[nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind

[David Evans]

Dear Dar,

Most areas have a traffic safety committee that is made up from 
citizens and city or county traffic officials that have the 
responsibility to examine and make suggestions and changes to 
local traffic situations including modifing intersections, 
configurations, signal timing and more.
If you talk to them about any problems you have, with a 
particular crossing, such as needing more time to cross, these 
are the people who can make it happen.
I think that anytime someone presses the crossing buttons, the 
signal should give a little more time for some one to cross for 
the next two light changes and then go back to its regular light 
timing to preserve the coordinated light timing that traffic 
engineers figure into the system to promote the smooth flow of 
traffic.

Audible traffic signals have both good and bad to their use.
The only good thing is that they tell you that the light changed.  
This could be useful where you are crossing at a street that 
sometimes has little traffic volume to give you a clue as to 
who's turn it is in the traffic sequence.    Audible signals do 
not really stop the traffic.  That is what our ears are suppose 
to tell us so we are sure before we step off the curb.  Cars run 
the red lights all of the time.  That is why audible signals, 
that make so much noise are really a hazard to the blind as your 
hearing has to compete with their sound, the traffic noise of the 
vehicles that are moving and this makes it harder to hear the 
softer sounds of a car slowing down to make that right turn on 
red.

I am not totally against audible traffic signals, but most of 
them make to much noise and can be heard blocks away.  Making 
enough sound to let you know the light has changed is okay, but 
then they should be quiet or make very little sound to avoid 
masking the sounds we need to pick up on to avoid getting hit by 
a car coming through the intersection a little late.  After all, 
the cars are governed by the color of the lights, not the sound.  
Many cars are so well insulated today that drivers can not even 
hear most sudible signals until they are in the intersections 
anyway.
As 69.4% of all blind people are over the age of 65 years and 
that number will rise to 74% in just 8 more years, traffic 
accidents may rise among seniors if steps are not taken to 
provide better protection for them.
Audible signals can be both a help and a threat to them.
Seniors, who are losing their eye sight and their hearing can 
both make good use of good signal designs,but can also be lulled 
into a false sense of security by audible signals and begin 
placing too much trust in them for their personal safety instead 
of using their own senses and common sense to keep them safe.

The signal, and how we use it and respond to its use, is very 
important and it must work for everyone and especially the most 
vunriable.
I am not sure that being distracted by the use of our cell phone 
is such a good idea any more than I think that talking on the 
cell phone when driving is such a good idea.  Distracted drivers 
are accounting for more and more accidents today.  Add distracted 
pedestrians using their cell phones is just another factor that 
can lead to a deadly accident, wouldn't you agree?

Most accidents are caused by carelessness, lazyness or impacians 
on the part of one or more of the parties involved.


David Evans, NFBF
> ----- Original Message -----
>From: "dmgina" <dmgina at qwest.net
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:29:22 -0700
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind

>I understand watching the traffic as always,
>just thought it was a swell idea if a cell phone could stop the 
traffic for
>us to get across and many others.
>Even seniors would like more time with lights.

>--Dar
>www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
>Every saint has a past
>every sinner has a future

>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net
>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 7:48 PM
>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind



>> Dear Dar,

>> The cell phone approach will not work and is very impracticle 
and would
>> leave many other pedestrians exposed.
>> The best way is just to be able to hear them coming the same way 
we judge
>> the approach of all other vehicles.
>> The cell phone method just will not let you judge how fast and 
from what
>> direction a hybred car is coming like your hearing does.
>> You would have to walk around trying to pay attention to your 
phone and
>> all of the other things at the same time.
>> Cars just need to sound like cars, that's all.  Cars, most of 
them anyway,
>> already do this and we can handle them.  It is just the hybred 
electric
>> ones that mostly don't follow the rules.

>> David Evans, NFBF


>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>From: "dmgina" <dmgina at qwest.net
>>>To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>Date sent: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:21:40 -0700
>>>Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind

>>>I am for what they want to do.
>>>Many of us have cell phones, and I wouldn't be with out mine.
>>>I will keep reading.

>>>--Dar
>>>www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
>>>Every saint has a past
>>>every sinner has a future

>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>From: "Alicia Richards" <alicia716 at msn.com
>>>To: "NFB Talk" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 5:08 PM
>>>Subject: [nfb-talk] Crossing the Street for the Blind


>>>> The following was just posted to the Colorado Association of
>> Blind
>>>> Students mailing list.  I'm curious to know what you guys have
>> to say
>>>> about it.  I wonder, does the NFB know of this technology, and
>> do we plan
>>>> to do anything about it?

