WATCH: Bruce Crabb highlights the issues faced by his disabled partner at a roundabout on the corner of Moulder Street and Lords Place.
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00:00 So we're at the corner of Mulder and Lords Place. Talk to me about what kind of issues you guys face when you try and cross here.
00:07 Okay, well this is a good example of a roundabout in Orange that are designed to facilitate the safe, efficient movement of traffic.
00:17 But there's no facility for safe pedestrian crossings.
00:20 So our problem here is that we wait at the corner for traffic to give way to us.
00:27 And for most people without mobility issues or disabilities, that's not an issue.
00:31 You don't think about it, you rush across, you slip between vehicles.
00:35 But for us, our movement is slow and difficult and we rely on, we need the time to be able to cross safely without worrying about cars coming.
00:48 I mean, Brad was hit in the head by a car trying to cross a road five years ago.
00:52 So this is essentially like reliving trauma every time we come to a roundabout and try and cross the road.
00:58 And it's, I think it's something, I'm going to give people a bit of a doubt, but most people just don't think about it because it doesn't affect them personally.
01:07 But I ask people to think about it.
01:10 While you're out walking, think about how difficult, when you come to potholes and cracks and tree roots, how difficult it can be for someone who uses a walker
01:19 or someone who's pushing a pram or has bags for shopping.
01:23 You know, everybody faces, can face these difficulties once you step out of the vehicle and into the pedestrian.
01:29 I just think that most people don't consider it because it's not affecting them in a dramatic way, but it really does affect our quality of life.
01:38 And it's meant that since we moved to Orange, almost five months ago, Brad has done a lot less walking than he did in Sydney.
01:46 Because the footpaths are difficult to navigate, because the roads in Sydney are difficult to cross, it's become a safety issue.
01:53 And so I tend to drive him to a pool, a paved footpath, a massive pool.
02:01 I drive him up here to appointments, medical appointments or to cafes, rather than walk.
02:07 And so it's actually had a physical impact on his health in that he has put on weight since we moved to Orange.
02:12 And he's now, he had blood tests two weeks ago and he's now pre-diabetic.
02:16 So I would also say that this, that, it has an actual physical outcome.
02:22 The lack of facility and amenity to make being a pedestrian accessible in this town has had a physical outcome on his health.
02:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]