By Ella Wills BBC News.

 

Registered as blind for 15 years, Deborah Persaud travels around London with guide dog Lewis by her side.

But on recent walks to work, the pair have faced a new challenge on pavements – dockless bikes for hire.

“Lewis has to navigate around them [and] we often end up having to walk onto the road,” she said.

“I have bumped into them a few times and that’s with Lewis. He is about to retire and I am absolutely terrified of using my white cane.”

There has been a rise of tech start-ups offering app-based hire bikes around major cities, enabling customers to book and unlock bikes via an app – which uses GPS to find the nearest one available.

But unlike dock-based models, such as London’s Santander Cycles, they can be then be left anywhere within designated parking areas.

 

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Link to Disability story