[nagdu] APS was White Cane laws

Thu Mar 25 13:02:12 UTC 2010

Albert,

NFB is working diligently to pass legislation that would require that hybrid 
cars have some sort of sound even when they are operating at lower speeds.

Personally, I think this will be more effective than APS.  If I can hear the 
car no matter where it is I will be able to take appropriate action in a 
parking lot, side street, country road or where ever.

JMHO
Julie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Albert J Rizzi" <albert at myblindspot.org>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 12:07 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] White Cane laws

> Now in reaction to the hybrid cars which are environmentally friendly and
> very quiet, why are we not mobilizing the forces to require that urban
> planners and departments of roads or transportation or what ever 
> department
> it is that regulates crossing signs start using audible crossing signs as 
> is
> done in many European cities. I hear tell of how the infrastructure is to
> old and to costly to work with, yet I would think that Paris and London 
> are
> much older cities then any of ours and they some how were able to bridge
> that gap. Would be another great focus of our community to work together 
> to
> effect if you ask me.
>
> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
> CEO/Founder
> My Blind Spot, Inc.
> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
> New York, New York  10004
> www.myblindspot.org
> PH: 917-553-0347
> Fax: 212-858-5759
> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who is
> doing it."
>
>
> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Jewel S.
> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 11:33 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] White Cane laws
>
> Here, here!
>
> I have been hit by a car, albeit a very slow moving car, so I was not
> injured very much at all. The car was backing out of a parking spot
> after telling me to go ahead. He didn't look where he was going, and
> his bumper struck me before I knew what was going on. I beat the trunk
> with my cane and shouted at him, trying to scuttle out of the way (not
> easy for me), but he would not stop. I would have fallen if someone
> hadn't run up and caught me and another man knocked on the driver's
> window, the idiot. I told them to get the license plate number, but
> they did not. I was very upset. This was also a quiet car.
>
> The Quiet Car Bill is something I have been watching very closely. It
> is almost passed through to law. It is getting sooo close. When it
> does pass, the government will be required to do a survery and figure
> out a way for quiet cars to produce the sound needed by pedestrians.
>
> I am very sorry about the loss of your guide dog, friend, and the
> injury of your other friend. Your story is one of the many very real
> reasons why the White Cane Laws were ut in place in the first place,
> to save lives.
>
> How many lives must be taken before the laws are enforced?
> ~Jewel
>
> On 3/24/10, Albert J Rizzi <albert at myblindspot.org> wrote:
>> Here here!
>>
>> Albert J. Rizzi, M.Ed.
>> CEO/Founder
>> My Blind Spot, Inc.
>> 90 Broad Street - 18th Fl.
>> New York, New York  10004
>> www.myblindspot.org
>> PH: 917-553-0347
>> Fax: 212-858-5759
>> "The person who says it cannot be done, shouldn't interrupt the one who 
>> is
>> doing it."
>>
>>
>> Visit us on Facebook LinkedIn
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Tamara Smith-Kinney
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 1:07 PM
>> To: 'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] White Cane laws
>>
>> Tracy,
>>
>> I'm so sorry!  I didn't know that had happened to you.  It must have been
>> awful for a long, long time after the fact.  And I'm sure whatever
> recourse
>> you received was not worth the loss.  I'm glad you're well and still
> living
>> your life.
>>
>> While I am glad the white cane laws and pedestrian laws underlying them 
>> do
>> give me some added rights and protections.  Greater awareness and greater
>> enforcement does and will give us better odds of traveling safely through
>> our daily lives.
>>
>> There will still be those people who disengage brain before turning key,
> but
>> the more drivers who are aware of the law, of their responsibilities as
>> drivers, and of the consequences of their not taking their
> responsibilities
>> seriously when they're behind the wheel, the better off we'll all be.
>>
>> Tami Smith-Kinney
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
>> Behalf
>> Of Tracy Carcione
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 5:23 AM
>> To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [nagdu] White Cane laws
>>
>> Could we possibly get back to discussing better enforcement of White Cane
>> laws, and drop all the sniping?  Or is it the concensus that the White
>> Cane laws are outmoded, and we should just let them drop and ignore them?
>> I'm not asking for someone else to be responsible for my safety, but I am
>> asking that the drivers take their share of responsibility.  They are the
>> ones in charge of the vehicle that is a lot faster and heavier than I am.
>> I am especially concerned with new quieter cars becoming more common.
>> I've lost count of the times my dog has stopped short, then I've heard 
>> the
>> car whizzing by in front of us.
>>
>> I personally know 3 people who've been hit.  One was crossing with the
>> light when a bus turned on top of her, and she was killed.  One was
>> crossing a quiet street, when some old fool came speeding around a blind
>> corner and hit her.  Now she has to use a wheelchair.  And one was me,
>> trying to cross a street to get home during an ice storm.  There wasn't
>> enough traffic, and there wasn't anyone around to ask, and I probably
>> misjudged the traffic light.  My dog was killed.
>>
>> Two of these accidents could have been avoided, if the driver were paying
>> propper attention.  We have laws on the books that say they should be
>> particularly careful when a blind pedestrian is in the street.  I'd like
>> to see greater awareness of those laws.  It doesn't seem so much to ask,
>> to save a life.
>> Tracy
>>
>>
>>
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