[Mt-blind] What's More Important, Safety or Freedom?

[Jim Marks]

Things have been slow on the list, so I thought I would bring up a topic
from last fall's MAB Convention.  During the Chapter President's meeting, we
discussed chapter projects that promote safety for blind Montanans.  At
least part of the discussion focused on white cane laws.  Jerry Hutch told
us about the Helena Chapter's efforts on improving safety.  I tried to
correct Jerry's misunderstanding about white cane laws.  He said he thinks
of the laws as primarily safety laws.  Actually, white cane laws did not
come about due to safety.  On the contrary, they were civil rights oriented
laws that did away with a major prejudice.  Before white cane laws, society
assumed that accidents involving blind pedestrians and vehicles were caused
by the blind person.  Most people believed that blind people could not
function, and so they had to be at fault in pedestrian-vehicle accidents.
White cane laws forced a change in this thinking.  These civil rights laws
put blind people on equal footing with the sighted so that authorities would
look at accidents involving blind pedestrians and vehicles on a factual
rather than a prejudicial level.  In other words, sometimes an accident may
be the blind person's fault.  Sometimes it's the driver's fault.

I believe there is a very real danger in getting overzealous about safety.
If we go too far, we need up taking away freedoms.  Safety is very, very
important.  It starts with personal responsibility, uses lots of common
sense, and holds all parties accountable.  Safety should never, never rob
people of their freedoms, though.  If we go safety goofy about white cane
laws and such, we put blind people in a dependent role.  We could expect
society to watch out for us so much that we end up bringing back to life the
very prejudices that brought about white cane laws.  All that's necessary is
to strike a balance.  Blind people should not expect others to watch out for
us.  We should watch out for ourselves.  At the same time, we should expect
others to hold up their end of the bargain.  Negligence should not be
tolerated no matter whether it comes from a vehicle driver or a blind
pedestrian.

I mention all this because the MAB really needs to watch out for extremist
approaches to safety issues.  

What do you think?




-------
Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at gmail.com