'It was terrifying, the guide dog was screaming' Following death of blind man who fell off a train platform, how rare is this kind of incident?
Mercer, Artur Ortega's guide dog, was heard "screaming" when he fell from a platform at a train station
"Like every other commuter morning, I walked parallel to the platform edge, my guide dog on the left-hand side, the tracks on the right-hand side. I didn't realise how close I was to the platform edge because there was no tactile paving.Artur, a software architect, says bystanders quickly pulled him and Mercer to safety while rail staff called ahead to stop the incoming train. After a few weeks of recovery, both returned to work and commuting.
Although these sound like harrowing, rare incidents, falls from platforms due to a lack of tactile paving happen all too often according to the Royal National Institute of Blind People . Since 1998 the government has said the implementation of tactile paving should be "considered" in new developments and improvement schemes at stations. Guidance itArtur says: "It is incomprehensible to me that almost a quarter of a century wasn't long enough to install tactile paving.
He said the worst occasion was on the London Underground when he didn't realise he was on an island platform with two open edges. Two of those, directed at the Department for Transport and Network Rail, said they should "seek improvements" to the process of deciding when tactile paving is installed and develop a plan for higher priority locations "in a timely manner".
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