The blind road in Beijing is nearly 1600 kilometers, which is enough to spread from Beijing to Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, ranking first in the world. Blind roads are laid on the Fifth Ring Road and even on the side of the expressway. Does such a "sound" blind road really make it convenient for blind people to travel? A few days ago, Li Caimao, director of the research office of the Beijing Disabled Persons’ Federation, said that "there may be more blind roads in Beijing", which aroused social concern. A recent investigation by the Morning Post reporter found that the blind roads in Beijing are all over the city, but the blind people basically do not take the blind roads when traveling. During the interview, more than one blind person said, "We never take the blind road." This seems to be the most ruthless irony of the so-called "world first" blind road in Beijing. Blind roads can be laid on the Fifth Ring Road with few pedestrians, but they can’t be laid in banks, hospitals or residential areas. Blind roads are for those who can see, not for those who can’t see. When the construction of blind roads no longer stops at the cold regulations of road acceptance, but is set according to the needs, the "blind road" can change the embarrassment of the current "blind road".
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The big city long road blind road is built to the edge of the Fifth Ring Road.
A few days ago, the reporter walked along the Fifth Ring Road. There are basically no auxiliary roads in the South Fifth Ring Road and the East Fifth Ring Road. The North Fifth Ring Road is relatively prosperous because of the Olympic Games. However, after passing the Beijing-Tibet Expressway and going to the West Fifth Ring Road, the auxiliary roads are not coherent. These intermittent pavements are paved with blind roads.
The fifth ring road is nearly 100 kilometers long, and its main function is the urban expressway, that is, taking cars. The reporter observed on the relatively smooth North Fifth Ring Road, except that cars pass by from time to time, pedestrians on the road can be described as "sparsely populated", not to mention blind people with visual disabilities.
There are no pedestrians walking, and these sidewalks have become parking places. On the auxiliary road on the north side of Laiguangying West Road in the North Fifth Ring Road, some motor vehicles are parked directly against the blind road.
Blind people bluntly say that "walking blind is death"
There are few pedestrians on the Fifth Ring Road, and almost no blind people take the blind road. What is the utilization rate of the blind road at the door of the city?
"There are basically no blind people using blind roads now." Master Zhao, who works in a massage parlor for the blind near Shuangjing Bridge, shook his head and smiled, but he didn’t stop massaging the guests. "What is the reason why blind people don’t take the blind road?" The reporter asked. "People with good eyesight will follow the blind road? Really? Because there are many obstacles and unreasonable designs. So are we. "
Master Zhao and three colleagues shared a house nearby, one stop by car and about 10 minutes walk. Master Zhao said that one of the four of them, Li Shifu, is visually impaired, so basically four people go to work together.
"We have been walking together from home to the massage parlor for almost three years. Without me, they have no big problems." Li Shifu told reporters, "But for example, when going to banks, hospitals and post offices, I basically lead them." And Li Shifu’s "collar" depends entirely on his own vision of only 0.08 and the blind stick in his hand. "I will definitely not take the blind road." Li Shifu even has some "rejection" for the blind road: "Let me go blind, and if I say something rough, I will die."
Experience "walking to someone’s table" on the spot.
In order to experience the blind road, the reporter specially walked from the massage parlor to the rental place with Master Zhao at 7 pm. Out of the gate of the massage parlor, Master Zhao drew points rhythmically from left to right with a blind stick and descended two steps accurately. Master Zhao said that this massage parlor has been open for about 4 years. "When it was opened, the road at the door had not been renovated." After renovation, there is a blind road near the curb. However, the blind road is only laid along the road in a "regular" way, but there is no "intimate" turn at the entrance of the massage parlor to serve the four blind masters who come in and out here every day.
The massage parlor is located on the first floor of a residential area, and there are at least four or five restaurants. As night fell, these restaurants moved out of their desks and chairs and set up outdoor stalls for summer. These desks and chairs covered the nearly 50-meter blind road. "Every summer, don’t say blind roads, you can’t even walk on the sidewalk." Master Zhao knocked with his cane, got off the sidewalk, and walked on.
Master Zhao said as he walked, he walked this road twice a day except for one day off every week. "This kind of familiar road is ok. Do you think that if I walk in a strange place, I will follow the blind road. Isn’t that going to someone’s table?"
The key is the lack of blind roads in banks and hospitals
Master Zhao said that he was "courageous" among the blind. Sometimes no one else takes it, and I have tried to take the blind road several times to "live". "But there are fewer smooth times and more losses." Master Zhao said that some blind roads are directly built under the overpass, so blind people who don’t want to cross the overpass have to turn around and walk back, and it is easy to bump into passers-by on the overpass. Some blind roads are laid at bus stops, and if you walk along them, you will hit the passengers waiting in line for the bus.
