The Tasmanian Greens today called for a halt on converting zebra crossings to safe-haven style crossings, amid growing road safety concerns from vision impaired Tasmanians and others with a disability.
In State Parliament today, Greens Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MP highlighted that the current policy prioritises cars over pedestrians, and raises serious safety questions.
“The Greens are calling on Minister O’Byrne to suspend the implementation of the policy and undertake a consultation process with disability groups and the general public,” Mr Morris said.
“Almost all of the zebra crossings in Tasmania have now been removed and replaced with other facilities that require the pedestrian to identify a gap in the traffic, instead of requiring vehicles to stop.”
“Whilst the evidence does suggest that the new safe-haven style crossings can be safer for those who are able bodied, they are actually making crossing more difficult for some vision impaired and disabled people.”
“The problem is that the sight impaired and those who are slower on their feet can have a lot of trouble crossing the road using the safe-haven style crossing.”
“We are calling on the Minister to suspend the implementation of this policy until a comprehensive public process has been undertaken.”
Tim Morris MP Greens Infrastructure Spokesperson Wednesday, 17 April 2013
