If the Baroness would like to improve road safety, she could do much more good by challenging the crazy situation of parking on pavements (outside London) or most cycleways not being in itself an offence and not generally being accepted as evidence of pavement driving (which is an offence) or highway obstruction, and only roads policing unit officers usually being allowed to stop motorists. That shoot puts walkers and cyclists on the carriageway unnecessarily every day, including bits that are so farking dodgy that even our sluggish councils built protected refuges in the highway (pavements, cycleways) for non-motorists.
I became more aware of the curse of pavement parking when our granddaughter came along and I'd take her for walks in her buggy. I'd often have to squeeze through a space or go out on the carriageway due the inconsiderate attitude of the vehicle owners. I was pondering the solutions ( and as pointed out in other messages in this thread, the legislation already exists, it is just not being enforced ) and I came up with what I considered a workable and equitable solution.
My solution ( only partially tongue in cheek ) was a smartphone app which i was going to call " Dobber " which word work as follows. The user would download the App and go through a series of identity and location checks and once approved become a " Dobber ". Once verified this would link to their local council and the DVLA. The user would go out and about their business as usual. If they saw a vehicle parked on the pavement / double yellow lines without a Blue Badge etc, they would open the App and take a photo which would automatically be uploaded to the DVLA with date, time and location. The owner of the vehicle would be issued with a fixed penalty charge, A percentage of which would go to the reporting persons local council to be offset against their personal council tax. Should the amount build up to exceed the amount of Council Tax owed, any excess would go into the local councils infrastructure improvements fund.
There would be a strong competitive element to the app, with local and regional awards to the top " Dobbers" and an annual presentation dinner for the prestigious " Dobber of the Year " award. While there may well be some " pushback " from vested interests, the oft repeated saying of one particular politician " If you can't do the time, don't do the crime " could be quoted.
