[nfb-talk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt Wish

Mon Jan 7 12:45:53 CST 2008

I wonder how the audable signal would work hear where I live, witch is 
Springfield Missouri.
these people will stop on a green and take off on red.
when they need to make a left turn, they wait until the arrow has whent back 
to red, then they will try to turn.
So saing that, If I tryed to use those things, I'd be dead.
I don't think we have them anyware, I hope not.
people are nuts hear.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E]" <powerst at dcpcepn.nci.nih.gov>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2008 12:22 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt Wish


> Great one Peter!  I am sure glad neither of you were hurt.  I find the
> signals a nusence not a help.  I have a mild hearing problem and as you
> sead, with the racket, you can not hear turning cars.
>
> Terry Powers
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Donahue [mailto:pdonahue1 at sbcglobal.net]
> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 6:39 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Cc: Discussion of new quiet cars and pedestrian safety
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt Wish
>
> Hello David and listers,
>
>    Some thoughts appear below your first paragraph and will be
> indicated with a *:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "David Evans" <drevans at bellsouth.net>
> To: "Kathy Davis" <kdavisnfbf at cfl.rr.com>; "Dwight Sayer"
> <repcodds at aol.com>; <MisterAdvocate at aol.com>; "Gloria Mills"
> <gloria at irescue-tax.com>; "Dan Hicks" <danjhicks at yahoo.com>; "Dan Hicks"
> <danjhicks at hotmail.com>
> Cc: <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 4:37 PM
> Subject: [nfb-talk] Fw: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt Wish
>
>
> Re: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt WishDear Jodie and Kirk,
>
> I would ask you to think of this.  Funding is now very limited due to
> the
> property tax cuts coming down from the State to all of the local
> governments.
> Which do you think should have a higher priority.  Public Transportation
> or
> audible traffic signals?
> There is no information , that can not be gotten by just using your
> ears.
> You hear the parallel traffic surge forward and you know the light has
> changed.  It does not have to beep to tell you this.  Your hearing is
> not
> having to compete with the beeping to pick out the sound of a car
> slowing
> down to make a right on red.  You are not becoming dependent upon a
> method
> that causes you to let down your guard and makes your mobility skills
> erode.
> You are less likely to build up a bad habit of just trusting the sound
> of
> the beeping light over the travel techniques you should be using to
> protect
> yourself.
>
> *
>    This will become especially true as the amount of hybrid vehicles on
> our
> roads increases. More hybrid vehicles means less audio traffic flow;
> traffic
> noise that would be easily drowned out by an audible traffic signal.
>
> This hit home with Mary and I yesterday while on our way home from
> taking
> care of some business downtown. As we were walking down Lorenz Road on
> the
> way to our apartment complex we heard an all-so-slight swushing sound
> like
> what you would hear when a car passes you buy. A sudden rush of air
> against
> our bodies as the, "Noise" passed us buy helped us put two and two
> together.
> We had a close encounter of the hybrid vehicle kind. Had we been trying
> to
> cross at an intersection that had an audible pedestrian signal
> installed
> which we could not disable in order to hear the traffic patterns more
> clearly there's no way we would have heard that vehicle pass in front of
> us.
> One, or both of us could have been seriously injured or killed.
>
>    For my money increasing funding for public transportation and the
> availability of quality travel instruction for the blind along with
> increasing efforts to ensure that hybrid vehicles meet a minamum sound
> standard will be far more benificial than spending it on the
> installation of
> audible pedestrian signals.
>
> ----
>
> The lights cost almost as much as a Para-transit van to install and
> maintain.
> If you are going to ask your County to spend money on something that
> best
> serves the Community,it should be better Public Transportation and not
> audible traffic signals.  They give you nothing that you don't already
> have
> by just listening and using your mobility training.
> Audible traffic signals don't protect you.  Good mobility skills and
> listening to the traffic does.
> The "Walk" "Don't Walk" lights at an intersection are there mostly to
> serve
> children and seniors who have not got or are losing the judgment to tell
> when it is the right time to begin crossing.  They are still required to
> stop, look and listen to make sure it is safe.
> The problem is that people get lazy or in to a bad habit of just walking
> into the intersection when they hear the beeping of the signal and
> forget
> everything else.  Their bad habits then become the problem by depending
> upon
> the sound instead of their good sense.  This is especially so for
> seniors.
> I respect your wanting to have access to everything that the sighted do,
> but
> you already do have it in just listening to the traffic sounds of who is
> moving and who is stopped.
> Please consider which is going to be of more benefit to you and
> everybody
> else.  Public Transportation should be your top priority and not audible
> traffic signals.  You will get more support for the transit than you
> will
