I just love the new
shared spaces that are going in in Auckland city, it's such a brilliant concept. It's about time the pedestrians and cyclists got to share some of the road. In Auckland I have observed that cars have been working on the 'shared space' concept for some time. Unfortunately, the space they seem to want to share is the pavement ...
 |
| As if the High Street pavements are not narrow enough! |
 |
| Pedestrian crossing! What pedestrian crossing? Just think how big and scary that 4WD seems to that small child, not to mention the other people trying to cross |
 |
| As you can see, this is a common occurrence on this particular junction - why it's a junction at all beat me! |
 |
| It's a pavement people - stick your dirty great cars somewhere else! |
 |
| Even the police seem to have embraced this shared space concept! |
Here's and idea, why don't we make it official and extend the shared space to High street and Lorne Street at a minimum, and anywhere else that motorists park their cars illegally on the pavement could be taken as a suggested shared space location ... I'm sure that would fix the problem!
Getting the police involved is not my first choice in most any situation; however, it is obvious that these motorists feel completely free to park on the sidewalk (OK, pavement) because it is highly unlikely that they will be ticketed or otherwise dealt with by the police.
ReplyDeleteTicketing these motorists/parkers seems like the sort of low-effort-high-yield activity that police enjoy.
Is pavement the word for the pedestrian strips between street and lawn in New Zealand? Here pavement is the road (paving here largely refers to asphalt laying, rather than cement, brick, cobblestone, etc.), while sidewalk is a cement strip designed for pedestrians. Interesting how different English-speaking cultures use words...
ReplyDeleteI rarely see a car on the sidewalk as they would be ticketed pretty quickly, but I frequently see cars parked in marked cycling lanes on the road. Very irritating still.
Footpath is a more common term used in NZ.
ReplyDeleteThese offenders have little regard for their vehicles if they illegally park on our narrow footpaths. I find it almost impossible not too scrape my brake-lever down the side as I attempt to squeeze past ;^)