[nfb-talk] Explanation of traffic lights and pedestrian signals

[T. Joseph Carter]

Dewey,

The one you're talking about shouldn't interfere with the sound of 
traffic, unless someone's driving a quiet car (in which case another 
car on the road will likely interfere!)

If it does, then it wasn't installed properly and is too loud.  The 
speaker should be at the pole and a lot quieter than a drive-thru 
window's speaker when there's no traffic, but get louder as 
background noise picks up so that it is comparatively the same volume 
over the background noise.

If it's too loud, get the thing adjusted.  It can be done without a 
whole road crew or shutting down the intersection.  It takes one guy 
about ten minutes to do it

The other possibility is that where you're standing at the 
intersection has the speaker right in your ear.  Go there some time 
and listen for where the speaker is.  If this is the case, you'll 
probably find that you can probably cut the annoyance factor quite 
significantly by taking a step or two out of line of the thing.

The modern APS is designed to be informative, but not loud enough to 
drown out the sound of a traffic surge.  With the model you describe, 
I can usually hear people take their foot off the brakes if there are 
fewer than six lanes to be crossed.  If more than five lanes, I won't 
hear the brakes anyway, so a signal making noise isn't going to make 
things any more difficult.  In fact, the information could be useful.  
Necessary?  No.  Useful?  Sure.

Joseph


On Sun, May 30, 2010 at 08:56:40AM -0500, Dewey Bradley wrote:
>I have a friend who is very anti NFB.
>He got a talking crosswalk put in, I ask him what the point in having 
>it keep saying wait over and over until the light changes.
>He started going on about makeing it so that everyone can use it, 
>blind and every body.
>I told him that it could hurt blind people because when that thing is 
>talking, we can't hear if someone runns the light, witch they do all 
>the time here, drivers are very disrespectful here.
>He started calling me an NFB notcy again.
>His gole in life is confirming all the negative stereotypes.
>I don't know why blind people do that.
>He knows how to cross the street.
>But who knows what goes through people's minds.
>----- Original Message ----- From: "David Andrews" 
><dandrews at visi.com>
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Saturday, May 29, 2010 9:39 PM
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Explanation of traffic lights and pedestrian signals
>
>
>> John:
>>
>>I read the link you gave below.  The majority of the piece is taken 
>>up with research and descriptions of what an APS should sound like 
>>to be audible to the most people.  There are a couple sentences, at 
>>the end, which I will paste in that say that APS's improve the 
>>attention to walk signals  for everybody, and the last sentence 
>>says that they help blind people know exactly when the signal 
>>changes.  That is it.
>>
>>This is obviously an important issue to you -- it comes up again 
>>and again and again.  The NFB position has shifted some over time, 
>>but at this point we are not going out and fight for APS's at all 
>>intersections.  It just isn't going to happen.  In the greater 
>>scheme of things we think there are more critical issues.  I would 
>>guess you don't agree.  That doesn't make us or you right or wrong,  
>>it just is.
>>
>>Dave
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Effect of Speech Messages on all pedestrians
>>
>>Van Houten, Malenfant, Van Houten and Retting (1997) found that 
>>redundant information conveyed by audible pedestrian signals 
>>increases the attention of all pedestrians to turning traffic and 
>>may contribute to a reduction in pedestrian-vehicular conflicts and 
>>crashes at signalized intersections. Their research in Clearwater, 
>>Florida used prototype speech message technology in which speech 
>>messages were broadcast from the pedestrian signal head. When the 
>>pedestrian push button was pressed, the message was "Please wait 
>>for WALK signal." The message "Look for turning vehicles while 
>>crossing [street name]" began 200 msec before WALK signals were 
>>illuminated.
>>
>>The signal also gave participants who were blind precise 
>>information about the onset of the WALK interval and which street 
>>had the WALK interval.
>>
>>
>>
>>At 08:33 AM 5/26/2010, you wrote:
>>>All you need to do is google "research audible walk signal".  
>>>There is plenty of information out that that will help you decide 
>>>for yourself about audible walk signals. I'm confident that 
>>>anyone reasonably informed on this subject will agree with me.
>>>
>>>Here's a really good place to start:
>>>http://www.apsguide.org/appendix_c_signal.cfm
>>>
>>>Have you noticed that my posts are chuck full of links to 
>>>documentation for the things I say whereas those of the people 
>>>who disagree with me have none? This is always the case on this 
>>>list in every single debate we've ever had. None of these debates 
>>>are ever a case of dueling facts. In each ccase, I have all the 
>>>facts and my opponents have nothing but unsubstantiated opinions 
>>>and insults.
>>
>>                        David Andrews:  dandrews at visi.com
>>Follow me on Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920
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>
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