[nagdu] Question about crossing streets - hope this is guide dog related

[Tami Kinney]

Marilyn,

At first blush, I would say that a study about cane use only is not 
enlightening about the same factors involving guide dog use. The death 
of one guide dog team during a street crossing is tragic. However, it is 
not statistically significant. /smile/

I would be *very* interested in a similar study of guide dog use in 
various areas. Would the findings be any different in one part of the 
country over another? Are there factors in color of dog, reflective 
stripes on the harness and/or handle, harness signs, dress of handler, 
dark glasses over no dark glasses, etc.? That could be useful 
information for guide dog teams who want to increase their safety in 
high-traffic areas. We can't control the drivers around us, but if we 
can give ouselves an edge... That would be good information! /smile/

Tami

On 04/28/2012 09:41 AM, marilyn wrote:
> Hi All,
> yesterday I had a day off from work so I went to a library where  there was a guest speak there from the National Helen Keller Center who teaches mobility. He did a power point presentation and told us that when a blind or blind/deaf person tries crossing a street the driver pays more attention to a cane user than to a guide dog user. We were told they did some research in Maryland, Minnesota and I forgot the other state. They did suburbs and city. the man doing the presentation who can see and still drives a car did the research. he told us he has glaucoma. He said he dressed in regular street clothing , put dark glasses on and used a cane, then a flag and then held his hand up to stop traffic to cross.
> They had a grant to do this study. I told him since every day I cross streets with my guide dog and have had close calls I would have been killed with a cane. My dog didn't go across until it was safe even if I give the forward command. I was told that a guide dog team was killed last year because the dog went forward and the person had a hearing problem besides being blind. I told him I cannot comment on what happened to this person because pedestrians who can see are hit by cars every day.
> My question is do you think people who drive cars pay more attention to a cane user when your trying to cross a street or do people pay attention to a guide dog user?
> I asked why a study wasn't done about guide dog users crossing streets and was told there wasn't a grant for that study since more people use canes than dogs.
> Marilyn and Anna
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