Watch where you park

[Dalek]

Parking or driving on the pavement is becoming a real problem in many areas.
With more and more cars on the road, as well as lorries becoming stuck in some extremely awkward places, it's becoming ever more common to see pavements being used as parking spaces.
A year ago, Bristol Live reported about an invention that could be the solution to pavement parking for good.
But could it work to solve the problem, or just cause a bigger issue?
The device will puncture the tyre of any car that drives over it.
The device is called Catclaw and works by deploying a metal spike into tyres as motorists drive over them.

If installed onto kerbs, it would mean that anyone mounting the kerb would immediately find themselves with a flat tyre. Though it is not triggered by anyone riding a bike or mobility scooter and shouldn't pose a risk to pedestrians.
Inventor Yannick Read of the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said that it was a cheap resolution that could work to end pavement parking once and for all. He said: “We’re addressing road danger – there’s a real problem with drivers parking on the pavement or driving on the pavement because they can’t be bothered to wait."
Yannick added he was inspired to create the Catclaw after hearing a troubling statistic - that 43 people were killed by cars as they walked on pavements in 2017/2018.
“In one terrible incident a four-year-old girl using a scooter and a delivery driver crushed her to death in front of her mother – it’s an extreme example but it happens far more than it should. When you think you’re safe on the pavement, you aren’t safe.”
Yannick also believed that the device could have a potential use to stop terror attacks, such as the one on London Bridge in 2017, which saw a terrorist drive along the pavement and into pedestrians.
He said that if Catclaws had been installed, the tyres would have punctured, causing the vehicle to stop dead in its tracks.
He said: “You can’t reach high speed with tyres which are all blown out. “We’ve shown the principle works.
“Like I said, 43 people were killed last year and wheelchair users, people with pushchairs and those who use mobility scooters will tell you, it’s an anti-social crime as well as a potentially fatal one.
It’s illegal to drive on the pavement, there’s no excuse to do it. So if you’re not breaking the law your tyres are safe."

 

[PKRS]

So the bigger trouble is the vehicle remains there longer as an obstacle waiting for the tyre to be changed and the recovery vehicle blocking more of the road

 

[mrscalex]

I'm all for drastic ways of dealing with things. But this will never happen. Not least because it's not illegal to park on a pavement - here in Swindon anyway. It's absolutely 100% one of my bug bears and I follow it closely in the local media.

You'd also end up with people suing say a leaf was hiding the device etc. And it could stop an emergency vehicle from getting through - as could parked cars which is my #1 concern in Swindon.

 

[PKRS]

I agree with you, the cars are getting larger than the roads that were built. People need to be a bit more thoughtful

 

[ljbmwz3]

I agree with you, the cars are getting larger than the roads that were built. People need to be a bit more thoughtful

Exactly why do cars get bigger to the extent that some are the size of an old transit waste of energy and resources

 

[Stevo7682]

There is a bill in the Scottish parliament which if becomes law will make it illegal to park on the pavement anywhere in Scotland.
Stephen.

 

[ktnez99]

Exactly why do cars get bigger to the extent that some are the size of an old transit waste of energy and resources

Largely - no pun intended - due to the fact that humans are getting larger and vehicles have to accommodate them, I suspect.

 

[Bumpa]

Cars have got larger because it makes the occupants feel safer, and it boosts the ego to be in a big vehicle. And yet nobody seems to have cottoned on to the fact that bigger cars need bigger parking spaces. The spaces in our town car park are too narrow for modern cars and there is precious little room to open the doors.

As for parking on pavements, modern housing schemes seem to have abandoned any pretence at accommodating cars. In the brand new housing at Troon, the streets are narrow and the only place to park a car is on the driveway in front of the garage. But how many households have more than one car? If you have grown-up kids at home, you could easily have 3 or 4 cars, but there is nowhere to park them. Visitors and delivery vans have absolutely nowhere to stop. A van parked outside any house completely blocks the road. Who designs these schemes?

 

[Robert Wiles]

Cars have got larger because it makes the occupants feel safer, and it boosts the ego to be in a big vehicle. And yet nobody seems to have cottoned on to the fact that bigger cars need bigger parking spaces. The spaces in our town car park are too narrow for modern cars and there is precious little room to open the doors.

As for parking on pavements, modern housing schemes seem to have abandoned any pretence at accommodating cars. In the brand new housing at Troon, the streets are narrow and the only place to park a car is on the driveway in front of the garage. But how many households have more than one car? If you have grown-up kids at home, you could easily have 3 or 4 cars, but there is nowhere to park them. Visitors and delivery vans have absolutely nowhere to stop. A van parked outside any house completely blocks the road. Who designs these schemes?

