{"id":8443,"date":"2016-01-26T17:23:20","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T17:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=8443"},"modified":"2016-01-26T17:23:20","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T17:23:20","slug":"cardiff-city-centre-no-go-areas-blind-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2016\/01\/26\/cardiff-city-centre-no-go-areas-blind-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiff city centre has \u201cno go areas\u201d for blind people"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARTS\u00a0of Cardiff have been labelled no-go areas for the blind and partially sighted.
\nNathan Foy from Guide Dog Cymru identified Queen Street and St Marys Street as \u201cno go areas\u201d which are \u201cnot worth bothering with\u201d if you are blind.
\nThe main issue comes from what is known as shared surfaces. These are places where pedestrians use the same area as bikes and cars. Bikes are a particular problem as they are silent vehicles that cannot be heard by the blind.
\nMr Foy, 35, who also represents England\u2019s visually impaired cricket team, said: \u201cQueen Street has a restraining order on cycling. However when we went down to collect money for guide dogs in October we counted someone on a bike every four minutes.
\n\u201cThe street is already an attack on the senses. There are street sellers and music blasting out of the shops and sandwich boards outside the stores.
\n\u201cSt Mary\u2019s Street is also bad. To make it more cosmopolitan they have let the restaurants spill out onto the street. This makes the dog want to lead you down the middle of the road but that\u2019s where the delivery vehicles and bikes are.\u201d
\nAs well as bikes the emergence of quiet hybrid cars also poses a problem. The European Parliament has just passed legislation saying all hybrid and electric cars will have to make noise by 2019.
\nNoise and obstacles are not the only issues for Cardiff\u2019s visually impaired. Lack of curbs in pedestrian areas are also an issue. Jackie Clifton MBE, 65, works at the Royal College of Music and travels from Cardiff to London regularly. She is blind and relies on her Alsatian, Henna, to guide her.
\n

\"Jackie