Cross-Overs / Dropped Kerbs

[Drxyster]

Reading through the posts on this thread it would seem to indicate that having a dropped kerb / cross over installed by the council would seem to be somewhat risky.If there is no obligation for the police to move a vehicle that is blocking driveway or cross over, you may find you cannot get your vehicle in or out of your property.Since the introduction of the congestion charge, many vehicles are parked in our road quite early in the morning and the drivers catch the bus into the city, collecting their cars in the evening to drive home after work.If one of these drivers blocked your council installled cross-over and driveway,your car may be trapped on your property all day and there does not appear that anything can be done to free your vehicle to get access to the public highway.Any sensible comments or suggestions appreciated.

[cate]

Did you ask the highways department at the council for clarification? What about having a single yellow line on the road at the entrance to driveway?

[Siduhe]

It depends where your drop kerb is and whether you need to get onto the drive or off it.

s14 of the London Local Authorities and Transport Act 2003 says that it is a PCN'able offence (i.e. Council enforcement) to block a legal dropped kerb but a PCN will only be issued at the request of the householder.

However, under s86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, if the drop kerb is in a special enforcement area, the Council have the authority to remove the car or issue a PCN.

Also, if your car is on the drive and needs to exit, it is obstruction and the police have powers to remove the obstruction - whether they consider it is proportionate to exercise these powers is up to them - there is no obligation to remove the car. As an aside, they also have the power to arrest anyone causing an unreasonable obstruction (and this has apparently been done on rare occasions eg a neighbour who consistently and maliciously blocks a legal dropkerb).

However, if the car is blocking the entrance to your drive and you need to get back onto it, that doesn't count as obstruction.

[legalbeagle]

Siduhe I think that's right. I called the police after my parking was blocked by a car for a whole weekend, and I needed to get it out on Monday. The police traced the owner through the licence plate, called them and told them to move it. No fine or arresting or anything like that, just a polite call and the car was moved.

[cassidy]

My sister has a drop kerb outside her property and after repeatedly being both blocked in and also bein unable to park due to vechicle obstruction was told by a local parking warden to call 0207-525-2037 and they will arrange to move any car blocking a drop kerb as apparently he told her since the end of 2009 southwark will remove vechicles blocking drop kerbs

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Something that irks me is that a bod in our road has a dropped kerb and drive. He also has a white line painted which legally stops anyone blocking his drive - fair enough. Yet he regularly parks on the white line himself but is never prosecuted.

Trivial I know, but bloody annoying.

[cassidy]

No we have one of them along our road to

[womanofdulwich]

why would he be prosecuted? the line is to stop others blocking access to his drive.

[Siduhe]

The line doesn't count for anything - it's a courtesy by the Council to draw attention to the drop.

Parking across the drive is only an offence if a) you're obstructing the driveway owner from getting out of his drive or b) it's a PCN'able offence if he requests a PCN to be issued. So I think he's fine to do what he's doing.