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I don't write this kind of letter very often, but I feel compelled to write to you in support of the PROWAC report. Audible pedestrian signals and detectable warning strips on curb cuts and subway platforms, despite what some blind people might say, would go a long way toward making everyday travel safer and easier for us. We are competent travelers, and most of the time get where we want to go without incident, but appreciate warnings of the hazards in our paths, just as our sighted peers do.

Several years ago, an acquaintance of mine fell off a subway platform in Penn Station and was killed because she was hit by a train before she could climb back up onto the platform. She was going to her job, something she had done hundreds of times before. Nobody knows for sure why she fell; possibly she became disoriented because of the heat and noise on the platform. Would warning strips on the edge of the platform have saved her life? Very possibly. The different texture under her feet would have warned her that she was at the edge of the platform.

I work in the downtown section of Albany, New York. I cross busy streets going to and from the bus and running errands at lunchtime. The sidewalks at the corners where I cross all have curb cuts. Oftentimes there is no way to differentiate between the bottom of the ramp and the street, and I have on occasion found myself several feet into the street before I realized I was there. This could be very dangerous when the traffic in front of me is moving. Tactile warning strips at the bottom of these ramps would alert me to the fact that I am about to step into the street.

The city of Albany has installed audible traffic signals at twelve different intersections. They aren't the talking signals I would have liked, they make chirping and cuckoo noises. I wasn't planning on ever using them because I didn't like them. But one day as I stood at the corner, the light changed in my favor. There was no traffic noise for a few seconds. Somebody, not me, pressed the walk button, and I heard a chirp so I knew the light had changed. Had I waited until there was enough traffic noise for me to know I had the light, it would have been in the middle of the cycle, and would probably have changed before I made it to the other side of the street.

I have been a member of the American Council of the Blind for over 28 years and one of the most valuable lessons I have learned is that what one blind person considers unnecessary might be just what another blind person needs. If there are blind people out there who feel that they don't want to use detectable warning strips or audible traffic signals, they will never be forced to do so.
If the real purpose of these aids was explained to these people, most, I am sure, would realize their value.

In closing, let me just state that while there are no records of how many blind people have been injured or killed from falling off subway platforms or being hit by motor vehicles, we all know it happens, and most of us can name people to whom it has happened. Laws are constantly being passed to prevent vehicular accidents. Manufacturers put warning labels on everything to prevent us from doing something that might hurt us. Signs advise of wet floors, fencing is put up when work is being done on sidewalks. Our sighted counterparts have been known to sue when these warnings are not provided. All we're asking for are a few audible and tactile cues to help us travel more independently and safely.

Sincerely,

Jean Mann