However, in front of some supporting facilities for daily life such as banks, hospitals and pharmacies, there is often a lack of "docking" of blind roads. Master Zhao said that there are at least three banks, including Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and Postal Savings Bank, a post office and two pharmacies, and there is a community health center across the street, but none of them can be connected by blind roads. The Bank of China, located at Shuangjing intersection, even has to go up the steps and cross the square before it can arrive. "We usually go to these places in the bank, and we still let Xiao Li take it." Master Zhao said. "When I first came to work here, I wanted to go to the community health center to see a cold. I tried to walk by myself through the blind road, and the blind road happened to be interrupted at the entrance of the health center. I thought it was a small intersection. I walked back and forth for three times, or the doctor on duty saw me and led me in. "
In addition to hospitals and banks, in July this year, Dongcheng District Library set up a reading room for the blind. As a special place for the blind, reporters still only saw the blind road "going through the door but not entering".
The staff of the reading room told the reporter that at present, the barrier-free facilities in the library, such as poles for the blind, have been basically equipped, but after leaving the library gate, all municipal facilities are still the same as before. If the blind are unfamiliar with the surrounding environment, they are as confused as before. "I haven’t heard of any changes."
Use the status quo to occupy the blind road "don’t care"
Yesterday morning, the reporter found from Jinsong Bridge to Sanyuan Bridge along the Third Ring Road that all the blind roads were occupied and there were countless phenomena of lack of floor tiles. On the service road south of guomao bridge, several trucks are delivering goods to restaurants and convenience stores on the roadside, and the cars are pressed on the blind road. "We’ll leave right away." When the reporter asked in the past, the driver quickly said, "Delivery can only be parked here, and there is no other place to stop."
On a road on the northeast side of Shuangjing Bridge, a vendor parked a tricycle with "Harbin Grilled Cold Noodles" on the blind road, surrounded by many diners. "I didn’t see this is a blind road." The vendor was so busy with business that he didn’t even lift his eyes.
Near the Jinsong subway entrance, some real estate agents put the signboard of real estate information on the sidewalk, and the blind road can only "drill the crotch" under the triangular advertising signboard. As for the occupation of the blind road, several intermediary staff did not care: "This advertising sign left as soon as it was picked up. It is not too late to take it away when we see the blind people coming."
Embarrassed design and laying blind roads "according to the principle of death"
In addition to the artificial occupation by vehicles and businesses, there are also many unreasonable places in the laying of blind roads. During the interview along the road, the reporter found that the construction workers completely followed the drawings when laying the blind road, and simply ignored the surrounding environment. For example, there was a diagonal cable on the roadside pole, and the blind road didn’t know how to bypass it at all, but directly passed under the wire rope, which would be strange if the blind man walked along the blind road without tripping. Inspection wells are the most common on blind roads. Blind road bricks all turn around the manhole cover for four bends. The reporter tried to close his eyes and follow the blind road, but he lost his direction just after turning to the third bend.
There is a "triangle area" just after getting off the overpass, and the blind road is also built around the triangle area, so it takes a big turn for the blind to walk.
"There is no need to repair it like this." Li Weihong, executive vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Blind Association, said, "It is not alarmist to go blind. Unless the blind are very familiar with the surrounding situation, they will definitely not dare to go blind in a strange place.
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Blind roads should be built in the community.
"There may be more blind roads in Beijing." Li Weihong and Li Caimao hold the same view. In some places, if blind people don’t go, there is no need to build blind roads. "Don’t talk about the Fifth Ring Road, the auxiliary roads of the Second and Third Ring Roads and the blind roads of overpasses are unnecessary." Li Weihong said, "Have you ever seen a blind person go to an overpass? The most feared thing is the overpass. "
The more repairs are made, the more prominent the management problems are. Blind roads are everywhere, and the utilization rate is not necessarily high. However, disputes caused by the occupation of blind roads often occur.
For example, Li Weihong said that there was a dispute caused by a luxury car occupying a blind road in Shenyang. At that time, the blind man walked along the blind road and met the car block. The blind man knocked on the car with his cane when he wanted to explore the road. As a result, the owner beat the blind man down. This matter was finally coordinated by the China Blind Association, and the blind got an apology from the owner.
In today’s tight road resources, the blind road on the Fifth Ring Road will be built without use, and the healthy people will enter by "virtual" without any illegal cost. Once the defense line is broken, all the blind roads in the Fourth Ring Road, the Third Ring Road and the Second Ring Road will be in danger of being occupied.
The reporter learned from an interview with the road construction department that in the cost accounting of building sidewalks, laying blind roads costs about 21 yuan more per square meter than not laying blind roads. "What if the money for unnecessary blind road repair is saved and used in other places where it is needed?" Li Weihong said that instead of spending a lot of money to lay blind roads all over the city, it is better to improve and strengthen the management of blind roads in some communities and areas where blind people are concentrated, so that the utilization rate of the blind can be higher.
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Incomplete facilities make it difficult for blind people to travel.
