Carlos Palomino

October 7, 2002

To whom it may concern,

hello. My name is Carlos Palomino, and I am a blind student living in Phoenix Arizona and currently attending Arizona State University. As a full-time college student and attending the U.S's fourth largest University, I have to travel a lot in-and-around the campus and the surrounding areas. It is a very well known fact that ASU's campus, and Phoenix itself are not that easy to get around for, not only blind people, but for everyone! One of the ways that travel is made a bit easier is the use of audible signals where interacting/traveleing around vehicular traffic is necessary.

It is my belief that taing advantage of the audible signals is a good way for visually impaired and or blind people to take multimple sources of information when it comes to crossing streets or traveling around in general. I personally have never wanted to solely depend on drivers and their vehicles to cross a street. It is painfully obvious that most drivers wouldn't be too concerned with "that blind person trying to cross the street next to me", so he/she wouldn't know how exactly to assist any blind individual in crossing. It should be also painfully obvious that no blind person should have to nly depend on the sounds of vehicles going by as the only source available to travel.

These audible signals are very, very useful, and even more so living in one of the country's top-two cities for red-light speeders. So I end by stating my support for the PROWAC report and hope that those who plan on deminstrating against such useful and necessary aids for truely independent persons will not succeed in taking away one of the main tools available for the blind which help us all be truely independent.


Sincerely,
Carlos Palomino