Mims Davies, MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, showed her support for Guide Dog’s campaign for safer and more accessible streets at the recent event in Parliament.
Mims Davies spoke with those with sight loss about the challenges anti-social pavement parking cause. Cars parked on pavements are a problem for everyone, but are particularly dangerous for people with sight loss, who can be forced to walk in the road with traffic they cannot see.
Pavement parking is already against the law in London, and similar rules are coming into force in in Scotland. The law in the rest of the country is complex and patchy, this needs to be looked into.
Guide Dogs is calling for a clear law across rest of the country, to ensure that everyone can walk their streets safely. Three quarters (74%) of councillors also support Guide Dogs’ call for a new law.
Mims Davies MP said:
I was very pleased to join Guide Dog's Parliamentary event and speak to those who have lost their sight about the obstacles they face.
It's clear the laws on cars parking on pavements needs to be looked into in order to not only make our pavements safer for blind individuals, but everyone who needs to walk on the path and is being forced to walk on the road.
Thank you to Helen in particular, a guide dog owner and volunteer, who spoke about her own experience of pavement parking and how it affects her safety and independence.
Thank you to the Guide Dog team for organising this important event.
Eleanor Briggs, Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Campaigns at Guide Dogs, said:
Cars blocking pavements are a nuisance for everyone but can be dangerous for people forced into the road, especially wheelchair users, people with pushchairs and people with sight loss.
We know cars blocking the way undermines people with a vision impairments’ confidence to get out and about independently. This is why we’re calling for a clear law that would empower local councils to tackle this problem.
