08.11.2019

Blocking the sidewalk

Spotted by a reader in North London, UK, around six weeks ago, a van mounted lift completely blocking the pavement/sidewalk, forcing pedestrians to walk in the road next to a blind junction.

It is hard to see what the lift is being used for, as the only person working at height is out of the platform and the balcony, which it looks as though he might have accessed it via a ladder. The platform belongs to a roofing company, but it also rents the van mount out to others, and therefore would have been unaware of the manner in which the platform is being used.
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In the words of our correspondent: “When I first looked I thought it had crashed, on closer inspection I saw it was parked, poor old pedestrians have to walk in the road around the van mount.”

Not the worst case of poor practice we have seen - or even close - but it could still have resulted in a serious injury or worse, had a car rounded the corner without seeing a pedestrian merging from the blind spot caused by the van - although to be fair these are residential streets and speeds are likely to be slow.
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We will add it to our Death Wish series though.

Have a safe weekend.