Pedestrian Crossings: Visual Impairment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring local authorities to install (a) audible and (b) tactile signals on all pedestrian crossings on busy roads for blind and visually impaired people.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 permit the use of audible and tactile signals at traffic signal junctions and crossings, but the Department has no plans to make them mandatory.
The Department’s good practice advice in Chapter 6 of the Traffic Signs Manual makes clear that tactile signals should be provided at crossing facilities as a default. They can be used at times and in places where audible signals are not suitable, for example where an audible signal is switched off overnight or where the site layout would result in an unclear signal to road users. Chapter 6 is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual.
The provision of audible and tactile signals and consideration of how they should operate are matters for local authorities, bearing in mind their duties to provide safe movement under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and to provide accessible services under the Equality Act 2010.
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