[blindkid] Silent cars and warning signs.

[Carrie Gilmer]

Richard,
Quiet cars are indeed a problem, as is pedestrian safety...since even horse and buggy days, and as evidenced by the NFB's organizational push these last years, people here on this list are aware and take quiet cars seriously. that said, I personally know three blind persons (all adults and I believe not near home as within a block or two) injured by cars, but only one was by a quiet car. i know one killed by a car, also it was not a quiet car. And he was an older man, fairly large in size, who had crossed that street a million times or more and was still in plenty use of his faculties to do it safely on his end. also here in Minneapolis the one child injured by a quiet car so far was a sighted child on a bike. That I am aware of, no part of the solution championed by blind people as a group has been signage. Can we signage the world? Perhaps you would like the idea of the neon vest "blind pedestrian"....

It feels to me you are exceptionally emotionally touched by this. and it sounds to me in your logic and rationale and claims that you are MORE (as an "added" layer of protection) willing to put your daughter's safety into the trust of drivers who are complete strangers, whom you have no control whatsoever over, and can never ever predict individually...to follow a sign near your home in the few seconds she is away from arm's reach or your back is turned. this leaves the rest of the world open. How many layers are needed to ensure she will be safe from cars. The only possible solution I can think of that is a guarantee is to never let her out. And of course never ride in a car, that can be very dangerous.  even a sighted guide can make a mistake. heck a sighted woman pedestrian here was killed standing on the sidewalk by a drunk driver...however staying home has its risks as well as any statistician will tell you, statistically most emergency room injuries happen in the home is what I have heard.

It feels to me like something more, like fear, needs addressing. 
Respectfully,
Carrie
Sent from my iPad

On Feb 27, 2013, at 12:37 AM, Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:

> Heather, I am curious-- when you suggest:
> 
>> If a child, blind or sighted, cannot be trusted to act reliably playing or crossing busy streets unsupervised, then they need to be supervised  by a responsible adult who knows the child's developmental level and likelihood of putting themselves in danger. The adult can then prevent the child from injury
> 
> Your point is well taken, but I am left particularly to wonder how silent (or nearly silent) cars factor in?
> 
> Also, I continue to stress that my personal take on the these signs is nothing close to a replacement for appropriate adult supervision. They are an added safeguard, just in case we can't be in the exact right spot at the exact right moment. So many seem fine with the concept of "child at play" signs, which would tend to indicate that parents of these kids must be at least a step or two away from their kids at times (or they would ned no signs), but apparently we parents of blind children are to be held to an "arm's reach" standard or the like so we can always redirect our kids until they have fully mastered their O&M skills. That seems unrealistic somehow.
> 
> All that aside, what can we do to keep our kids safe in a world with ever increasing numbers of quieter and quieter cars?  (And how can blind adults do likewise for themselves, for that matter?) If we can't manage to deal with quiet cars safely, the other issues seem to be potentially less and less important, as the percentage of quieter cars on the road grows each year.
> 
> It strikes me that if we cannot teach our blind children to listen for [nearly silent] cars, we are pretty much left with the option of trying to alert the quiet cars to blind pedestrians. Do you have an alternative to suggest?
> 
> I suppose we can all decide it is just too dangerous and closely supervise our children indefinitely, but at some point these kids will become adults and we parents will get too old to help them across the street. Fact of the matter is, I'm sort of hoping Kendra will be able to help ME across the street many years from now...
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