Couldn't agree more. My daily driver is a VW Up. Seen these days as a tiny car. Within a few cm in length, it's the same size as a mark 1 Golf which wasn't seen as a tiny car when it was a current model. My wife had a 2008 Fiesta. It was a 3 door and if you parked it in a typical supermarket or town centre parking space you couldn't open the door enough to comfortably get out of it.

There is a new estate being built near me. Some big expensive 5 bed houses are part of the development. They mostly have a single garage with just a single length driveway in front of it. Could someone from the Planning Department please explain how that is supposed to work. Oh, and the roads are single track with no room to park, so people are just going to park on the pavement. The world's gone mad......

 

[Robert Wiles]

View attachment 128647 View attachment 128639 Parking or driving on the pavement is becoming a real problem in many areas.
With more and more cars on the road, as well as lorries becoming stuck in some extremely awkward places, it's becoming ever more common to see pavements being used as parking spaces.
A year ago, Bristol Live reported about an invention that could be the solution to pavement parking for good.
But could it work to solve the problem, or just cause a bigger issue?
The device will puncture the tyre of any car that drives over it.
The device is called Catclaw and works by deploying a metal spike into tyres as motorists drive over them.

If installed onto kerbs, it would mean that anyone mounting the kerb would immediately find themselves with a flat tyre. Though it is not triggered by anyone riding a bike or mobility scooter and shouldn't pose a risk to pedestrians.
Inventor Yannick Read of the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said that it was a cheap resolution that could work to end pavement parking once and for all. He said: “We’re addressing road danger – there’s a real problem with drivers parking on the pavement or driving on the pavement because they can’t be bothered to wait."
Yannick added he was inspired to create the Catclaw after hearing a troubling statistic - that 43 people were killed by cars as they walked on pavements in 2017/2018.
“In one terrible incident a four-year-old girl using a scooter and a delivery driver crushed her to death in front of her mother – it’s an extreme example but it happens far more than it should. When you think you’re safe on the pavement, you aren’t safe.”
Yannick also believed that the device could have a potential use to stop terror attacks, such as the one on London Bridge in 2017, which saw a terrorist drive along the pavement and into pedestrians.
He said that if Catclaws had been installed, the tyres would have punctured, causing the vehicle to stop dead in its tracks.
He said: “You can’t reach high speed with tyres which are all blown out. “We’ve shown the principle works.
“Like I said, 43 people were killed last year and wheelchair users, people with pushchairs and those who use mobility scooters will tell you, it’s an anti-social crime as well as a potentially fatal one.
It’s illegal to drive on the pavement, there’s no excuse to do it. So if you’re not breaking the law your tyres are safe."

Whilst the intention of this device is well meant I don't think it's been thought through. What about people who don't realise that their near side tyres are flat, drive away and then lose control of the vehicle and potentially cause an accident? Or the supermarket delivery drivers who would temporarily use a pavement to avoid blocking the road whilst making a delivery? Pavement parking is an issue in many areas, but I don't see this as the solution.

 

[Jjim]

This will never be adopted by local councils as they would be effectively being destroying someone’s property.

Also, emergency vehicles do what they have to to get past vehicles and park where an emergency is. Therefore it would damage these vehicles. Crazy idea that will never work in the real world.

 

[Stevo7682]

This will never be adopted by local councils as they would be effectively being destroying someone’s property.

Also, emergency vehicles do what they have to to get past vehicles and park where an emergency is. Therefore it would damage these vehicles. Crazy idea that will never work in the real world.

Don't know James wouldn't be the first time councils have installed systems that damage people's cars.

View: https://youtu.be/BVki24JH7s4

 

[ktnez99]

This will never be adopted by local councils as they would be effectively being destroying someone’s property.

Also, emergency vehicles do what they have to to get past vehicles and park where an emergency is. Therefore it would damage these vehicles. Crazy idea that will never work in the real world.

Jim, they’d be fixed to the public pathways/verges so Highways and not peoples’ properties.

 

[Redline]

So, someone drives over one of these without knowing then drives off, has an accident due to a suddenly deflated tyre - and kills someone. Worse, still, they temporarily pulled up onto the pavement to allow an emergency vehicle to pass (We've all done it). It's not going to happen!

 

[gookah]

exactly.
You wouldn't have a traffic warden going around slashing tyres for someone to drive off unaware and then be in an accident.
This will never happen as it is litigation against the council and they cannot afford to do this,
Why have to pay out? when the alternative is to give a ticket, add a fine and get an income instead.

as regards "you cannot reach high speeds once the tyres have been blown out" has he never seen the American car chases with cars still running on the wheel rims and sparks everywhere?

Ridiculous idea that will never happen on local pavements, fake news.