There are many obstacles for disabled people to travel
Blind roads are often occupied by bicycles and sundries, wheelchair ramps are too steep, and the width of toilet seats for the disabled is not up to standard.
"A few hundred meters away, it is a big adventure to go to work alone every time." Chen Jun, who lives in Jinjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, is a blind masseur in a massage shop. He is usually picked up by his colleagues when he goes to work, but sometimes when he receives urgent work or his colleagues are too busy, he can only go to work alone with a guide stick.
Chen Jun has been blind for many years and seldom goes out except to the massage shop. "If there is no one to help, you must use a guide stick to find out if you walk along the blind road." Chen Jun said that blind roads have been built on the sidewalks, but they are often occupied by bicycles and sundries. If you don’t use a guide stick to explore the road, it is easy to bump into them. Chen Jun recalled that six months ago, he ran into a bicycle parked on the blind road, and his nose was bleeding.
It is not easy to travel in a wheelchair. Huang Wenbo, who suffers from polio, is a resident of xingqing district, Yinchuan City, Ningxia. He usually travels in a wheelchair. Sometimes when he meets the steps, he can’t find a barrier-free ramp, so he can only ask passers-by to lift him up and down, feeling "very embarrassed." What makes him most helpless is that some steps are equipped with barrier-free ramps, but the ramps are too steep, and the wheelchair can’t get up with all its strength. "The wheelchair slides down the ramp, the speed is not well controlled, and it almost falls backwards several times."
The accessible toilet is inconvenient. Luo Zhuangfei is a table tennis enthusiast in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Although his legs were amputated in a low position, he can still play beautiful table tennis in a wheelchair. Luo Zhuangfei said that going to the gym to exercise and go to the toilet is a very troublesome problem. "The toilet seat for the disabled is too narrow to get in by wheelchair, and sometimes it is very embarrassing to ask friends for help." Luo Zhuangfei reflected that there are no barrier-free toilets in some public places. Once he went to a cinema to see a movie and went to the toilet on the way. He found that there was no toilet seat for the disabled, so he had to go home and solve it.
According to the data released by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, there are currently more than 85 million disabled people in China, including more than 12 million visually disabled people and nearly 25 million physically disabled people. In cities, people with disabilities and other mobility difficulties encounter "disabled roads" in their daily trips, facing complex road conditions and stairs.
The reporter’s investigation found that there are many problems in the construction of barrier-free facilities in big cities such as Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu. For example, the blind road is in disrepair for a long time, and it is occupied by bicycles, cars, sundries, etc. There are telephone poles and trees in the middle of the blind road, and the blind road is not laid when encountering obstacles. Disabled lanes and parking spaces are often occupied. Some public places have no wheelchair ramps on the steps, and some wheelchair ramps are too steep, making it difficult for wheelchairs to pass. Some public places, such as cinemas, gymnasiums and scenic spots in urban areas, do not have barrier-free toilets or toilet seats for the disabled, and some toilet seats for the disabled are not up to standard in width, and they are not maintained for a long time after being damaged.
Pay more attention to "face" than "people"
Some local governments excessively pursue the number and length of barrier-free facilities for political achievements, but the corresponding management can’t keep up.
In order to protect the travel rights and interests of disabled people, in 2012, the State Council promulgated and implemented the Regulations on the Construction of Barrier-free Environment, which stipulated the construction norms, renovation requirements, management and legal responsibilities of barrier-free facilities. After years of development, great progress has been made in the construction of barrier-free facilities, including blind roads, disabled passages and barrier-free toilets.
Zhang Dongwang, director of the Rights Division of the Rights Protection Department of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, believes that some local governments excessively pursue the number and length of barrier-free facilities for political achievements, but the corresponding management can’t keep up, which is prone to problems. Now the construction of barrier-free facilities has entered the stage of legal development, but the implementation and supervision of relevant laws need to be strengthened.
Qiao Qingmei, an associate professor at the School of Labor and Personnel of Renmin University of China, believes that some city managers do not really regard barrier-free facilities as a necessary condition to ensure disabled people’s travel, but as a "face project", and there is a lack of management. For example, the urban management department failed to correct and punish the improper behavior of individuals and shops occupying barrier-free facilities in time, or even turned a blind eye to it, making it difficult to ensure that such barrier-free facilities are used by people who really need them.
Zhu Changkang, a member of the National Committee of Experts on Barrier-free Construction, believes that some barrier-free facilities are damaged and in disrepair, and the road surface is damaged when pipelines such as wires are built, and barrier-free facilities are not restored when sidewalks are restored. According to the regulations on the construction of barrier-free environment, the road management department should supervise the restoration of barrier-free facilities in a timely manner. If it is natural damage, the road management department should organize construction in time and quickly restore barrier-free facilities.
In 2001, the State Council promulgated the Code for Barrier-free Design of Urban Roads and Buildings. However, some barrier-free facilities are not strictly implemented in the design and construction.
