Mother leaves notes on cars blocking pavement after they force her pram into road
A mother has begun a campaign of leaving notes on parked cars blocking a footpath, asking them not to force her to walk in the road with her three-month-old baby.
Louise Brown, 33, began keeping a notepad and pen with her as she pushed her pram around the village of Ingatestone, Essex, two weeks ago.
She said that she should not have to walk with her baby, Louie, in the road to avoid the cars that are blocking the pavement.
One of her notes read: “Please do not block footpath. You are forcing me into the road with a young baby. Thank you.”
Ms Brown, who is mother to Bonnie, 22 months, and Louie, 3 months, walks every day with the pram and her three dogs.
She began leaving “polite notes” on the cars blocking her way two weeks ago when she became frustrated with the situation.
Ms Brown said: “I said to myself ‘I wish I had a notepad with me because there’s so many cars I could leave messages on’.
“The bad words come to my head but being polite is more likely to get something done. A smile gets you so far, manners cost you nothing.
‘Sometimes it does make a difference’
“Sometimes it does make a difference – the taxi driver that used to park at the top of the road has shuffled over a bit, but they’re still on the pavement.”
Ms Brown said: “Every single day I am facing these problems – I think drivers have become lazy and want to park right outside their houses.
“There’s only pavement on one side of the road outside my home while the other is a grass verge – if cars are on the pavement, I have to step out into the road.
“The majority of the cars are coming through in excess of 40mph and right beside a country road bend.
“You’ve just got to have that one car coming round at excess speed, glancing at the radio or checking their mobile and something could happen to us.”
She added that she believed pavement parking should be banned more widely as London is currently the only place in England where it is illegal, and hopes one day she won’t have to leave any more notes.
“I’d like to be able to put a smiley face and say thank you for being considerate – and then the notepad will be locked away safely in the cupboard,” she added.