"There are 17.31 million blind people in China, and a sample survey in Beijing shows that there are 67,000 blind people, but how many blind people can you see in the street?" Li Weihong said that the barrier-free facilities are not perfect and there is no good humanistic environment, so it is difficult for blind people to go out of their homes, which seriously restricts their ability to stand on their own feet.
The blind are regarded as people who have the ability to work, and they need to go out of their homes to support themselves by labor, so the government departments have the obligation to create conditions for the blind to go out of their homes.
Li Weihong said that in addition to blind roads, there are many inconveniences for blind people to travel. For example, the bus stop prompt is inhuman, the traffic lights at intersections are unreasonable, and it is difficult for guide dogs to enter public places.
It seems that in order to truly make blind people travel unimpeded, government departments need to start from the nuances, rather than paving blind roads in the city.
The blind don’t like the sound of the intersection prompt.
In order to provide convenience for the blind, since 2002, Beijing has installed traffic light sound warning systems in commercial outlets, main streets, tourist attractions, hospitals, stations and other surrounding roads in various districts and counties. The slow-paced "beep-beep-beep" sound represents the red light and the compact "beep-beep" represents the green light. However, the reporter found that the mixed prompts in different directions at the intersection would confuse the blind. The barrier-free facilities originally designed for the convenience of the blind have become "obstacles" for the blind to cross the road.
Li Weihong said that for the blind, these warning sounds at intersections can only play the role of "crossing the road". "Put two directions on a pillar, whether the direction you want to go is red light or green light. The blind can’t tell at all. It’s a bit hanging to really listen to this sound to cross the road."
Correct prompt sounds should be set in different positions, so that the blind can distinguish whether the intersection to be taken is long or short; A volume of the prompt tone is also easy to disturb the people. For example, in Hong Kong, the sound of traffic lights will change with the change of the environment. The surrounding noise is louder and louder, and it is very small at quiet night. In the United States, there are special buttons at intersections. As long as the blind person presses them, there will be a voice prompt for 16 seconds in the loudspeaker, reporting the change of traffic lights, the density and urgency of traffic, and so on.
In addition, the traffic lights at intersections where some blind people often appear are too short, which is not convenient for blind people to cross the road. For example, at the intersection near the library for the blind, many blind people report that the traffic lights at the intersection change halfway.
Bus warning tone can be more human.
It is understood that buses in Beijing had a voice station announcement system several years ago, and speakers were installed outside the bus. As soon as they entered the bus platform, the bus would announce the station and tell the number of trains and the place of arrival. This voice system will provide convenience for blind people to travel, but after every bus stops, no matter whether there are blind people in the platform, it will make a sound, and it will also bring some noise to the residents near the platform, which will lead to complaints, making some buses have to give up reporting.
Moreover, in some large stations, there are more than a dozen bus lines at a station. If more than one bus stops at the same time, it will also make the blind people unable to tell which bus they should get on.
Li Weihong introduced that now Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Dalian and other cities have installed the "guide" voice intelligent guidance system, which is not only convenient for the blind but also will not disturb the people. The system is equipped with a remote controller for the blind, who inputs the line number of the bus to be taken. When the bus is about to enter the station, the remote controller will give a voice prompt to the blind, and at the same time, the driver on the bus will also receive a voice flashing light prompt. With this device, the problem that the blind are difficult to ride can be greatly solved.
Guide dogs encounter resistance everywhere when they travel.
In Beijing, there is also resistance everywhere for guide dogs to travel. The newly revised dog-raising regulations in Beijing have added "guide dogs can take public transportation", but "guide dogs can go out in public places" has not been mentioned.
On August 1, 2012, the Regulations on the Construction of Barrier-free Environment was officially implemented, in which Article 16 stipulates that visually disabled people should abide by the relevant provisions of the state when bringing guide dogs into and out of public places. Staff in public places shall provide barrier-free services in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state. However, it is still difficult to implement this regulation in public places such as parks and hospitals.
"Shanghai has stipulated that guide dogs can be hospitalized with their owners." Li Weihong said that during the Olympic Games, Beijing stipulated that guide dogs could enter and leave public places in the form of government orders, and it was implemented very well at that time. After the Olympic Games, this provision was also "invalid".
According to the International Guide Dog Federation, the popularity of guide dogs can only be called if more than 1% of the blind people in a country use guide dogs. There are more than 67,000 blind people in Beijing, but there are only seven guide dogs.
Among them, Chen Yan, a blind piano tuning lawyer, is the best guide dog. Her slogan is "One person and one dog travel all over the world", and all major airlines know her. If you want to go there, just make a phone call. Even so, in several subway stations near her home, she was often stopped with a guide dog. Chen Yan still remembers that after being rejected at Tiantongyuan subway station last year, she said to Jenny, a guide dog, "Jenny, I will never bring you here again. If the subway won’t let us take it, we will never come to this place. I will definitely give you a day when you can be unimpeded in your lifetime."
