[Mt-blind] [Fwd: Hybrid vehicles and roundabouts makestreetcrossings risky.]

[Jim Marks]

The MAB has a resolution on roundabouts, too.  I'll post it to the list in a
bit so that we can all see it.  As I recall, he resolution says that well
designed roundabouts are fine, but the devil is in the design details.   



Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at GMail.com 
-----Original Message-----
From: mt-blind-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:mt-blind-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of dmgina
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 3:27 PM
To: Montana Association for the Blind List
Subject: Re: [Mt-blind] [Fwd: Hybrid vehicles and roundabouts
makestreetcrossings risky.]

Well before I would try a round about,
I would want to work with an instructor on the cars in traffic.
Have any of you done the round abouts, and do you feel comfortable about it?

--Dar
www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
Every Saint has a past
Every Sinner has a future

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Hutch" <modrepro at mt.net>
To: "Montana Association for the Blind List" <mt-blind at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 3:06 PM
Subject: [Mt-blind] [Fwd: Hybrid vehicles and roundabouts make 
streetcrossings risky.]


>
>
> Hybrid vehicles and roundabouts make street crossings risky.
>
> By ROSALIO AHUMADA
> rahumada at modbee.com <mailto:rahumada at modbee.com>
> Modesto Bee - Modesto,CA,USA
> July 29, 2007.
>
> Fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles and traffic roundabouts were made to reduce
> pollution, auto accidents and dependence on costly gasoline.
>
> As good as these technological and traffic advancements are, they make
> crossing the street a dangerous task for visually impaired people such as
> 13-year-old Martha Estrada.
>
> Martha is learning how to use her cane to walk across the street. She is
> taught to listen for the vehicle engines to know when the crosswalk is
> clear.
>
> But hybrids are much quieter than standard cars, making them hard to
> detect.
> Roundabouts promote a more constant traffic flow, and reduce the number of
> stops and starts cars make, which the visually impaired use as a signal to
> cross.
>
> "We use the canes to know where things are and what's in front of us," 
> said
> Martha, who will start the eighth grade at La Loma Junior High in the 
> fall.
> "It takes us a while to cross, and we have to hear where the cars are."
>
> Peggy Best, an orientation and mobility specialist for Modesto City
> Schools,
> works with physically disabled students, including Martha, and teaches 
> them
> the life skills they'll need to have independent and fruitful adult lives.
>
> With more traffic roundabouts being built in Modesto each year, she said
> her
> students will have to avoid the circular intersections.
>
> "It's limiting the places for our students to go," Best said.
>
> Modesto has 11 roundabouts and one under construction. City planners 
> expect
> to have 24 roundabouts within several years.
>
> Although the crosswalks are several feet from the roundabout and are
> marked,
> they're still close to the entrances and exits. Those entering must
> yield to
> traffic inside the roundabout.
>
> Modesto city traffic engineer Jeffrey Barnes said the visually impaired 
> can
> learn how to safely cross a roundabout just like conventional 
> intersections.
>
> He said the visually impaired can learn how to listen for a wide gap in 
> the
> roundabout traffic before entering the crosswalk.
>
> "Usually somebody has to go with them to help them learn the location 
> where
> they're crossing," Barnes said.
>
> He said drivers also have to slow down before entering and must yield to
> pedestrians.
>
> Nevertheless, crossing can be complicated and scary for the visually
> impaired.
>
> Martha has some residual vision that allows her to spot some bright
> objects,
> such as white crosswalk lines. But she can't tell when traffic in front of
> her has cleared.
>
> Once at an intersection, she has to be patient and listen for the engines,
> asking herself: Are they accelerating? Are they idling?
>
> When starting up, the gasand battery-powered hybrid emits less than three
> decibels of noise - difficult for a human ear to hear, The Contra Costa
> Times reported. A hybrid vehicle traveling at 35 mph emits about 75
> decibels
> of sound, which is quieter than a vacuum cleaner.
>
> Barnes said hybrids can be dangerous to all pedestrians.
>
> "Perhaps manufacturers will have to create enough noise in those
> vehicles so
> it does give the visually impaired people the kind of information they
> need," Barnes said.
>
> Rachel Grider, 18, gave a speech in December to her Downey High School
> English class about the pedestrian difficulties that come along with
> hybrids.
>
> Grider is another of Best's visually impaired students and has been
> learning
> how to cross streets with her cane since the second grade. She fears
> hearing
> a hybrid engine roaring only inches from her in the middle of a crosswalk.
>
> "When it is idle or traveling from low to moderate speeds, it runs on
> batteries and, therefore, cannot be heard," Grider said in her speech.
> "Although the idea of a quiet car has a number of positive features, they
> are unsafe for pedestrians, especially those who are blind or visually
> impaired."
>
> She recognizes that hybrids and roundabouts are beneficial, and are the
> future. But she wants to raise awareness about the hazards facing the
> visually impaired.
>
> Grider will attend California State University, Stanislaus, in the fall
> as a
> vocal performance and music education major. She's seeking the 
> independence
> that other college students get in their first years of adulthood.
>
> "We are no different than everyone else," Grider said. "Just because we
> can't see doesn't mean that we can't be as independent as they are."
>
> http://www.modbee.com/local/story/27885.html
>
> --
> Ginger Bennett Kutsch
> Morristown, NJ
>
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