Don’t let the blind road become a ＂busy＂ road

Blind road is a road traffic infrastructure to help visually impaired people walk. However, in real life, the phenomenon that blind roads are occupied is common, so people with visual impairment often encounter it is hard to go.

What is the crux of it is hard to go’s pain caused by the occupation of blind roads and visually impaired people? How to break the game?

(1)

Blind roads have a history of more than 200 years. The world’s first blind road can be traced back to the early 19th century, designed by a French designer, and it is a kind of pavement that is convenient for the blind to walk.

The first blind road in China was born in Beijing in 1991, with an area of 1,600 square meters. At that time, it was for the convenience of more than 200 blind workers in Haidian Rubber Hardware Factory. Before this, there was an accident that caused quite a stir: because there was no one to lead the way and there was no blind road to "navigate", a blind masseur accidentally fell into a sewage well being excavated on his way home and almost died.

After more than 30 years of development, the blind road has become a necessary item in urban road traffic construction in China. Generally, whenever there is a sidewalk, there is a blind road, but it is obvious to all that it is rarely used by visually impaired people. Is it because there are few visually impaired people? According to the data of the seventh national census, the number of blind people in China has exceeded 17.3 million. According to the latest statistics of Huizhou Disabled Persons’ Federation, there are currently 4,334 people with visual disabilities in the city.

There are almost no visually impaired people on the road, and the blind roads are basically idle all the year round. Cao Yang, chairman of the Municipal Association for the Blind, gave the answer: A considerable number of visually impaired people in Huizhou don’t go out at ordinary times, not because they are unwilling, but because they dare not. One of the main reasons is that the blind roads are occupied and they are worried that they will be knocked or tripped when they go out.

(2)

At the end of last year, Huizhou Daily’s video number "People’s Livelihood Eye" reported the problem of "enclosing and occupying blind roads" at a construction site in Jiangbei, which aroused widespread concern and brought the topic of "occupied blind roads" into public view again.

In cities, similar blind roads are frequently occupied, and the ways of occupation are varied: for example, the blind roads are occupied by motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles, some construction fences occupy the blind roads, and some facilities are directly built on the blind roads. In addition, the out-of-store business, mobile vendors and other "empty nests" make the blind roads "busy", which affects the image of urban civilization and makes it more difficult for visually impaired people to travel.

In September 2023, the results of the "Satisfaction Survey on Barrier-free Environment Construction" conducted by the Municipal Disabled Persons’ Federation showed that 77.71% of the respondents thought that the blind road was seriously occupied, 17.08% thought that the blind road was partially occupied, and only 5.21% thought that the blind road was not occupied.

For visually impaired people, the blind road is a "navigator" and a "life road" to guide them to travel safely, and it is also an important bridge for them to integrate into society and live a normal life. No one or unit can illegally occupy it.

The Law on the Construction of Barrier-free Environment in People’s Republic of China (PRC), which came into effect on September 1, 2023, clearly stipulates: "No unit or individual may arbitrarily change the use of barrier-free facilities or illegally occupy or damage barrier-free facilities."

Although there are laws, blind roads are still frequently occupied. The reason is that on the one hand, the utilization rate of blind roads is low, which leads some people to think that blind roads are unnecessary, so occupying blind roads has become the norm; On the other hand, many people lack the awareness of respecting the blind road, covet convenience, place vehicles or occupy the road. In addition, the design of some blind roads is unreasonable, which leads to the blind road not playing its due role; Relevant departments lack supervision and law enforcement, and lack effective punishment and punishment for occupying blind roads.

(3)

The occupation of blind roads reflects the blind spots of urban civilization. Changing the phenomenon that blind roads are occupied requires concerted efforts.

First of all, blind roads should be set up according to law and maintained regularly. Relevant government departments should plan, design and build barrier-free facilities for blind roads in strict accordance with national regulations and standards. Remind and advocate citizens to jointly protect blind roads. While laying blind roads, you can also spray signs such as "No Occupation" at regular intervals and maintain them regularly.

Secondly, it is necessary to strengthen supervision and law enforcement. Blind roads are frequently occupied, and a big factor lies in the low cost of violation. Relevant functional departments should earnestly shoulder their supervisory responsibilities, strengthen law enforcement inspections, intensify investigation and exposure of malicious occupation of blind roads, and stop uncivilized behaviors, so as to realize a virtuous circle of dare not occupy, can not occupy and are unwilling to occupy.

At the same time, it is necessary to increase publicity and education on popular science. Relevant functional departments should carry out publicity and education through various channels, improve people’s attention to visually impaired groups and awareness of blind roads, eliminate cognitive "blind areas", and enhance citizens’ consciousness of eliminating the occupation of blind roads.

In addition, we should also be good at using the power of science and technology to solve the problem of blind roads. Relevant functional departments can increase the investment in intelligent blind road facilities, such as blind navigation system and electronic guide blind road, to provide more convenience for visually impaired people to travel; You can also use intelligent monitoring and other technologies to monitor the occupation of blind roads in real time, and deal with the occupation problem as soon as possible, and also provide a smooth and safe blind road for visually impaired people.

I hope that through a multi-pronged approach, blind roads will no longer be crowded out, and visually impaired people will no longer "hinder" travel.

Huizhou Daily reporter Luo Guohong