A staggering 95 per cent of blind and partially sighted people have hit obstacles while out and about in their local areas.
To highlight the issue, Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford & Eccles, took part in a blindfold walk around Swinton, mimicing the problems blind and partially sighted people face when walking anywhere outside their doors.
The blindfold walk from Lancastrian Hall on Chorley Road was part of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) campaign, to highlight the growing problem of street obstacles; bollards, advertising boards, bins, and cars parked on pavements.
Ms Long-Bailey said: “It is important that we understand the barriers that blind and partially sighted people face when getting out and about and to look at ways in which they can be tackled.”
RNIB survey results revealed that a third of blind and partially sighted people across the UK had injured themselves when walking around their local areas.
Eric Mackinder, a local campaigner, said: “As a blind person living in Salford, the obstacles I encounter most are advertising boards and other street furniture, uneven pavements and inaccessible crossings.
“It is important that the local authority understand the problems these cause for myself and other blind and partially sighted people and they work alongside us to address them.”
RNIB’s CEO, Lesley-Anne Alexander CBE, said the issue was one of the biggest barriers faced today by people with sight loss.
“We are working to encourage local authorities to engage with blind and partially sighted people in their area and develop a ‘street charter’ that puts a clear highway policy at the heart of it,” she said.
