[nfb-talk] Open Letter to Marc Maurer

[David Evans]

Dear Robin,

I don't try to be perfect, just the best I can be.
My first example of a blind man when I was a kid was some guy in his 
thirties, dirty and unkempt, standing on a corner with his cane and a cup 
full of pencils.
I could hear the things other people were saying about him and when I found 
that I was going blind, he was my first thought.
Lucky for me I believed in myself and made up my mind that I was not going 
to be that guy.
I just try to set the best example, of a blind man, that I can because other 
people are seeing me every day on the street.
I do cross busy streets without the "aid" of beeping traffic signals and I 
don't need them because I have good travel skills.
This doesn't mean that I can't be hit by a car.  I have been hit twice, but 
this was back before I learned travel skills and both times I was on a 
bicycle and I was hit from behind by hit and run drivers.  Once was with my 
3 year old daughter on the back of the bike.  The drivers were both speeding 
and in the second case, there was no one else on the road and they still hit 
me.  I am sure it was a senior, who likely should not have been driving 
anyway as I live near a place call Century Village and that street is their 
raceway to State Road 7 to go shopping.
As for cars we can not hear,  I know all about them.  I built several of 
them back in the late 1960's and '70's.
I was part of the recent "Quiet Cars" conference that the NFB just held at 
their National HQ in November.
The new hybrid electric cars are going to prove a real problem for all 
pedestrians, not just the blind.  We tested two such cars , in a real world 
test outside the NFB center in Baltimore.
The Toyota was absolutely silent.  In the alleyway test I could not hear the 
car pass me at all and would not have known it except the mirror brushed 
against my belt buckle as it went by.
I am working now to get our state Department of Transportation to request 
that the matter be funded for study to find out what we can do about this 
situation.
I was one of the presenters at the conference as I built the Lunar Rovers 
that sit on the Moon and worked on some student projects involving hybrids 
back in college.
We had the same problem with the test cars hitting pedestrians  and 
bicyclist.  , in and around the Stanford Campus,  Back then we applied a 
whistle to the front bumpers, but I think that we will have to do more than 
that now.


I never saw the need for audible signals as I get the same information from 
the traffic that is moving or stopped.
Why spend $40,000 to 75,000 to tell me something I can already tell.
I would concede that there are some intersections, mostly because of their 
geometry could use a little help, but mostly in lining up to cross the 
street at odd angles.
These streets are not that numerous and can either be dealt with as they are 
or another crossing chosen.
I find that many blind people who use them take it for granted that the cars 
have or will stop.  I have pulled 3 such believers out of the way of cars 
running such lights in front of the now defunct Lighthouse of the Palm 
Beaches.
If you just trust the audible signal, it is just a matter of time before 
some driver running the light is going to bust you.
You must not get lazy but use your ears and common sense or wind up 
somebody's hood ornament.
I guest what I am saying is that the poorly trained and uninformed think 
these signals are going to protect them  They mistake the sound of the 
signal as telling them it is okay to cross instead of what it really says. 
The light just changed.
Robert Miller, Who I like and respect and have served on State Boards with 
on Voting Access, and is the former State President of the FCB, was just hit 
last week by a driver making a right on red at an audible signal and got his 
leg broken.  Lucky his guide dog was not hurt, just shaken up.
I know Robert and I know that he is a good traveler.  It just shows that 
even a good traveler and can be lulled in to a false sense of protection by 
these devices.  If he had been less intent on crossing the street and using 
the audible signal, and used his hearing, he might not have been hit because 
he would have been concentrating on using his hearing to detect the car 
slowing down.

I am sure the driver was at fault here, but that doesn't help Robert.  He is 
the eleventh blind person to get hit just since the beginning of October 
here in Florida.  Recently two students, returning to the Daytona Center, 
after dark, were struck when crossing at the old audible signal outside of 
the center.  This signal turns the lights red in all 4 directions at the 
same time, so go figure.   ,
Ed Hudson's mother, who was blind, was struck and killed in the same month. 
Ed is the director of the Florida State Training Center in Daytona.
She was not using a audible signal as far as I know, but it was the week of 
the Daytona 500 and traffic is crazy there.  Eleven deaths alone in that 
week from traffic accidents.

As for the K-NFB Reader, It is a very new piece of technology and has lots 
of potential.
The NFB helped fund some of the engineering research and helped to get 
grants for the field test units, just as we helped fund the invention of OCR 
and Pattern Recognition Software.  As an engineer, I can tell you that such 
cost can be very high.  The only way to get the unit cost down is to make 
more units and make them cheaper.
The K-NFB Reader will grow in the coming years and it will do more.  One 
idea has the reader being able to scan and translate foreign languages in to 
speech .  Imagine scanning a cafe menu written in French and have it read to 
you in English or maybe Japanese.  How about identifying the restroom sign 
written in Chinese or Pollish.  This would open up the product to everyone 
who travels abroad, sighted or blind.  This could bring down the cost so 
that blind people could afford them better like a digital camera or radio.

