Jim Merryfield
|
October 28, 2002 |
Comments on PROWAC:
First on truncated domes and other such surfaces. I looked at the samples on the
back table in Portland, and the only areas I have seen them used is next to
railroad tracks or the edge of loading docks where the meaning is "Don't go
here." So why use the same on crosswalks where the meaning is "Go here." Enough
said on that topic.
And then on to audible traffic signals. Locator tones seem totally silly. Spend
the money locating the button where it belongs and not making it beep or buzz
somewhere behind the bushes. As a sighted person, I may step back a little from
whether cookoos and chirpers are any help in knowing when to cross the street
safely other than to say I certainly don't depend on Walk-Wait lights, I listen
to traffic. I may comment from a driver's perspective though. I live and work
near Lynnwood WA, a major suburb of Seattle and they have installed ATS's on all
their signalled intersections, most of which are 5 to 7 lanes across. What I do
notice is a tremendous number of drivers talking on cell phones and making right
turns without paying attention to whether there are any pedestrians, and I have
noticed at least occasionally when the driver hears the signal they notice that
indeed there is a pedestrian there. So perhaps driver training needs to be the
emphasis -- they need to watch for more cues about pedestrians.
And sometimes there just needs to be some common sense in the way of traffic
engineering. At the intersection just outside the hotel in Portland all traffic
except buses had to turn left, and the cars received the green light at the same
time the pedestrians received the walk signal. Pretty stupid! The only way to
safely cross that intersection was against the light or in the middle of the
block; listening to traffic gave that clue, an ATS certainly would not have.
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