Drivers risk fixed penalty notices for parking on footpaths

The news comes as the PSNI has teamed up with local charities to launch a campaign to highlight the dangers faced by pedestrians forced on to busy roads due to vehicles obstructing the pavement.

Guide Dogs NI, has joined forces with The Cedar Foundation, who support inclusion for people with disabilities, and the PSNI, to launch the campaign.

Over the coming months, they will be embarking on an education campaign across NI that will include the PSNI issuing notices to badly parked cars informing them if they repeatedly offend, they are at risk of a fixed penalty notice for obstructing the pavement.

Guide dog owner Diane Marks from Belfast struggles on a daily basis with the sheer number of cars that park on the pavement.

She commented: “Going out into the road is something that I have just had to get used to, but it can be a terrifying experience.

“I’ve had so many near misses with cars and I rely so heavily on being able to walk down the street safely.”

Cedar User Forum member Margaret, who lives in Ballykinler, has used a mobility aid since she suffered a stroke in 2012.

Some days she finds herself housebound when cars parked on the pavement near where she lives make it impossible for her to get out.

She said: “It causes a lot of difficulty for people with a disability to try to get past a vehicle parked on a pavement.

“They have to come off the pavement often on to a public thoroughfare where there can be traffic going at quite high speeds.”