[nabs-l] cleaning up the snow within bus stops

Tue Jan 31 03:24:50 UTC 2012

Hi Humberto,
I totally understand your frustration with the snow and ice on the
sidewalks and especially your discomfort about having your dad drive
you to and from school. While I do hope that the sidewalks eventually
get cleaned up, the good news is that you can walk safely to the bus
stop and take the bus, assuming the buses are now running again on the
streets. It will take a little practice to get the hang of traveling
through snow, but it's entirely possible to do it safely and, in fact,
many blind people walk around independently during winter weather. I'm
not sure if you tried to walk to the bus stop already and had trouble,
or if you haven't trried it yet because you are worried about slipping
or getting turned around. If you haven't tried it yet I would
encourage you to at least give it a try. You might find it's actually
a lot less frightening than it sounds. Here are a few tips:
-- If you haven't already, I would urge you to go out and get a pair
of good snowboots. I think there are also things you can buy to put
under the soles of your boots to give them more tread so they slip
less on the ice.
-- I think you are a cane user. When you walk on the sidewalks, use a
sliding motion with your cane. You will be able to feel in advance
whether you are coming up on snow or ice because the ice will feel
slippery under your cane. If you feel ice approaching, sweep your cane
out a little bit to the sides to see if there's a clear path around
it. You might be able to avoid some or all of the ice by walking on
grass or gravel. It might be snowy, but it shouldn't be as slippery as
the sidewalk.
-- Stepping on a pile of snow is inconvenient but it's usually not dangerous.
-- I have really bad balance and while I don't have much trouble with
snow, I do find walking on ice makes me nervous. If I have to walk
through a very slippery area and there's no way around it (i.e. no
grass) I will get down on my hands and knees and crawl over the most
slippery spot, then stand up and keep walking when the sidewalk is
more clear. This isn't the most fun, but if I really feel like I'm
going to fall it allows me to keep going without falling.
-- Also, if you happen to havve someone else walking by and you don't
feel safe, I think it is fine to ask that person if you can hold on to
their arm while you are crossing the icy patch. I do this
occasionally, again because I have bad balance, which isn't even
totally related to blindness. You shouldn't need to hold someone's arm
for the whole walk-just the parts that are very slippery.

Again, I think if you try doing your normal bus route even tomorrow,
you may discover it's not as difficult as you thought. I lived my
whole life in Phoenix and never dealt with snow at all until I moved
to Colorado in 2008. I expected it to be very hard to get around but
the adjustment was much easier than I expected. If you have tried
getting to the bus stop and had problems, and can tell us a little
more about specifically what went wrong, I'm sure many of us on the
list (including those with more snow experience than I, which is most
of us) will have plenty of suggestions for ways to work through those
problems so you can regain your independence without having to bet on
the weather to warm up or the city to clean it up.
Best,
Arielle

On 1/30/12, Humberto Avila <avila.bert.humberto2 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am running into a problem that has been bothering me to a point where I
> want to try out my advocacy skills, and I would like to share it with you.
>
> Well. here is the story.  a couple of weeks ago a major winter storm was
> upon us here in Central Washington State, and it really affected my city,
> Yakima. We had a snowfall that left about up to 5 inches of snow throughout
> the city, and the first two days that happened it went nonstop for more than
> 24 hours. this left people unable to go to work and school for about two
> days, and public as well as school routes for buses were reduced or limited
> those days. this storm left me unable to ride the city bus to and from
> school, making my Dad take me to and from school for the rest of next week.
> today that still continued; My dad still drove me to school and back home.
>
> While the roads and all highways are clean, many sidewalks including
> sidewalks where there are bus stops and benches are still soaked into so
> much snow and ice from two weeks ago. And you know what is worse? the people
> or machines who clean the snow in the mornings or nights deposit all that
> snow there, leaving the piles and trails of snow into those very places I
> mentioned, especially at the bus stops. Now in fact, that snow has turned
> into ice, and the sidewalks with bus stops are even more slippery and hard
> to walk or step on.
>
> With all this mess, how is a blind person going to walk to take their
> desired public transportation? How am I supposed to step on all those
> mountains of slippery ice waiting for the bus?
> for once, this is driving me crazy and is putting my independence at risk of
> going down the drain. Like I said, my parent has to drive me to and from,
> every day, and if this continues to happen, I fear that I will lose practice
> of traveling on the city bus.
>
> what it's making things more bothersome is that, quite frankly, I feel
> embarrassed by my Dad to pick me up at the college, right in front of the
> main class building, and take me there because, well, about 99.2% of all the
> college students can DRIVE and do DRIVE their own cars, and I don't know
> what they think of me when my Dad has to do that. I am very disappointed
> with them not being able to also clean up the snow and ice from the bus
> stops and their sidewalks. I am also angry because they don't even think
> about people, especially blind or disabled, depending on buses to take them
> everywhere since they have to use those bus stops.
>
> What should I do? Where should I start from in trying to put someone to
> clear up those paths and sidewalks where there are bus stop so that I can
> travel safely and independently once again? who should I tell about this?
> which authority should know this?
>
> I wonder how sighted people are getting off and on those buses with all this
> sleek. I'm sure Ice can try out on those sidewalks and stops, however, it is
> very cold and I doubt this will happen soon enough for me to ride the bus.
> do you have any recommendations for me on this situation? Any ideas?
> suggestions? tips?
>
> your help and advice is welcome please. I'm tired of my dad having to drive
> here and there every morning and spend his gas, and embarrassed that I am
> one of those very few, or the only one, whose parents take them to college.
> I'm sure no college student wants that since we are now adults.
>
> Sincerely,
> Humberto
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