London Guide Dog owners fearful of irresponsible cyclists, reveals survey

Come on, cyclists, look out for blind people!!!

Created: 03/09/2014 (Dog World Newspaper)

London Guide Dog owners fearful of irresponsible cyclists, reveals survey

BLIND and partially-sighted people with guide dogs are scared of going out and about in London because of cyclists.

Guide Dogs for the Blind Association said the number who had been hit by a cyclist or come close to a collision was increasing.

The charity is reminding riders to ring their bell or call out to owners waiting to cross the road to let them know they were on the road, and asking cyclists not to ride up behind a guide dog in case it startles them.

Of 33 guide dog owners in London who responded to a Guide Dogs survey, 14 said they had been involved in a collision and 25 said they had been involved in a near miss with cyclists on pavements or jumping red lights. A further five out of 16 blind people without guide dogs said they had been in collisions with cyclists.

"We work incredibly hard to get people out of their homes and mobile, so to hear that vision-impaired people are anxious and in some cases fearful about going out in London because of irresponsible cyclists is very worrying,” said a spokesman for the charity.

Charlie Lloyd of the London Cycling Campaign said: "Any crash or a close pass which frightens or intimidates a pedestrian is unacceptable, and it is far worse when that person is blind, partially sighted or in any way less able than we are.”

Guide dog owner Deborah Persaud said she was involved in a collision with a cyclist on the pavement while she was walking home in Islington.

"My dress was torn, the contents of my handbag damaged and I was left with damage to my shoulder and hip,” she said.

There are 41,060 people registered blind or partially sighted in London with just over 320 using guide dogs.
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Cyclists are generally very rude road users.

And yet if they get hit by a car, the car driver is always to blame!

Yes and if they hit a pedestrian it's the pedestrians fault as well.

Shisa wrote:Yes and if they hit a pedestrian it's the pedestrians fault as well.

Especially when they're on the pavement!