> audible signals.  People who live next to audible signals hate the noise
> and
> may even ask that they be removed because they cause a nuisance and may
> effect their property values.  They can ask that the signal be monitored
> and
> removed if the signal is not used a certain number of times a month.  It
> has
> happened here in Palm Beach County.
> The ACB got one installed at an intersection in West Palm Beach , but
> the
> County removed it after less than 2 months at the request of nearby
> residents.
> Think about it.  .
>
> Your friend to the South.
>
> David Evans, NFBF
>
>
> Peter Donahue
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: David Evans
> To: 'NFB of Florida Listserv'
> Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 6:44 AM
> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt Wish
>
>
> Dear Jodie and Kirk,
>
> Audible traffic signals are not a requirement under the ADA.  Just so
> you
> know.
> Your money would be better spent funding a couple of good mobility
> instructors and buying and funding some Public Transportation vehicles.
> One signal would buy a lift equipped van.
>
> The audible signals build up a false sense of security in the minds of
> too
> many people , especially seniors.  The seniors trust the signals too
> much
> and just think that they are safe if the darn thing is beeping.  They
> believe the cars are going to all stop and this does not happen.
> Here in Palm Beach County, we have had a number of seniors, who can see,
> who
> have been hit and some killed using audible signals.
> Heck, Robert Miller, the former State president of the Florida ACB  and
> even
> Debby Grub have been hit at audible traffic signals in the last two
> years.
> They both should have had an extra layer of protection as they both use
> guide dogs which are trained to disobey a lawful command if they sense
> danger.  They still got hit.
> There were two Blind students at the Florida Training Center in Daytona
> struck at a audible signal right outside of the Center.
> The signal has been around for years and is special as it makes all of
> the
> lights, in all four directions, turn red at the same time.
> The students got lazy and just depended upon the signal to tell them it
> was
> safe to cross.  They forgot to use their good street crossing techniques
> and
> they got hit.  They got lazy and didn't stop, look and listen to the
> traffic.
> Most good Blind travelers will tell you that they are not worth the cost
> for
> what they do.    This just sucks off funding that would be better spent
> on
> mobility instruction and good Public Transportation.
> By the way, Jodie.  It sounds like you have taken over the seat that
> Brenda
> Gillis use to sit on there in Martin County.  She was a real champion
> for
> Public Transportation there and use to have monthly go around with the
> County Commissioner over transit funding and the policies and practices
> of
> Community Coach.
> I would be glad to work with you on the issue.
> Are you planning to go up to Tallahassee for TD Day on March 6, 2008?
>
> If you are interested in going, but do not have a way, I might be able
> to
> help.
> I am taking a chartered bus load of advocates up to the Capitol on March
> 5
> and coming back on March 7.
> This is something that I have been organizing for the past 8 years here
> in
> Palm Beach County.
> If you are interested, call me at (561) 482-5684 (Home), or on my cell
> at
> (561) 789-2488.
> Did you know that a fixed bus route is being proposed to run from St.
> Lucy
> County down to Palm Beach County through Martin?
> I sit on the steering committee.  The DOT is going to fund it for at
> least 2
> to 3 years.
> I am still pushing the Tri-Rail to extend up to Stuart also.  It likely
> won't happen now for another 5 to 7 years because of these darn budget
> cuts,
> but there is hope.
> There is another man there in Martin that works for Braille
> International.
> His name is Mark Tardif I think.  I am looking forward to working with
> him
> also.
>
> David Evans, NFBF
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbf-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf
> Of Jody W. Ianuzzi
> Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2008 7:00 PM
> To: NFB of Florida Listserv
> Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] A Heart-felt Wish
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> Yes, I agree there is a major problem with public transportation in
> Martin
> county.  I was appointed to the citizen Advisory committee for the
> Martin
> county Metropolitan Planning Organization.  I am pushing for public
> transportation, audible pedestrian traffic signals and many other
> changes.
> I see the county spending a fortune on road improvements and each time I
> remind them that making ADA updates is part of the requirement for road
> improvements.
>
> it has been very frustrating, to say the least.
> JODY
>
> "WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WISH
> TO SEE IN THE WORLD" ~ Gandhi
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbf-l mailing list
> Nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbf-l
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1205 - Release Date:
> 12/31/2007
> 3:32 PM
>
>
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1207 - Release Date:
> 1/2/2008
> 11:29 AM
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfbf-l mailing list
> Nfbf-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbf-l
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.13/1207 - Release Date:
> 1/2/2008
> 11:29 AM
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> ----
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk