Friday, in the Antigone district, in Montpellier (Hérault), a blind person owed his salvation only to passers-by, who warned the security service of the community. While this employee of the Region was walking on one of the footbridges that cross the Lez, she fell into the river. She was rescued, but is "very shocked".
Thierry Jammes, president of the Federation of the blind of Languedoc-Roussillon, which related this accident on the social networks, says "revolted". “She is a lady who knows her route perfectly, but for three months, she left her white cane at home because, like everyone else, she was confined, confides Thierry Jammes to 20 Minutes. You inevitably lose confidence in your ability to analyze the terrain. "
The town hall promises to install a guide strip
On the bridge where the accident took place, there is no device to help people with disabilities, deplores the Montpellier. "There is nothing, strictly nothing dedicated to visual impairment," says Thierry Jammes. I ask that we install guide strips in the middle of the bridge, to have a tactile marker, as exists at the Corum, or in front of the station. The blind person, to go straight, she looks for a breadcrumb. There, the breadcrumb, it is located between the bridge and the void. A blow, the cane touches the void, a blow, the edge of the bridge. "
Impossible, however, to install barriers on the bridge, notes Thierry Jammes. This is confirmed at 20 Minutes by Annie Yague (various left), current delegate for accessibility and disability in the city of Montpellier and 12th on the list of mayor Philippe Saurel (DvG) for the municipal authorities. "This bridge is submersible, and we do not have the possibility of putting railings [barriers], in order to avoid the formation of a dam by the litter carried by the Lez, explains the elected official. This could be an obstacle to the flow of water. We have never had a specific request on this place. We will make an appointment with the associations, and do what we do each time: move around, and look for a solution. In this case, the guide strip is a possibility that seems acceptable to me. "
Michaël Delafosse met Thierry Jammes
Thierry Jammes, for his part, called on the municipal candidates to take up this problem. "The candidates did not talk about accessibility, as if they did not feel concerned," he laments. They are not aimed at these people. Why ? Are we transparent? The campaign ends, it is time to commit to real accessibility for people with disabilities. "
Michaël Delafosse (PS / EELV) met on Monday morning with the president of the region's Federation of the Blind. The candidate undertook in particular, he indicates in a letter, to set up "accessibility and universal mobility", to appoint "an elected representative and a project manager dedicated to the issues of accessibility of people in situation of handicap ”and to support the traders in the accessibility of their shops. Mohed Altrad (unlabeled), however, did not react.
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- Languedoc-Roussillon
- Accident
- Blinded
- Handicap
- Montpellier