The Cellar - March 20, 2008: Blind Sidewalks

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- Image of the Day (http://cellar.org/forumdisplay.php?f=10)

- - March 20, 2008: Blind Sidewalks (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=16865)

deadbeater

03-22-2008 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aliantha (Post 440219)

We have those here. They can be a death trap if you're wearing spike heels. We also have noisy walk signals at traffic lights. Do you have those too?

Noisy, as in VERY loud clicks? Or does it makes some other noise? We get very small clicking noises on our lights in NYC, so the only real noise indicating a light change is the honking of the horns.

Aliantha

03-23-2008 01:09 AM

I wouldn't call the sound a click so much as a pipping sound, but it's very loud, and starts off with the sort of sound you associate with a laser shooter in a star wars movie. You can hear them from half a block away at a busy city intersection.

spudcon

03-24-2008 04:46 PM

1 Attachment(s)

It seems the dog only recognized, and stopped at roads with curbs.

Cloud

03-24-2008 04:53 PM

I'm more interested in the intersection of gay and high . . .

Wombat

03-24-2008 06:52 PM

We have those blind sidewalk pavers in Canberra, on the paved areas at the major bus interchanges. Ours look exactly like the ones in the pics.

We have the noisy walk signals too: they also vibrate to help people who are both blind and deaf.

lumberjim

03-24-2008 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf (Post 440766)

Back in the early 1980s, they redid the sidewalks in town in West Chester, particularly the crossing at Gay and High. For wheelchair access they removed the curbs at the intersections. It was a masterful job, with a very gentle slope to the street.

Unfortunately, blind people never knew when they were crossing the street. I don't know if there were any injuries or near misses, though.

Within a few weeks the brand new crossings were ripped up, and some rough cobblestones were laid in place to mark the edge of the sidewalk and the beginning of possible sudden death. If you've ever tried to cross at Gay and High, you know what I mean.

I believe that Dave Barry (who at the time was a columnist for The Daily Lack o' News) wrote a particularly humorous column about this.

was that the origin of "in West Chester, you go in High, and come out Gay?"

Karenv

03-25-2008 09:02 AM

Given that one can't really walk in high heels, I don't suppose that it matters much. High heels are for transferring from taxi to elevator, not for walking on city streets.

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