Blind pensioner confirms Copenhagen Crossings discriminate against people with disabilities
EXTRACTS FROM THE GUARDIAN ARTICLE by reporter Laura O'Callaghan
Susanna Hancock says the shared space schemes mean she can’t distinguish between the pavement and the road. The crossings, which see the pavement blended into the road, are meant to signal to drivers they are entering a pedestrian area. But the mother-of-two of Higham’s Park says without a kerb to mark where the pavement ends, she can easily walk into the path of oncoming traffic.Ms Hancock said:
“Before Mini Holland it was much easier for me. I could always tell where the road began. Now it scares me to think I could just walk into the road without even realising it and I can’t prepare for it.I want to walk in the middle of the pavement but I can’t because I won’t know when the road begins. I hav to walk close to the shopfronts so I know when the wall ends there is a road. It’s not ideal. Some shops have boxes of fruit outside and metal signs and I trip over them. It annoys me and it’s embarrassing to fall over stuff.”
“I really hate this Mini Holland and it is so frustrating when the council don’t care how we feel. I wasn’t consulted about any of this. know Sadiq Khan is in favour of it but he doesn’t know what it’s like to be a blind person walking down the street.I like to get a taxi from door to door if I have to go somewhere. Now with all the road closures the taxis can’t drop you at the door. I just want it to return to the normal pavements. I don’t think it’s a big ask.”
Last month a report by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee recommended that local authorities should be required to halt the use of shared space schemes “pending clear national guidance that explicitly addresses the needs of disabled people. You can read the report here http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/10ac5f_3cc7ecfa16084d37af7dab3d7ef58024.pdf