>>>> For the 21.2 million Americans who suffer from vision loss,
>>>> crossing the
>>>> street can be a stressful and potentially dangerous proposition.
>>>> Thanks to engineers at the University of Idaho, many visually
>> impaired
>>>> individuals soon may have a greatly reduced risk thanks to a
>> tool
>>>> already in their pockets - their cell phone.

>>>> The statistics for vision loss, provided by the American
>>>> Foundation for
>>>> the Blind, include anyone reporting difficulty seeing, even
>> while
>>>> wearing glasses or contact lenses. No matter the level of visual
>>>> impairment, many conditions - including visual noise, walking at
>>>> night
>>>> and irregular intersections - can result in missing a crosswalk.

>>>> Regardless of conditions, the new system being developed in
>>>> Moscow,
>>>> Idaho, will make intersections safer and easier to navigate.

>>>> "Minute for minute on the road, any pedestrian is 150 percent
>>>> more
>>>> likely to

>>>> be injured by a car than somebody driving one," said Richard
>>>> Wall,
>>>> professor

>>>> of electrical and computer engineering. "But it is pretty
>>>> apparent that
>>>> the

>>>> blind pedestrians are the ones most at risk at intersections.b

>>>> The new technology utilizes features already available in many
>>>> cellular

>>>> phones, including communications, Global Positioning Satellite
>>>> (GPS)

>>>> functions and magnetic compasses to help visually impaired
>>>> pedestrians.

>>>> Specialized software allows these pedestrians to activate the
>>>> crossing

>>>> signal remotely without having to locate the physical button.

>>>> Then, the GPS system monitors the position and direction of
>>>> travel while
>>>> crossing. As long as the crosser stays within the crosswalk,
>>>> nothing
>>>> happens. But stray outside the lines, and an audible warning
>>>> activates
>>>> alerting the pedestrian of their danger. It then provides
>>>> directions on
>>>> how to get back within the safety zone. Should the walker
>> somehow
>>>> end up
>>>> in the middle of the intersection, the system automatically
>> would
>>>> turn
>>>> every light red, stopping traffic and averting a potential
>>>> disaster.

>>>> "It's true that this would disrupt the timing of the signal
>>>> patterns
>>>> when it gets activated," said Wall. "But we would much rather
>>>> disrupt
>>>> them for a few seconds than for a half hour while an ambulance
>>>> assists a
>>>> traffic victim."

>>>> To ensure people don't trigger the alarm just for fun, only
>> those
>>>> who
>>>> need the help would be able to acquire the necessary software.

>>>> The system requires more than software, however. It also
>> requires
>>>> the
>>>> installation of new hardware in thousands of lights across the
>>>> country.
>>>> Luckily, Wall and his team have found a solution that not only
>> is
>>>> cost
>>>> effective, it simplifies the existing system.

>>>> Many crosswalks currently have handicapped-Many crosswalks curre
>>>> provide
>>>> help such as audio tones indicating when it is safe to cross.
>>>> However,
>>>> the box that controls the intersection contains a massive amount
>>>> of
>>>> wiring. This is necessary to connect each actuator with each
>>>> signal so
>>>> at any given time, the control box knows each state.

>>>> Wall's new system simplifies each box to only two wires, both
>>>> already
>>>> required to power the signals. It uses a technology called
>>>> Ethernet over
>>>> power line, which allows information to be broadcast over power
>>>> lines.

>>>> The future is clear for Wall and his research team. They have
>>>> established dates to deliver the engineering and expect field
>>>> trials to
>>>> commence in June. They are building prototypes supported by
>> funds
>>>> from
>>>> the University Transportation Centers program, Idaho's Higher
>>>> Education
>>>> Research Council and their commercial partner, Campbell Company,
>>>> who
>>>> currently makes the accessible pedestrian signals that chirp and
>>>> talk
>>>> for the handicapped.

>>>> "The signals we're building are more than prototypes. These
>>>> devices
>>>> actually can go into the field and work today," said Wall.
>> "We're
>>>> using
>>>> existing infrastructure and communicating intelligence over it.
>>>> It's
>>>> cost effective, it simplifies the connection to two wires and it
>>>> can be
>>>> immediately installed in all the existing crosswalks in the
>>>> country."

>>>> If you would like more information, or to speak with the people
>>>> involved, please let me know.

>>>> Ken Kingery

>>>> Science/Research Writer

>>>> University of Idaho

>>>> Office: 208-885-9156

>>>> Cell: 614-570-3942
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nfb-talk mailing list
>>>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org



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