Sidewalk parking in St. Ingbert: DUH warns of dangerous conditions!

Sidewalk parking in St. Ingbert: DUH warns of dangerous conditions!

In St. Ingbert, a city in Saarland, the handling of sidewalk parking is currently being heavily criticized. The German Environmental Aid (DUH) emphasizes that parking on sidewalks is permitted here with a remaining width of just one meter. Despite this regulation, from the point of view of environmental aid, it is impossible to walk unhindered, especially for people with mobility restrictions such as wheelchair users or parents with strollers. This raises questions about the safety of pedestrians in the city, especially given the fact that in other cities such as Neunkirchen, sidewalk parking is consistently penalized, while in St. Ingbert there is obviously a more lax approach to parking behavior.

The situation becomes even more complicated when you consider that cities like Homburg and Völklingen do not tolerate parking vehicles on sidewalks at all. This is in contrast to the practice in Saarbrücken, where there is no specific regulation on the remaining width for sidewalk parking and reference is instead made to the applicable road traffic regulations. This inconsistent handling represents a serious problem for many pedestrians, as they often have to navigate back and forth between different regulations in their everyday lives.

Parking shortage and its consequences

The parking shortage in many cities is a home-grown problem that is linked to the rapid growth in the number of vehicles. In some parts of the city, drivers can spend up to 40 minutes desperately searching for a parking space, while other road users such as parents with strollers or people in wheelchairs are restricted in their freedom of movement. Every year, around 10,000 people in Germany have accidents due to traffic accidents that are related to parked cars - many of which are parked illegally on sidewalks.

The 2019 Conference of Transport Ministers made it clear that sidewalks should serve as protective spaces for pedestrians and therefore must be kept free from other uses. A legal decision by the Federal Administrative Court in 2022 confirms that residents can take action against sidewalk parkers under certain conditions. In order to get to the bottom of the problem, the Verkehrsclub Deutschland (VCD) is launching the “Free Sidewalks” project, which aims to detect illegal parking on sidewalks.

Measures against sidewalk parking

Road safety is a top priority and many cities, including Düsseldorf, are testing innovative solutions to address the parking problem. This includes, for example, the use of special scanning cars that detect illegally parked vehicles. The German Road Safety Council recommends a sidewalk width of at least 2.50 meters to allow two wheelchairs to pass, but this is often not the case in many older parts of the city.

The problem of sidewalk parking will continue to concern us, and we can only hope that a rethink will also take place in St. Ingbert and similar cities in order to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of pedestrians. For more information on the DUH's criticisms and their demands, you can read this article n-tv read up. Further details on the latest developments in the transport sector can also be found at WDR.