Drivers parking on pavements and blocking kerbs are putting lives in danger by causing pedestrians to walk in the road, the Local Government Association has suggested.
This could include blind people and parents with prams, forcing them into dangerous traffic.
Although pavement parking has already been banned in London, it has thus far been unrestricted outside of the region.
It “seems nonsense,” said Martin Tett, transport spokesman of the LGA.
“Local authorities need this power to respond to concerns raised by their communities, for example if a street is becoming dangerously congested or pedestrians are being forced to step out into the street to get round parked vehicles.”
Damaged pavements and kerbs are further concerns for local councils with limited funds, according to the LGA.
AA president Edmund King argued that some roads could be blocked if drivers were banned from parking on pavements.
“Some drivers think they are helping the flow of traffic by parking on the pavement, but too often little to no consideration is given to how someone in a wheelchair or a parent with a child in a buggy will pass their vehicle,” he commented.
The Department for Transport is currently considering whether to make it easier for local councils to ban pavement parking.
