[nfbwatlk] Alert about increase in audible traffic signals

[Carl Jarvis]

Bob,
My spin on this is that we will learn to use the audible signals when we 
need them and use our other senses when they are not in operation.  We 
already do that with regular traffic signals, relying on them when we come 
to a lighted crossing, and using other information at those crossings that 
are unlighted.
My own concern is somewhat different regarding the signals.  At the VIPS 
meeting in Sequim this last Saturday I learned that the city has allowed 
some of the audible signals to fall into disrepair.  This could be fatal to 
someone who believes that the chirping or coo cooing told them it was safe 
to cross, only to discover too late that the signal was out of sync.
If the signals cannot be kept in perfect operating order, then I will be 
among those folks objecting to their use.
But the problem of the Quiet Cars is even more of a problem.
I listened to the clip featuring Fred Schroder, and I could not hear the 
quiet car at all.  Neither could Fred.  As I age, even though it is 
gracefully for the most part, my hearing has become a problem.  Blind 
people's right to travel abroad in our great land has already been 
compromised with more and more accommodations being made for the automobile.
Not only are we faced with the quiet car, but cities are rapidly building 
roundabouts.
Two now exist in Sequim.  One in Port Townsend is in progress.  One is now 
on Bainbridge Island.
Think of the thrill as you arrive at a roundabout on a windy, rainy day, 
straining to hear a road full of quiet cars.  They might as well take us out 
and shoot us.

Carl Jarvis