I am a blind person who travels independently. I am strongly opposed to the draft guidelines issued by the National Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board on June 17, 2002, mandating the installation of audible traffic signals at all intersections with signals and the placing of detectable warnings at every street crossing. These installations as they are proposed are not necessary for the safety of blind pedestrians. They would not increase access for blind people and would actually, in my view, decrease safety. The detectable warnings are not needed except in situations where there are not adequate warnings already present. At most intersections there are sufficient warnings present to enable a blind pedestrian to know when he or she is approaching a intersection. Moreover, the domes pose a hazard for people in wheelchairs, and I have heard of people getting their heels caught in them. The audible signals also would create a significant hazard if they are installed at all signaled intersections because of their potential for distracting blind pedestrians from their primary task of listening to the direction of the flow of traffic. I know of a blind man who was killed while crossing a street because he listened to the audible signal to walk and was not listening to the approach of a car that was running a red light. I believe that nonvisual signals would be helpful in certain special circumstances, but I think that in such situations a vibratory signal would be a much better choice than the audible signal, since it would not add a further distraction to the already existing noise level. It would there do a better job of promoting safety.

I hope that the Board will give serious thought to the comments it receives
from those of us who feel that blind people do not need major
modifications of the environment in order to travel safely. The implementation of your guidelines as they are now written would, I understand, cost billions. In my opinion, and in the view of a great many of us, such an expenditure would constitute a huge waste of public funds.

Helen Dodge