The Office of the Ombudsman asked the Ministry of Infrastructure about the possibility of changing the Road Traffic Law, and specifically about repealing the provision allowing parking on sidewalks. This is a reaction to the demand of the social movement “Miejska Agenda Parkingowa”.
The Office of the Ombudsman asked the Department of Road Transport to respond to the request of the “Municipal Parking Agenda” to limit parking on sidewalks only to “exceptional situations”. This concerns the possible repeal of legal provisions allowing a car with a total permissible weight not exceeding 2.5 tons to stop or park on a pedestrian road.
“Even though Article 47(1) and (2) allow parking of a vehicle on a pedestrian road under certain conditions that are intended to ensure the free movement of pedestrians, in reality drivers very often violate these rules,” explains the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, citing “Agenda” position.
A request to limit parking on sidewalks
The social movement “Miejska Agenda Parkingowa” proposes that legal regulations allow parking of a motor vehicle on a pedestrian road only in places designated for parking using appropriate road signs or appropriate road infrastructure.
“The idea is to eliminate the common practice of parking entire cars on pedestrian roads and to make it an exception,” argues the “Municipal Parking Agenda”, whose position is cited by the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights. Adding that currently “pedestrians must, for example, squeeze between cars and the edge of the sidewalk, enter pedestrian crossings from behind parked cars, and even give way to vehicles driving on sidewalks.”
The organization justifies its demand, among other things, with insufficient supervision of the services. “It is common knowledge that the services responsible for order and traffic safety on roads (police, city guards) are unable to effectively counteract cases of violating the rules of parking vehicles on pedestrian roads, which occurs especially in large urban centers.” – explained.
Currently, you can park on the sidewalk with the wheels of one side or the front axle of a car weighing up to 2.5 tons, provided that:
– there is no prohibition on stopping or parking on a given section, – the width of the sidewalk is at least 150 cm of space for pedestrians, – the parked vehicle will not obstruct pedestrian traffic, – a vehicle parked with its front axle on a pedestrian road does not restrict the movement of vehicles on the road, – the vehicle it is not parked on the sidewalk with the rear axle wheels.
These rules are regulated by Art. 47 of the Act of June 20, 1997.
Main photo source: markusz/Shutterstock