[nagdu] Driver awareness

Sat Mar 20 18:37:08 UTC 2010

Jewel,

Sometimes I think that having been a driver until I became legally blind,
gives me way too much appreciation for what all the drivers out there I
can't see are likely to get up to! /lol/  I was a conscientious driver,
don't get me wrong, and took some special efforts to be safety conscious
since I did have a certain loss of peripheral vision and accompanying "night
blindness."  So I paid a lot of attention to what all the other drivers were
doing...  And when I was a passenger and my friends were driving, I could
actually see what was going on around us and what they were doing....

It took me a long time to not completely freak out by not being able to see
what was going on when I driving with someone I knew to be a perfectly safe
driver.  /lol/  And crossing the street in La Grande, or even Bend, was an
exercise in overcoming dramatic terror, especially if a random breeze passed
by while I was crossing...  /lol/  I could scare myself witless on a
deserted street by listening too hard for cars that weren't there!

With experience and adaptation and lots and lots of practice, I'm much
better at interpreting sounds, of course, and I hardly think about it except
for the road I have to cross or walk beside, which I *know* to be truly
dangerous and where the sounds are inherently confusing because of the
layout there.  There, I will stay wait as long as I have to until I'm *sure*
it's safe.  But I almost never give myself a nervous breakdown in the middle
of the road because the wind changed direction.  /grin/

I like your attitude of learning by doing because you're just living your
life and too bad you suddenly can't see.  It's an interesting adventure,
isn't it?  My situation was somewhat similar for the first few years,
including the lack of available training.  But my options were to deal and
learn or stay home....  Ha!  Like that's going to happen!  So I learned to
deal and would go out and get myself lost and end up in tears because I was
so frustrated and just wanted to my front door so I could sit down and not
have to figure out where I was in the yard...  /smile/  Ah, the memories!

When I started learning to travel with my guide dog -- as handler, not
trainer -- I learned all sorts of new ways to get myself into trouble.
/lol/  And get lost, because I would forget to count blocks.  I've ended up
discovering some interesting places -- and a couple I intend to avoid
forevermore! -- by forgetting to notice how far we had gone at a much
greater speed than I did with my cane.  /lol/  I've learned to "know" where
I am on familiar routes by sound and other context, but I *still* forget to
count blocks when I'm on a new route in a new area because I get so caught
up in walking along with my dog and enjoying the adventure of it all.

This used to bother me terribly, because I thought I should be *better* at
keeping track than that.  I finally got bored with worrying about it,
though, so unless I'm on a really tight schedule and need to not take the
scenic route, I just enjoy the walk and figure I find my way to wherever I
want to be sooner or later.  /smile/

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jewel S.
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 4:17 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Driver awareness

I considered doing a white can and guide dog awareness program in the
Raleigh area this year with White Cane Safety Day. I was thinking of
doing posters that say "Stop for white canes and guide dogs...it's the
law!" with small print below it explaining the White Cane Law and
giving a website to visit for more information. I am hoping to ask the
DMV if we can put up these posters in the DMV offices, and hope to
also distribute them to Driver Schools and Driver's Ed classes in the
area. I had never heard of the White Cane Law before I went blind. I
was a driver, but I didn't know that I was supposed to yield to blind
pedestrians, just pedestrians in general. I was 16 in Driver's
Ed...what teenager reads the manual from cover to cover? I sure
didn't, naughy I know.

My two cents,
Jewel

On 3/19/10, Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:
> Tracy,
>
> I've been thinking along those lines, as well, for when I get the rest of
my
> life put back together and can get back to being a useful  member of the
> community.  Last time I took a driver's test in Oregon, I think white cane
> laws and even guide dogs were mentioned in the driver's manual, and I even
> remember smiling when a white cane showed up on my test.
>
> I don't know if that's still the case, though.  I'm surprised by the
number
> of people who are also drivers who will ask what that stick is for, in a
> tone to suggest they think it's an odd thing for me to have.  That always
> makes my  hair stand on end, since they will probably be going to their
care
> and zipping out of the parking lot about the time I'm ready to cross the
> street.  Happy thought!
>
> So I will try to gently and humorously mention that I'm blind, which they
> find to be shocking information.  But they still want to know what the
white
> stick is for, then.  So I explain it to them and give a little
> demonstration, but I'm still pretty shocked that an adult living in a city
> would not know that.  Especially if they  have a driver's license!
>
> So I would like to see more publicity here on the subject, to remind
people
> that there are laws to protect pedestrians in general, and that there are
a
> couple of extra laws to give those of us who can't see them coming or run
> across the crosswalk before they can run us down by turning the corner
> without looking.
>
> I haven't brought it up with our chapter yet, in terms of white cane
> publicity, because I still don't have enough pieces of my life put back in
> place to be a regularly attending, functioning member.  Sigh.  I do have
it
> on my list for when...  The majority of guide dog users around here are
ACB,
> so I will need to get involved in GDUO, too, I guess, if I want to round
up
> some interest.
>
> I haven't thought about the blind sting, but it would be a great idea,
> especially if it's well-publicized.  I know a street crossing they can use
> and someone who would be happy to stand waiting for two drivers who know
the
> pedestrian laws to stop so she can cross.  /grin/
>
> The people who pass their driver's test and toss out the manual from their
> brains as they chuck the book physically into the trash are the real
> problem, though.  What's to be done about them, I don't know, since they
> have chosen to turn off their brains before they turn the key.  We just
have
> to watch out for them, I guess. /smile/
>
> Tami Smith-Kinney
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Tracy Carcione
> Sent: Friday, March 19, 2010 11:47 AM
> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
> Cc: njagdu at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nagdu] Driver awareness
>
> Tammi's comments about the man whose dog was killed while they were
> crossing the street brings to my mind an issue I'd like to work on, if
> anyone has any idea how to do it effectively.
> I'm pretty sure that the White Cane laws require a driver to yield to a
> blind pedestrian.  If a blind person is in the crosswalk, either with a
> dog or a cane, the driver is supposed to wait for the blind person to
> cross.
> I saw that in the NJ law when I was looking up guide dog law, and I almost
> laughed.  I had no idea!  Almost no one does it!  There are streets around
> here where I hesitate to cross even with the light because it's very
> likely that someone will come zooming around the corner in front of me.
> And, if I wait for all the turners, I don't have time to cross.  So, if I
> can, I cross someplace less hairy.
> My husband and I were shocked a few years ago in San Francisco.  We
> crossed a street at the wrong time, not being familiar with the traffic
> patterns, and the drivers waited for us to get across!  We were amazed.
> Wouldn't happen In Jersey.  I don't think it happens in California all the
> time, either.
>
> Is there a way to educate drivers not to turn on top of pedestrians, or
> especially blind pedestrians?  I don't want to make us out to be poor
> pathetic people, but I don't want to get run over by some guy who thinks
> somehow I will jump out of the way or something.  Ben is very good with
> traffic--it's one of the reasons I chose TSE--but we're only flesh and
> blood, and there's only so much we can do.
>
> I remember Marion saying how his chapter set up a sting of sort, and had a
> blind guy crossing the street and a cop ticketing the people who cut him
> off.  I've mentioned it to the New York City chapter, but they were not
> interested. Is it such a bad idea?  Is there a better way?
>
> Could a question about White Cane laws be added to the driver's test?
> Could there be something about it in Drivers Ed for high school kids?  Or
> is it hopeless, and we just have to take our chances?  Well, we have to
> take our chances anyway, but maybe we could improve the odds?
> Any ideas?
> Tracy
>
>
>
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