RAIL

by Jill Allen-King, MBE (United Kingdom)
Chairperson, EBU Commission on Mobility and Guide Dogs

Paper given at the EBU Mobility and Transport Conference held in Paris on 14-15 October 2002

For the first 24 years of my life I was partially-sighted. Walking along a pavement, trying to see with the little vision I had in one eye, was very difficult. Bumping into all kinds of obstacles.

38 years ago I became totally blind, which meant I lost all my mobility and confidence to go out alone. A simple walk from my home which a sighted person takes for granted is an obstacle course every day when leaving your home, for you are going to find :

OBSTACLES !

In addition you have broken and cracked pavements on which many people trip and fall.

What needs to be done ?

The law and byelaws that cover pavements need to be implemented and enforced by the people who have the responsibilities to do this, i.e the police, the local and national governments and the European Parliament.

It is already the policy of the European Blind Union to eliminate shared facilities. This is when a pedestrian and cyclist share the same footpath. We think that all cycling facilities should be built on road space and not pavement space. The pedestrian must have a safe place to walk, where they can walk independently and with confidence.

Once you have walked along the pavement, you then have to find a safe place to cross and this is not always easy. There are so many different kinds of crossings, which is very confusing, especially when you have to travel out of your own home environment. Some audible signals talk, some tick, some bleep and some even have singing birds. It really does not matter what the sound is, but what is important is that there is a standard that all pedestrian crossings are indicated by a tactile paving. In the United Kingdom we have introduced a rotating knob, which is intended to help deaf/blind people, but in many places this is the only signal which is not helpful for many blind people, that have got used to the audible signal.

The rotating knob on its own has many difficulties :

1) Only one person at a time can use it ;

2) People with diabetes and arthritis in their fingers cannot feel it ;

3) A guide dog owner will find this difficult with one hand holding the dog's harness and the other maybe holding a short white cane, a shopping bag or trolley ;

4) If it is busy, you cannot even find the post.

We do support having a rotating knob, but only in addition to the audible signals.

I referred to cars as an obstacle on the pavement and we really need to educate car drivers. First of all, all drivers need to have regular health checks to ensure they are fit to drive. This should include a proper eye test every 5 years. When drivers have an accident, in addition to them being checked for drinking, they should also have a proper eye test. In Germany they train their drivers in the needs of blind and partially sighted people and the use of the White Cane.

Drivers should always stop at red traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Drivers should not park at bus stops and certainly not on the pavements.

Every country I have visited in Europe in the past 15 years all have the same problem, so, what can we do about it ?

With the increase of car use and the increase in numbers of blind and partially sighted people over the next ten years, the World Health Authority says the numbers will double ; so someone has got to do something, otherwise our pavements will become car parks, and blind and partially sighted people will not be able to get out of their homes.

Can I make a plea to your national governments and the European Parliament that they plan for the pedestrian's safety, giving priority to the maintenance of footpaths and the enforcement of laws relating to pavements so that all pedestrians, but especially blind and partially sighted people, can walk safely to and from their homes with confidence.

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Walking to and from home