown their irritation at their stupidity.

And it’s not just at this one spot. Selfish drivers seem to abound in Aberdeen. Just ask Ean Watt, the campaigning wheelchair user speaking out against the now illegal act of pavement parking that poses a danger to all and sundry. Let’s hope his concerns are heard, because they really need to be.

Just on Saturday, I was sitting in a restaurant in Rosemount watching a shiny, massive Mercedes mount the pavement, forcing a dad pushing a pram to make evasive manoeuvres. That was a sliding doors moment away from tragedy.

The law has cracked down on pavement parkers – but will that be enough to stop them? Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

While karma delivered at Palmerston Road, it can’t be everywhere all at once. So, wouldn’t it be nice if some drivers stopped being thoughtless, took a tumble to the risks their actions posed and just, well, acted sensibly?

Until then, though, let’s hope Ean’s voice can be heard – and that the girls and boys in blue keep up the good work of making the foolish see the error of their ways.


Scott Begbie is a journalist and editor, as well as PR and comms manager for Aberdeen Inspired

Conversation