Blind and partially sighted people risking their lives at unsafe crossings in 31 London boroughs

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Blind and partially sighted Londoners are being forced to use unsafe crossings at hundreds of roads across the capital, warns the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

There are 347 Transport for London pedestrian crossings across London which are lacking audible sounds and tactile rotating cones, making it extremely difficult and often very dangerous for people with sight loss to cross the road.

A shocking 31 out of 33 boroughs are home to these dangerous crossings. Westminster is the worst offender with 45 while Hackney accounts for 18 and Southwark has a total of 17. Only Kingston Upon Thames and Hillingdon are not represented on the list.

The figures, obtained by Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, also show that there are 113 crossings which fail national safety standards by not providing the minimum amount of time for people to safely cross the road.

Mohammed Mohsan Ali lives in Southwark and is registered blind, he said: "Many people don't realise how frightening it can be to try and cross the road without the help of rotating cones or audible sounds, you can end up waiting for ages trying to guess when the cars might have stopped.

"I have had some bad experiences crossing busy roads in London and it would really boost my confidence if I could make it safely and easily to the other side without my heart pounding in fear."

Hugh Huddy, RNIB Campaigns Officer, said: "If the green man sign on a crossing is broken, then it is marked as out of order. Bleeps and tactile cones are the way that blind and partially sighted people judge that it is safe to cross, so without them the crossing is effectively out of order to anyone with a sight problem.

"Failing to install and maintain accessible road crossings cannot be justified. Every crossing without bleeps or tactile cones is unsafe for the UK's two million with sight loss."

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member, commented: "It is shocking that in the year 2012 so many pedestrian crossings are unsafe for so many people.

"I have long called for the minimum safety standards to be met at every pedestrian crossing across the whole of London.  The RNIB campaign has my total support."

Ahead of the Mayoral and London Assembly elections in May, RNIB is calling on all candidates to make London more accessible and to work with Transport for London to ensure all crossings meet long standing national accessibility standards.