{"id":24766,"date":"2020-02-14T17:38:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T17:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jomec.co.uk\/cjsnews\/?p=24766"},"modified":"2020-08-19T13:31:58","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T12:31:58","slug":"calls-for-hazardous-street-sign-ban-for-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/cjsnews\/calls-for-hazardous-street-sign-ban-for-wales\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for "hazardous" street sign ban for Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Blind and visually impaired people are calling on the Welsh Government to ban outdoor advertising boards on streets in Wales because they’re a safety risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angharad Paget-Jones, from Port Talbot, is registered as severely sight-impaired. She has started a petition to ban so called A-boards . These are triangular signs often found outside shops or restaurants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miss Paget-Jones says she often trips over them and says they\u2019re “extremely hazardous” for those with sight problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already got to deal with cars parking on pavements\nwhich makes us go into the road. And if that happens and there\u2019s an A-board\nthen we\u2019re just stuck\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blind people and their guide dogs are trained to walk alongside\nbuildings but often miss objects placed in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Royal National Institute of Blind People in Wales says it supports the petition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RNIB Cymru Campaigns Officer Kirsty James, who is also partially sighted, says 95% of people they surveyed have collided with an A-board. \u201cIf a blind or partially-sighted person is walking down the high street we need to have a clear line so we would use the side of a shop as a guide\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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