The NFB has vision and really trys  to think about what it does and what 
effects it will have on our Society.

Have a Happy Holidays

David Evans, NFBF
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2006 10:58 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Open Letter to Marc Maurer


> Marsha:
>
> You make some good points, however, it is simplistic to say that NFB
> wants or is against accommodations.  This just isn't true, however,
> we believe that we should only ask for those accommodations that are
> absolutely necessary.  If there are ways of doing something without
> accommodations, then we believe they should be used.
>
> Our stance on audible traffic signals, as an example, has changed
> somewhat over the years, we now agree that there are some complex
> intersections which might benefit from them.  However, we are not in
> favor of placing them more widely, as the ACB seems to be.
>
> The KNFB Reader and other devices are necessary to access printed
> materials because everything won't ever be put into
> Braille.  And instead of just griping about the lack of access, we
> are working to develop some of the things we need.
>
> We dropped the AOL suit because it looked like we could get the
> access we wanted via negotiation.  Access was the goal, not just a
> lawsuit.  We now have the Target suit which so far looks like it may
> do what we need and want.
>
> Dave
>
>
> At 11:17 PM 12/3/2006, you wrote:
>>David I have been in both NFB and ACB and I have made my choice becuase
>>of those philosphies you speak of.  I however think both organizations
>>have good an bad points.   NFB is certainly stronger in its convictions
>>and  more willing to take on controversy than ACB is no matter how
>>misguided they may be.   ACB tends to stand back and I for one am happy
>>to see ACB take a stand on this issue.  It is a welcome stand from
>>sitting back and letting the world pass us by.  NFB has been very good in
>>getting some positive legislation passed but over the years is becoming
>>more of a money making organization.  This bothers me.  I was equal
>>disturbed when NFB so quickly dropped the AOL lawsuit and with NFBs
>>partnerships with private industrie for new devices in order to make a
>>profit.  If you say we do not need accomodations then franks do we need
>>the KNFB reader?  After all a lot of material is available on the web and
>>we have screen readers.  Do we need screen readers will training alone
>>make us able to compete?  Ok I am going overboard but you get the gist.
>>
>>as for ths APS signal who knows maybe the tone or announcement made a
>>difference in the case but do we know for sure.  You say you can listen
>>for traffic patterns but surely you have noticed cars are quieter and
>>quieter.  Trust me I have friends who have cars you would never hear.
>>APS signals are not a replacement for good mobility skills but just add
>>information the same information that is accessable to our sighted peers.
>>
>>I do not think ACB thinks we have to have the world fully accomodated in
>>order to function on an equal footing but we do believe that these
>>accomodations can make us more independant and help us to function even
>>better.  Some of us may need them more than others.
>>
>>Your posts saddens me in that you are so concerned about how the sighted
>>world sees you.  How sad to be so miserable that you feel you have to be
>>perfect every moment in order not to reflect badly on the blindness
>>community.  Have you ever met a perfect sighted person who never makes a
>>mistake?  There are no perfect blind people nor any perfect sighted
>>people.  I am not putting you down I feel truly saddened by anyone who is
>>so concerned they must be a perfect example of blindness it is a heavy
>>cross to bear and one that will over time wear you down.
>>
>>I remember in my younger days feeling so volunerable and so deteremined
>>to show the world I could be just like everyone else and I remember
>>worrying about what everyone was thinking but then I had a revalation and
>>realized that the majority of the sighted world are far less concerned
>>about how I do things than I was.  They simply have more things to do in
>>their lives that are far more important then worrying about that poor
>>pitiful blind girl.  As for the people who commented on blind money this
>>is a sign of ignorance on that persons part.  Anyone who would even make
>>those comments is obviously rude and ignorant in the first place.
>>
>>You were luck this time with your money but it does not always happen
>>that way.  However when you first got that $20 bill did it tell you what
>>it was so you could fold it or did you depend on the bank teller or a
>>note identifier?
>>
>>I am an ACB member and proud of it and have been ever since I left NFB.
>>I still have friends in NFB and we agree to disagree on some issues but I
>>believe both groups have good points.  I am an ACB member who works in a
>>mainstream job and with only sighted coworkers yet they do not pity me or
>>look down on me.  I use my software and I compete on the same level.  I
>>took Call A Ride to work for years until a coworker and I got the same
>>shift.  I have APS signals in my area I fought for and I am glad they are
>>here although they do not replace my mobility skills but give me the same
>>information as the sighted world has.  I believe education and employment
>>are top priorities for both groups but I believe that accessable money
>>may just help make us more employable.  The cost of changing vending and
>>change machines is not a big deal they have been changed a lot in the
>>last few years with all the new bills so the blindness issue wont enhance
>>the cost any more.
>>
>>These are just my views an feel free to have your own.
>>
>>Robyn
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>
>
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