Zhu Changkang said that when designing blind roads, some designers often don’t go to the field to inspect all the terrain, but only specify the laying length and route of blind roads on the drawings, without considering whether the position of each telephone pole and tree on the sidewalk occupies blind roads; However, the construction workers laid the blind road completely according to the drawings, without fully considering the actual situation, even if they encountered telephone poles and trees, they laid it directly. "In case of special circumstances, the construction personnel should communicate with the designers and modify the design drawings in time. It can be seen that the designer has the responsibility and the construction unit also has the responsibility. "
Some wheelchair ramps were not built according to the specifications. According to the international standard, the height-length ratio of wheelchair ramp should not be greater than 1∶12, that is, the height should be 1m and the length should not be shorter than 12m. Generally speaking, the smaller the gradient of the wheelchair, the easier it is for the disabled to roll the wheelchair uphill. However, in actual construction, due to the terrain limitation, the slopes of some ramps are not even 1∶12, and some are even higher than 1∶4, so ordinary disabled people can’t roll the wheelchair up at all. Zhu Changkang believes that the road is too steep and needs to be turned into a ramp. Developers can’t turn it into a steep slope because of the large amount of work.
According to the national regulations, the width of the common toilet seat door in public toilets is 600 mm. If it is to be transformed into a disabled toilet seat, the door must be widened to 800 mm so that wheelchairs can enter. Beside the toilet, there are two kinds of safety grab bars with different specifications, and an emergency call button and a low paper extractor are also needed. In many places, these details were ignored in the renovation of toilet seats for the disabled, which led to the non-standardization of barrier-free toilets.
There are clear national standards for barrier-free facilities such as blind roads, wheelchair ramps and barrier-free toilets. The design and construction departments can’t lower the standards in order to save money, let alone cut corners and reduce the construction quality. For example, the blind road is used to instruct the blind to walk forward, while the blind road is used to prompt the blind to have a turn or the end point ahead. In some places, when encountering a manhole cover or a telephone pole, but not laying a warning blind road, it is easy for blind people to bump into it when walking.
When to stop occupying the blind road
Urban management departments should strictly punish shops that occupy sidewalks and block blind roads, and traffic control departments should strictly punish cars that occupy blind roads and block barrier-free access.
"The bicycle parking place at the entrance of the supermarket is full, so I can only park my bicycle on the sidewalk and leave after buying the vegetables." Sun Zhenye, a resident of Jintaili Community in Chaoyang District, Beijing, went to the supermarket to buy food. When he saw the "seamless pin" in the bicycle parking place, he could only park his bicycle on the blind road. "Sometimes he didn’t realize that his bicycle blocked the blind road."
In view of the occupation of barrier-free facilities, Zhang Dongwang believes that on the one hand, publicity and education should be strengthened. It is suggested that the Urban Planning Commission and the local Disabled Persons’ Federation cooperate to broadcast public service advertisements on public transportation and media to publicize the contents of barrier-free facilities and how to protect them, so that the general public can understand the significance of barrier-free facilities for the disabled and raise their awareness of maintaining barrier-free facilities. On the other hand, relevant departments should strengthen management and law enforcement. Strict penalties should be imposed for occupying barrier-free facilities such as blind roads. For example, urban management departments should strictly punish shops that occupy sidewalks and block blind roads, and traffic control departments should strictly punish cars that occupy blind roads and block barrier-free passages. "The penalties in foreign countries are very strict. For example, in the UK, the behavior of occupying parking spaces for disabled people is severely fined, which is several times higher than illegal parking." Zhang Dongwang said.
Zhang Dongwang believes that barrier-free facilities are the right and guarantee for disabled people to travel healthily, and they are also an important public infrastructure, which needs the common maintenance of the public. Urban planning departments and infrastructure departments should correctly perform their functions, plan, design and build barrier-free facilities in strict accordance with state regulations. The China Disabled Persons’ Federation and the general public can play the role of social supervision. When problems with barrier-free facilities are found, they can report to relevant departments and put forward some improvement plans and suggestions.
interlinkage
How to manage barrier-free facilities abroad
United States: Since the 1960s, the United States has successively enacted laws and regulations such as the Building Barrier-free Regulations and the Rehabilitation Law, proposing that disabled people should participate in social life on an equal footing and implement barrier-free design in public buildings, transportation facilities and houses, and requiring all projects invested by the federal government to implement barrier-free design, making barrier-free design mandatory. Congress also enacted a tax adjustment bill to encourage society to participate in the construction of barrier-free facilities.
Britain: The development of barrier-free facilities basically depends on public participation in decision-making, promotion by non-governmental organizations and demonstration by research departments. With the help of non-governmental organizations and charities, a model of guiding the development of barrier-free construction with public participation in planning and decision-making has gradually formed.
Japan: For the management of barrier-free facilities construction, a special institution is set up to complete the acceptance of the building and check whether it meets the barrier-free design for the disabled and the elderly. At present, Japan has achieved barrier-free urban environment in major public buildings and commercial places such as airports, streets, shops, hotels, restaurants, scenic spots, industrial factories and government agencies.
(Reporter Shen Shaotie finishing)
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