Blind and partially-sighted people’s freedom is undermined by shared surface zones, Dutch focus groups suggest.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind, teaming up with the Netherlands Federation of Blind People to gauge the reactions of the blind to shared space highways designs, found that ‘everybody questioned agreed there should be clear demarcation between pedestrian areas and roads’.
This should ideally be a kerb, or failing that, a consistent, recognised, hard tactile surface. Research on UK reactions would be published later in the summer.