Parking on grass verges MEGATHREAD

[Super Hans]

When I used to drive I much preferred people to park on grass verges than having to weave in and out of cars parked up on the road.

 

It causes accidents, people cross behind parked cars and it makes it harder to see oncoming vehicles.

 

A bit of squashed grass is a small price to pay for the benefit of road safety and convenience.

 

Why are people letting a bit of grass ruin their lives?

[cgksheff]

When I used to drive I much preferred people to park on grass verges than having to weave in and out of cars parked up on the road.

 

It causes accidents, people cross behind parked cars and it makes it harder to see oncoming vehicles.

 

A bit of squashed grass is a small price to pay for the benefit of road safety and convenience.

 

Why are people letting a bit of grass ruin their lives?

 

 

Some of that may be true, but I can show you roads that are not narrow, have no other vehicles in sight and the idiots have the habit so ingrained that they still choose to damage the verges.

[yorkiepudd]

it used to be illegal but it's down to each individual council to have bylaws to that effect.

 

Sheffield cc abolished the relevant bylaws about 20 years ago.

[WalkleyIan]

Is it legal for cars to park on the grass verge

 

There is no easy answer.

 

It is legal to park on the verge unless signs say otherwise, or unless you are in London (different set of laws down there). It is illegal to park on the pavement in Exeter, and I assume that includes the verge. In Bakewell you will get a ticket on the verge, but there are signs that indicate this.

 

In most part of the UK it is illegal to drive over the pavement, unless a dropped access is present. There are a few places with byelaw that allow pavement parking in marked zones (not in Sheffield) so you clearly can drive on those bits of pavement.

 

So laws that contradict each other, you can park on the verge but in many cases you could be committing an offence driving onto it, if you had to cross the pavement. Even this would be down to the interpretation locally.

 

A different law applies if there is a shared use cycle/pedestrian path lane on the pavement you need to cross.

 

“any person who, without lawful authority, drives or parks a motor vehicle wholly or partly on a cycle track is guilty of an offence”

 

This has been interpreted as including a pavement that has a cycle track on it. So it seems you are definity committing an offence if you drive across a cycle track to park on a verge.

 

Different set of rules for heavy commercial vehicles as well.

 

"a person who parks a heavy commercial vehicle wholly or partly on the verge of a road, or on any land situated between two carriageways … or on a footway is guilty of an offence”

 

Just to complicate it more Scotland is looking to rewrite the laws so that any parking on the pavement or verge alongside a road is illegal.

 

---------- Post added 22-12-2012 at 14:36 ----------

 

Begs the question why would you want to park on the mud baths that make up the cities grass verges during our continuing monsoon season?

[spilldig]

The grass verge outside my house is a nuisance, it would ideal if it could be removed and a parking bay put in its place. As it is, it is little more than a dogs toilet.

 

The problem with that is the same as when people put a drive in or patio or pave over a garden.If no water gets into the soil it can dry foundations out and cause subsidence,also more water runs off and finishes up making the rivers flow higher.

[Steptoad]

The problem with that is the same as when people put a drive in or patio or pave over a garden.If no water gets into the soil it can dry foundations out and cause subsidence,also more water runs off and finishes up making the rivers flow higher.

 

We've got front gardens, but I see your point and I suppose if the verges are taken away the dogs will use the gardens.

[Merlin123]

What really pees me off is when people place them rocks on the grass verges. When it snowed heavy a few years ago, I was walking a long ringinglow road and I tripped over on the rock. It was all covered with snow and I ended up hurting myself when I fell. If I wasn't in so much pain, I would have knocked the persons door whose house they were outside and given them a peace of my mind.

[downhiller]

Parking on grass verges when the road is wide enough for parking, is turning many estates into into slums

[avalonclick]

Hi a polite notice saying no parking on the grass has great results. we have had many people writing back to us saying how well a simple sign works. search avalonclick

[MISTA]

Currently going through the process of working with the local councillors and highways to get something done with the grass verges near us - they are a disgrace. Sheffield City Council has an initiative called Streetsahead that have done some fantastic work on Shiregreen with grass verges being re-established, planting schemes and oak bollards on verges to deter parking and damaging the grass. Many people think the verges are just for aeasthetic purposes - they are not ! They help surface drainage of pavements and as a lot of the roads in Sheffield do not have sufficient drainage already and with so many front gardens being turned into hard standings for parking purposes , the verges were never so important as they are now !!! Although it is land that is owned by highways and is looked after by councils, the deliberate delapidation of our verges is not something that we can allow to happen - I do see both sides of the argument , especially where parking is difficult and people dont have drives to park on , but where I live, drives are hardly used and parking on the road is a nightmare , so the verges are being uneccesarily allowed to go into disrepair at the moment because the rules are so unclear ............ I am hopeful that we can see some of the work that is clear to see around Shiregreen happening where you are ..... it looks fantastic and certainly shows what can be achieved when there is real joined up thinking by all concerned, particularly the authorites that , until now, have done little to ease the problem ! You should go and have a look and get your councilors to do the same !