A car parked half on the pavement is an inconvenience for a pedestrian and a genuine obstacle for someone pushing a pram. The gap left may be too narrow for a pushchair, especially a double, and the only alternative is to steer out into the road. The law on pavement parking now differs across the nations of Britain, and it has been changing. This article sets out what the Highway Code, Transport Scotland and the Department for Transport (DfT) say, for Scotland and England. Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered here, and the position may change, so check your local council for current details.
What the Highway Code says
The Highway Code, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales, addresses this directly in Rule 244. It says you must not park partially or wholly on the pavement in London or Scotland, with exceptions allowed in limited circumstances, and that elsewhere you should not park on the pavement unless signs permit it. It goes on to say that parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs, people with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs. Rule 243 says not to stop or park where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles. For Scotland it adds that you must not double park or park anywhere the kerb has been lowered to help pedestrians or cyclists.
Scotland: a national ban
Transport Scotland says the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 bans pavement parking, double parking and parking at dropped kerbs, with certain exemptions designated by local authorities, for example to ensure safe access for emergency vehicles. In a November 2023 announcement it said local authorities could begin enforcing the law from 11 December 2023, with fines of up to £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days. The announcement singled out parents pushing prams and buggies among the people affected, and described Scotland as the first of the four nations to make pavement parking illegal nationwide. Because enforcement is carried out by councils, it is worth checking your own council’s guidance for how it operates locally.
England: London is different, and a national ban is not planned
In England, the position depends on where you are. The DfT’s response to its consultation on pavement parking notes that pavement parking is already prohibited in London, and that the consultation focused on the rest of England.
The DfT’s 2026 government response says the consultation, run between 31 August and 22 November 2020, received over 15,000 responses; 81% of individuals and 96% of organisations said pavement parking was a problem in their area, and 41% of individuals said they would leave home more often if it were addressed. Rather than introducing a national prohibition, the government says it will take a devolved approach. It intends to enable local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking in their areas at the next legislative opportunity. In the meantime, it says it will proceed with a power for local authorities to enforce against unnecessary obstruction of the pavement, delivered in due course through secondary legislation and not requiring additional traffic signage.
The consultation had set out three options: improving the existing traffic regulation order process, letting councils enforce against “unnecessary obstruction” of the pavement, or a national prohibition with local exemptions. The response says the national prohibition received the most support from individual respondents (71%) and organisations (54%), while local authority respondents preferred the obstruction option (56%), largely because of concerns about cost. The government has chosen to proceed with the obstruction power for now, and to develop the local prohibition power as a longer-term solution.
In short, England outside London is a patchwork, and today you should not assume that a car on a pavement there is necessarily breaking a nationwide law. Rule 244 does say drivers should not park on the pavement unless signs permit it.
Why it matters so much for pushchairs
The DfT’s foreword to its response says pavement parking particularly affects people living with sight loss, mobility or sensory disabilities, older adults and parents with young children, and speaks of exclusion and lost confidence when pavements are not accessible. Transport Scotland’s announcement makes a similar point, describing the danger of being forced to move around a parked car and onto the road, which is exactly the situation a parent with a pram or buggy faces when the gap on the pavement is too narrow.
What pushchair users can do
The following suggestions are our own, not official advice. Leaving a considerate note is unlikely to help, and confronting a driver is best avoided. Reporting a problem to your council, with the location and a photo, gives the authority the information it needs. If a route is regularly blocked, tell your local councillor, as the direction of travel in both Scotland and England is to give councils more say. Meanwhile, choosing a slimmer pushchair (or a double with a narrow chassis) can make partial blockages easier to pass, though that is a workaround rather than a solution.
The bottom line
Scotland has a national ban with local exemptions, London has its own prohibition, and the rest of England is heading for locally set powers rather than a nationwide rule. Wherever you live, the Highway Code is clear that pavement parking inconveniences people with prams and pushchairs, and that drivers should avoid it.