A disabled man who fears he’s been “very lucky” to escape injury so far says he’s being put at risk by unsafe crossing around his north-east hometown.
Duncan Ross, 33, is blind and calling for more safe road crossings to be installed in Alford, as he says relying upon his cane and the awareness of road users to get around is proving more and more dangerous.
“Twice I’ve had a car gone right over my cane”
“On two occasions now I’ve had my white cane actually run over in Alford,” he said.
“I have moved to a different part of the village and hoped live would be made a bit easier by that move, but instead it’s proving harder.
“I’m struggling with the road crossings which just aren’t suitable for the disabled or elderly. There’s a crossing right on the corner of Main Street and Art Street and it’s right on the corner so it’s quite difficult for me to get across having both a visual impairment and being deaf impaired as well.
“I’ve had cars gone right over my cane and not stop, so from my point of view it’s clearly dangerous. It’s very lucky I wasn’t injured.
“It’s not just myself, but also elderly people who are uneasy on their feet that will struggle with crossing on that corner.”
Mr Ross moved to the Vale Apartments, from the west of the town, to be closer to amenities in December, hoping it would allow him to get around more easily but, he’s been left feeling more unsafe than ever.
A double blow after TaxiCard scrapped
This comes at a time when he also needs to be more independent to find his way to the A2B Dial-a-bus collection point, following Aberdeenshire Council’s decision to scrap the TaxiCard discount scheme he previously relied upon, at the end of this month.
He added: “I’m just asking for a zebra crossing that would make cars more likely to slow right down on Mart Road.
“People have to cross that road opposite the Heritage Museum to get to the main amenities and the town centre. I’ve had a couple mishaps because cars are in a hurry. I haven’t been in injured, but that’s not the point, the point is that the council should have proper crossings in place.
“There are no safer alternative routes I can take, despite them arguing so.”
Having met with town councillor Robbie Whitey, who continues to push officers to pay the area a visit, Mr Ross was told the road does not meet the policy criteria for a crossing.
The local authority will, however, look at any other improvements that can be made.
An Aberdeenshire Council spokesman added: “We have been in discussion with a local resident to explore improvements that could be made locally, ranging from instillation of additional tactile paving at existing dropped crossing points to alternative safer routes with tactile paving at dropped crossing points already in place.
“Unfortunately, the section of road does not meet the criteria for a formal crossing under current policy. We hope the suggested alterations will improve the situation.”
