Cool Hand Fluke

[Martin Cassini]

Re the Guide Dogs Association for the Blind in the Telegraph: in the inimitable line uttered by the chain gang boss in Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." From Boris Johnson onwards, there is a failure to clarify a confusion about shared space. Shared space means equality among road-users in a socialised setting. It needn't involve shared surfaces. Kerbs can be retained - ideally, sloping rubberised kerbs - to provide orientation for blind people and escape routes for cyclists. Moreover, until the overdue cultural and legal revolution on the road has placed the onus for road safety on the driver rather than the pedestrian, on-demand signals can be retained for blind people.