Margaret Mullane, Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Dagenham and Rainham, has recently spoken to the Guide Dogs regarding their campaign about the impact of pavement parking on people with sight loss.
81% of blind and partially sighted people said that reducing obstacles on pavements was important to improving their quality of life. Whilst pavement parking outside of designated parking bays has been banned in Greater London since 1974, pavement clutter, such as bins, dropped kerbs and illegal parking is a serious barrier for blind and partially sighted people.
Four out of five blind or partially sighted people said that pavement parking makes it difficult to navigate their neighbourhood, 95% have been forced to walk in the road by pavement parked vehicles, whilst one in five said they have been injured as a result of a pavement parked vehicle. This causes restrictions on mobility and creates unnecessary barriers for blind and partially sighted people in local communities.
Margaret supports Guide Dogs’ call for an England-wide law prohibiting pavement parking outside of designated areas. This will allow local authorities to take action through civil enforcement rather than further burdening already over-stretched police forces. This will also end discrepancies in the law between Havering and Barking & Dagenham and neighbouring areas such as Thurrock and Brentwood, whilst drastically improving the quality of life of blind and partially sighted people.
Margaret Mullane, Labour’s PPC for Dagenham & Rainham, said: “The MPs office in Dagenham & Rainham has always been supportive of the Gide Dogs charity, promoting the vital work they do to create a safe and level playing field for blind and partially sighted people across Britain. I fully endorse their recommendations and hope to work with them in the charity in the future to make the streets in Dagenham & Rainham fully accessible to all.”
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