[Electronics-talk] Electronics-talk traffic signal app

Mon Jun 29 18:26:06 UTC 2015

Jim and others,

My understanding, beyond Chris's concerns, is that some feel crossing when
the light is red even without traffic technically puts them in violation of
the law.  I have personally not worried about this, although I tend to
remain careful to listen for on-coming traffic, knowing that somebody might
speed to make it through a light before it changes.

On a related issue, I would really like to understand better how people who
are hearing-impaired deal with this.  On the one hand, I do not want to take
a position that prevents someone from traveling, but I also don't feel I
want to push for accessible lights on intersections that are pretty simple
if they are not truly needed either.  When I cross a street, I am aware that
what I hear may not be as substantial as what others with normal vision see,
but I do feel that I get enough information in most cases to make decisions
about my safety.  For example, one of the bus stops I sometimes use is about
five blocks from my house, and the route there is along a somewhat busy
street without a sidewalk.  I may not be able to hear a car as far away as
someone sees it, but I can hear on-coming cars in plenty of time to be sure
I'm at the edge of the street.  What I would like to understand better is
what people who are hearing-impaired use to make decisions about crossing a
street.  While I consider myself to be safer crossing when the light is
green for me than when it is red, I never feel that the light is truly a
guarantee of my safety.  I would personally not recommend that any blind
person just cross when another person or an APS indicates is it okay without
being very aware of their surroundings such as turning cars, or cars
approaching the intersection at what seems like an unusually fast speed.  

Do people who are severely hearing-impaired have other alternative
techniques that help judge safety, or is it felt that one has the right to
take the risk, if that is what it is?

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jim Barbour via Electronics-talk
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 9:09 AM
To: Christopher Chaltain
Cc: Jim Barbour; Discussion of accessible electronics and appliances
Subject: Re: [Electronics-talk] Electronics-talk traffic signal app

So Chris, you're saying that you don't trust the traffic to stay quiet Long
enough to get across all lanes?

APS is audio pedestrian signal.

Jim

Written While on the Move

> On Jun 29, 2015, at 5:17 AM, Christopher Chaltain <chaltain at gmail.com>
wrote:
> 
> I'm not Sarah, but I answered this question in a previous post, and I
think Sarah answers it in the post you're replying to.
> 
> As I said earlier, I have two streets I cross, where the cross traffic is
very minimal but I need to cross four lanes of traffic, and due to either
the traffic light patterns or the lack of any preceding traffic signals, the
cars can be traveling quite quickly. I want to make sure I have a full cycle
to cross all four lanes, and I can't do that without the cross traffic in
these situations. I've also crossed streets late at night, again where the
traffic is light, and barely made it across the street before a lone car
came speeding by because I wasn't sure I had the full traffic cycle.
> 
> BTW, what is meant by the acronym APS that you used?
> 
>> On 06/28/2015 10:41 PM, Jim Barbour via Electronics-talk wrote:
>> Hey Sarah,
>> 
>> I hear you that I probably sound like I'm judging.  I do think it is not
a smart thing for blind people to rely on APSs, except in rare circumstances
where the number of points of an intersection are very high, or some other
one off traffic situation.
>> 
>> Being deaf/blind has been mentioned as a reason to rely more on APSs. Not
knowing much about how those who are dead/blind travel, I completely respect
this option.
>> 
>> Would you mind answering another question for me? This was asked the
other day, and it still is a question I have. Why do you care if it is quiet
because there's no traffic, or because the signal is in your favor?  What
are the circumstances when you wouldn't just obey the rule that if it's
quiet, you would cross.
>> 
>> Thanks Very Much,
>> 
>> Jim
>> 
>>> On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 06:53:21PM -0700, Sarah Clark via
Electronics-talk wrote:
>>> I am reading a lot of judgmental posts on this topic. It isn't 
>>> always as simple as listening to traffic patterns.  Besides the so 
>>> called "silent cars" that are becoming more and more prevalent, in 
>>> Beverly Hills where I live we have quite a number of intersections 
>>> where there is a 4 way walk signal -- meaning that it is time to 
>>> walk when all is quiet. (also allowing for diagonal crossings, which 
>>> I never do). Some of these intersections involve 1 or more streets 
>>> that are not especially busy, so you have no way of knowing if it is 
>>> quiet because it is time to cross or because there are simply no 
>>> cars coming through at the moment. Crossing some of these 
>>> intersections nearly every day I have learned to judge them based on 
>>> pattern of the cycle at that specific intersection (the patterns 
>>> vary from one intersection to another), but depending on the time of 
>>> day and how heavy the traffic is, this is not fool proof and I 
>>> sometimes judge wrong. And someone unfamiliar with the intersections 
>>> who needed to cross at off-peak times would find themselves in a 
>>> literal guessing game. I've found having a guide dog invaluable when 
>>> crossing these intersections, because in the event that my timing 
>>> was off and a car didn't give me the right of way once I started
crossing (which they are legally required to do), the dog would see the car
coming and handle the situation accordingly.
>>> 
>>> Sarah
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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> 
> --
> Christopher (CJ)
> chaltain at Gmail
> 

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