Carwalking is the act of stepping onto and

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

across a stationary

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

. Depending on the technique and equipment used, carwalking can lead to damage of private property. It often is a response to cars being parked illegally in areas exclusively allocated to

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s and a

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

against the negative impacts of high motorization rates in urban areas.

Reported cases

Germany

The most famous carwalker was Michael Hartmann who performed the act in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany, in the 1980s. The peak of automobile friendly policies was around the seventies and the eighties in the western world, and such high number of motor vehicles in urban areas had as consequence a large number of cars illegally parked on side-walks and other pedestrian-reserved areas. Hartmann, in his book which describes his actions, states that once in 1988 he was walking with his girlfriend and due to many cars parked on the sidewalk, they had to continuously

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

between the cars so he decided to walk straightforward above the cars. Hartmann went on to lead a group who would climb over parked cars and leave signs that stated "I walked over your car because I didn't want to slide under it!"

United Kingdom

An initiative in

Kings Heath Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435, Alcester road. ...

(

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

) distributes posters that warn drivers their cars will be "bonneted" if parked on pavement obstructing pedestrians.

France

Another reported case happened in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France, in 2011 when Peter Wagner, a German engineer, decided to walk on top of a car that was illegally parked on the side-walk in such a manner that he could not squeeze past. At that moment the owner of the car arrived and later sued him for property damage, demanding 800 Euros for repairs. The carwalker was condemned to pay 300 Euros, but later appealed. His appeal was denied.

Mexico

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, a pedestrian activist called Peatónito, a mix of the Spanish words for pedestrian (''peatón'') and astonished (''atónito''), is famous for walking over cars. He wears a Mexican wrestler mask, a cape and proclaims himself to be a superhero for pedestrians.

References

External links

* * {{cite web , title=Carwalking Manual, website=eco-action.org , url=http://www.eco-action.org/direct/carwalk.html , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221133737/http://www.eco-action.org/direct/carwalk.html , archive-date=2020-02-21 , url-status=unfit , language=de Anti-road protest Criminal law Parking law Pedestrian activism Property crimes Protest tactics Vehicle law Walking