Aberdeen city wardens patrolling the streets will be able to dish out £100 fines to drivers parked on pavements from next year.
Anyone caught double parked or blocking a dropped kerb in the Granite City will also risk being fined.
New regulations come into force next month — giving councils the green light to take action on pavement parking.
Edinburgh will be the first city in Scotland to enforce banning drivers from parking on pavements.
Now, Aberdeen City Council confirmed city wardens will be on the lookout for any cars on pavements, parked across dropped kerbs and double parking.
Parking on pavements has been a longstanding problem in some residential areas of Aberdeen, such as Garthdee, Kincorth and Mastrick, with our readers raising safety concerns over the years.
Now drivers caught flouting the rules could be slapped with a £100 fine, we want to know what our readers think.
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What are Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland councils planning?
A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council explained monitoring and enforcement is expected to start in “early 2024”, and further updates will be given in “due course”.
Meanwhile, Aberdeenshire Council will enforce the new rules but is taking a different approach.
A spokesman explained the local authority has completed an assessment of all its footways and is in the process of making “a small number of exemption orders”. These exemptions “should be in place” for the pavement parking prohibition coming into force on December 11.
He said: “The council will be enforcing the prohibition, however, initially our focus will be around the education of motorists.”
In the Highlands, the council has already “adopted” a ban on pavement parking.
And, in Moray, the enforcement is yet to be decided by the council.
A spokeswoman for the local authority said there will be a discussion in the future to work out the costs and the benefits of enforcing the ban.
Have you experienced any problems with pavement parking in your area? Let us know in the comments section below
Aberdeen guide dog owner says pavement parking is ‘extremely dangerous’
Mary Rasmussen, who fundraises for Guide Dogs Aberdeen, has been campaigning for the ban on pavement parking “for many years”.
She uses a guide dog and says parking on pavements and across dropped kerbs has been an issue in Aberdeen for a long time, particularly in residential areas.
The pensioner explained guide dogs are trained to lead their owner to cross safely at tactile (the bumpy, yellow) paving.
However, if a car or vehicle is parked across this, this can put visually impaired and blind people trying to cross in danger, especially because drivers may not be able to see them crossing.
“As for cars, or vehicles, parked on the pavement — that’s quite another story,” Mary said.
She told the Press & Journal she has been left with painful bruises after walking into wing mirrors when cars have been parked on pavements, only leaving a narrow path for pedestrians to get by.
She added: “Once, there was a large van parked on the pavement and I just about knocked myself out because the wing mirror was sticking out and I caught it with my head.
“It was extremely painful, and I staggered backward — so it’s extremely dangerous.”
Tackling pavement parking will be a ‘major boost’ for visually impaired
If the pavement is completely blocked, guide dog owners and wheelchair users could be forced off the pavement to cross to the other side of the road or to try to get around the car.
For Mary, this can be quite scary as she fears oncoming drivers may not be able to see her as the dog is guiding her along the road until they can safely get back onto the pavement.
She also explained incidents like walking into wing mirrors or being forced off the pavement because of poorly parked cars stop some visually impaired people from having the confidence to go out alone.
“As you gradually lose confidence the less you want to go out alone and the more isolated you become, which has serious mental health implications” she finished.
Niall Foley, external affairs manager for Guide Dogs Scotland, has welcomed the introduction of the pavement parking measures.
He said: “Parking on pavements is a nuisance for everyone, but potentially dangerous if you have sight loss and are forced onto the road and can’t see traffic coming towards you.
“Tackling the challenge of vehicles blocking the way will be a major boost to the confidence of people with a vision impairment in getting out and about independently.”
He added: “We urge local authorities to make 2024 the year they end the scourge of pavement parking.”
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