Stopping a vehicle on the sidewalk for loading purposes should continue to be allowed
A bill amending the Traffic Act and the Police and Border Guard Act is currently under consideration in the Riigikogu, which includes a provision to eliminate the possibility of stopping a vehicle on the sidewalk for loading purposes starting from the beginning of 2025. The Chamber believes that sidewalk traffic must be safe, but at the same time, reasonable opportunities for businesses to load goods must be ensured.
The current Traffic Act allows a driver to stop a vehicle on the sidewalk for loading purposes, provided it is not closer than 15 meters to a public transport stop and that a walkway at least 1.5 meters wide is left free for pedestrians. The bill under consideration seeks to repeal this provision from the Traffic Act, thereby prohibiting drivers from stopping a vehicle on the sidewalk for loading purposes.
The aim of the planned change is to make sidewalks safer. The Chamber fully supports this goal. However, we are concerned that the drafters of the bill have not deemed it necessary to analyze the impact this change will have on businesses and individuals living or operating in urban areas where there are no parking spaces or other suitable places for loading goods near buildings. Additionally, the planned change will impact transport companies, such as courier firms and moving service providers.
If the change comes into effect, drivers will have to find a suitable parking spot for loading goods or stop their vehicle in a place permitted by traffic control devices, such as a safety island or a divider strip. However, if local governments do not create appropriate safe places with the necessary infrastructure, such as designated stopping areas on the road for loading goods, or do not mark safe spots on the sidewalk or on bike and pedestrian paths with appropriate traffic signs and markings, the situation will be difficult for people living in such areas and for businesses operating there, as well as for the transport companies providing services to them.
The Chamber made a proposal to the Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu to at least initially retain the possibility in the Traffic Act to allow vehicles to stop on the sidewalk for loading purposes in certain cases. Since the changes affect many businesses and individuals, it is not sensible to implement such a change hastily. It is reasonable to give both businesses and local governments more time to find solutions and to implement these solutions in such a way that vehicles can be stopped for loading goods in places other than the sidewalk. Such changes cannot be implemented within a few months or even half a year.
According to the bill, the planned change will come into force on January 1, 2025.