ELECTRIC car drivers have been slammed after pictures showed ‘dangerous’ charging cables strewn across pavements and hanging from windows.
There are fears that a person could trip and fall over a cable left dangling across a pavement.
One photograph showed an orange cable hanging from a house in Wandsworth, South London, falling onto a lamppost and wrapped around a 20mph sign.
Another image showed a charging cable hanging on a permit holders only sign in Wandsworth.
Now charities have warned of a potentially serious accident on a public pathway.
The National Federation of the Blind UK, Living Streets and Guide Dogs have now all called on local authorities and car companies to take action.
The NFBUK, which campaigns on behalf of the blind, called for action. A spokesman for the charity said to the Daily Mail: “With the growth in electric vehicle ownership it is essential the infrastructure for charging them keeps up with the sales.
“Expecting people to charge them with cables coming from out their houses crossing pavements is absolutely ludicrous and is it unsafe.
“They can become trip hazards and the cables should not be allowed to cross the pavements.
“It is totally unsafe for homeowners to run cables from their houses to charge their cars.
“It’s imperative the charging for electric vehicles is undertaken on the road with no cables being present on any part of the pavement.”
Living Streets, a charity which campaigns for ‘everyday walking’ also issued a warning about ‘trailing cables’ on pavements.
The charity’s Director of Policy and Communications Tanya Braun said: “The rollout of EV charging points should not come at the expense of pedestrians.
“Trailing cables present serious problems for people with wheelchairs, buggies or guide dogs, preventing them from getting around easily and safely.
“Cluttered pavements also impact on everyone’s desire to walk their short journeys instead of driving them.
“If we want to encourage cleaner, sustainable ways to travel then we need streets that are walkable.”
Chris Theobold, Guide Dogs, which campaigns for the visually impaired, said to the Mail : “Street clutter on pavements remains one of the main challenges facing blind and partially sighted people, with 97 per cent of people with a vision impairment encountering problems with street obstacles.”
There are 37,055 public electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, according to recent figures.
This represents a 31 per cent over the last year, with 8,680 installations across the UK.
In December 2022 the AA warned the Government was not meeting demand for car charging points.
