'Pavement parking makes it terrifying for me to walk'

When Kim Murphy lost her sight 10 years ago, she says her confidence and independence went along with it.

She suddenly had to face new and daunting challenges every day, but says applying for a guide dog gave her the chance to live her life again.

Having Jango by her side for the past eight years has allowed Kim to go on walks, visit busy cafes and find items in her house.

However, strolls around her home town of Harrogate are still difficult because of parked vehicles blocking pathways.

"The law is very unclear," Kim says.

"Outside of London and Scotland, there's no straight legislation that prohibits parking on the footpaths, so it's not surprising to find that people actually do that.

"I'm sure some of the time they don't even think of the effect it's having, but if you only imagine I'm blind, I'm walking along with Jango and suddenly Jango will stop.

"I can't see why we've stopped and if he's done it abruptly that means there's an obstacle there, so I have to put my hand out and quite often it'll be a vehicle."

Jango is reluctant to let Kim pass close to vehicles with running engines

Walking through the town on a Thursday afternoon, Kim gives her guide dog commands while he stays close to her left side.

At several points, Jango stops Kim from continuing on her path and either pushes her to the right side of the pavement or motions for her to cross the road.

Kim instructs him to "find the way" as he figures out a route to avoid a parked work van, which also has its engine running.

"This is quite terrifying to be honest with you because there's a vehicle moving or got its engine moving," Kim admits.

"At any minute it could go backwards or forwards, so what do you do?"

Jango decides the best call is to move Kim to the grass verge, which results in her struggling with her footing on the uneven surface.

The driver shouts "apologies" from his window but does not correct his parking.

"I could have easily fallen because I did catch my foot," Kim says.

"Unfortunately, the moving car or vehicle that's there, despite seeing me coming with a guide dog, has made no effort whatsoever to either help me or move.

"Do they just see a person with a dog? Do they think 'that woman can't see anything and the noises are frightening'? I suspect they don't really imagine what it's like.

"But I think that if the legislation was clear, the vehicles wouldn't be parked there in the first place, so none of us would have to go through it."

Busy periods, such as school run times, can cause more issues for Kim and Jango

Later in the journey, it is apparent parents have piled on to a side street for the afternoon school run.

Kim hears car doors slamming, engines running and children chattering while Jango hesitates about which path to take.

Both sides of the narrow road are lined with cars parked on the pavement and other obstructions such as bins make it impossible for Kim to walk safely on the path.

"I'm a bit hot and stewed, Jango crossed over the road because clearly there was some blockage," Kim says.

"It isn't just once a day, it's regular and why should Jango and I have to find ourselves in that dangerous position?"

Kim points out that having a trained guide dog can mostly keep her safe but if she was using her white cane, the risk would increase.

"For white cane users, it quite often means that you'd have to actually turn around and go another way, maybe have to go back home," she adds.

"It is frustrating and I'm lucky that I haven't been injured so far."

Kim is backing the national Guide Dogs campaign to ban pavement parking

Kim's concerns come as the national sight loss charity Guide Dogs launches a campaign for pavement parking to be made illegal.

Chris Theobald, from Guide Dogs, said: "Parking on pavements is a nuisance for everyone, but potentially dangerous if you are a wheelchair user forced on to the road, pushing a child in a pram or have sight loss and can't see traffic coming towards you.

"The government needs to act now as most local councils don't have the powers they need.

"Councillors agree that the current system just isn't working across most of the country, and a clear law is needed to make sure everyone can travel down their streets safely and go about their day to day lives."

According to the charity, 84% of councillors agree that pavement parking creates safety risks for pedestrians in their area yet 45% think current methods of tackling pavement parking are too expensive.

North Yorkshire Council has a portal for reporting pavement issues and says it will remove "dangerous obstructions" as soon as possible.

It adds: "However, in a county the size of North Yorkshire, obstructions can occur without our knowledge."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "Our priority is to make it as easy and accessible as possible for everyone to get around, and we recognise the problems pavement parking can cause for people across the country.

"That's why we have commissioned new research to better understand the impact of pavement parking and ensure the solutions we take forward work in practice."

They added the government would continue to review the issue nationwide and offer an update "as soon as possible".

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