Pavements, Potholes and the Blocking of Dropped Kerbs
PENNY PEPPER
In the sunny weather, I often find myself wheeling down the road attempting a slalom approach around the vast gruesome potholes, expecting a Saxon arrow to pop up into my wheels, so deep do these monsters go.
Why do I go in the road? may be your question. I hear many disabled people responding. For those of us who use power chairs and scooters the challenge often concerns the outrageous state of pavements, whether they are tarmac or slabs. Tarmac surfaces are often pitted and uneven, while slabs are loose and wobbly. Neither is great for those of us with mobility, balance and visual impairments. I often feel herded by circumstance to use one inappropriate surface or another.
Not that the roads offer any reliability – as most residents in our town know. Here where I live, in central St Leonards, the potholes are deep enough to encourage ponds that would welcome new aquatic life. And this is also the reason I dread using my otherwise useful wheelchair accessible van. Sitting in your wheelchair strapped in, even with a head rest, gives you little comfort when up against these vicious cavities that cause the vehicle to bump and fling.
Don’t get me started on the abuse of dropped kerbs and tactile paving. How many readers, I wonder, know what this is, and why it’s there? How many have parked across a dropped kerb without a thought – not out of maliciousness, but innocent ignorance?
The invention of tactile paving is attributed to Seiichi Miyake, a Japanese inventor who came up with the idea in order to help a visually impaired friend to navigate public spaces in the 1960s. The dropped kerb as we know it, was invented by Selwyn Goldsmith, also in the 1960s. Goldsmith, interested in design and architecture, had lived experience as a disabled person after contracting polio and becoming a wheelchair user.
Such beneficial contributions towards equality for disabled people seem somewhat lost these days in the current confusing application of them both.
Researching this piece, it was hard to pin down which precise body is responsible for the placing and upkeep of dropped kerbs and tactile paving. In fact, the whole process is obscure. A visually impaired friend commented she didn’t understand all of the intentions the different surfaces and directions of tiles are meant to tell you!
It’s a shame people park over dropped kerbs and I would like to alert disabled people to the fact that a traffic warden can give a ticket to any offender. I have little compunction in reporting such blocked dropped kerbs as I spiral around the savage craters on our roads, unable to get up to even a dodgy pavement.
Potholes should be reported to East Sussex County Council (can be online at: live.eastsussexhighways.com/report-problem) who are also – at least to a basic level – responsible for repairs to pavements.And please remember, a dropped kerb with tactile paving is a beautiful access-helpful thing, for us all.
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Penny Pepper – well done for pointing out this issue. I’ve experienced better traffic warden control of parking at Folkestone, where cars that block a lowered pavement near the council office always get fined. If only it happened everywhere! 🙏🏼🌅🚀