No one should ever have to assume
more risk than they are willing to accept. So when the risk of independently
crossing a street at a given time and place is too high, alternatives should be
considered. This page features a list of such alternatives.
Please note
that:
all alternatives are not feasible for every situation, but with careful
consideration and planning there is always at least one that can apply.
some alternatives require years of planning (contacting
the traffic engineer) and others can be implemented right away (getting help or crossing somewhere else).
these alternative strategies can be used by deaf-blind people.
Alternatives:
Get help to cross
There are many creative and effective ways to get assistance, including recruiting drivers to get out of their vehicle and guide the person across, going to bus stops or public buildings to request assistance, or calling ahead or use a cell phone to request someone to come help cross.
Principles of getting help to cross streets:
Face the street.
Look like you want help (use a card, gestures, voice, etc. -- click here for suggestions for deaf-blind people to use a card to get assistance).
Explain exactly what you want the other person to do.
You can get help effectively from:
passersby (go where most people go -- corners, bus stops, store
entrances, etc.
neighbors/shopkeepers (some people ask for assistance at nearby shops or friendly neighbors, others use their cell phone or call ahead and ask store or
business personnel to watch for them and help them cross; one deaf-blind woman used a braille TTY to call a Seven-Eleven corner store whose employees agreed to watch for her and help her cross the street so she could get to the subway and go to work every day).
drivers (hold up a sign with words "CROSS STREET" large enough for
drivers to see, with more detail in smaller print if needed -- this works very well where
drivers are going slowly and they have a place to pull over safely).
At streets where there is no traffic signal or stop sign, find a place to cross where
you can hear/see the traffic better, and/or where you are more visible.
Sometimes the reason that you can't tell it is clear to cross is the sounds and line of sight are blocked by a hill or bend in the road, or a parked van, etc.
In that case, you may be able to hear / see further by moving toward or away from the obstruction, such as moving to the bend or top of the hill, or moving away from the parked van, etc. (click here for example).
Cross at a place that has better traffic control (a traffic signal or stop sign).
In streets with multiple lanes going the same direction, you can often figure out if there is a traffic signal nearby by listening to the traffic. If the vehicles are bunched together in a "platoon" followed by gaps in traffic, there is usually a traffic signal upstream -- the closer the traffic is bunched, the closer is the traffic signal.
make yourself more visible, for example wear bright reflective clothes, use a flashlight at night, etc.
Avoid crossing
Make plans to achieve your goal without crossing the street. For example,
use rides and taxis, bus/paratransit, etc.
take the bus to the end of the line and back to avoid having to cross to or from the bus stop;
shop on line or have home delivery.
Get drivers to yield
When the risk of crossing is unacceptable because drivers are likely to reach the crosswalk without yielding, one alternative is to cross when drivers in all approaching lanes have stopped for the pedestrian.
This strategy is safe and effective only when:
the traffic has stopped in each approaching lane.
Pedestrians should be aware of the great danger presented when drivers have stopped in at least one lane but not all of the lanes (see "multiple threats").
it is possible to determine with certainty that drivers have stopped.
This is not always possible for blind pedestrians to do -- they can be misled into thinking that drivers have stopped when they have not (see study).
And blind pedestrians may not realize that drivers have stopped in noisy environments or when the drivers stop far from the crosswalk.
Under certain conditions at crossings with no traffic signal or stop sign, be prepared to return to curb
This alternative strategy can be used only if
a. you can hear or see the traffic well
enough to know whether it is clear to cross at least half the street;
b. you know when you've crossed halfway;
c. you can turn around and return to the curb.
Strategy: Wait until it is quiet or you see nothing coming and start to cross; if you hear a vehicle approaching from either direction (see note below) or see a vehicle approaching from the right before you reach the middle, turn around and return to the curb.
If you reach the middle without hearing or seeing any vehicles approach, you can complete
the crossing. NOTES:
This strategy is NOT to cross to the middle of the street and wait!
In many situations, waiting in the middle of the street would be extremely dangerous.
This strategy is to start to cross, but TURN AROUND and go back to the curb if you notice something coming before you reach the middle. If you reach the middle with nothing coming, keep walking and complete the crossing.
You might ask why you should turn around if you hear a car coming from the left, when you know that you would be out of that car's path by the time it reaches you.
It is because the sound of the car from the left may be masking the sound of another
car coming from the right -- our research revealed that when the ambient sound level increases, it becomes more difficult to hear the sound of approaching vehicles.
Request traffic engineer to revise or redesign the intersection
You can request that a stop sign or traffic signal be installed at the intersection, but these crossings can also be made significantly safer with relatively inexpensive redesign such as:
Slow the traffic with raised crosswalks or humps (see photos of examples);
install bulbouts (the sidewalk protrudes into the street, often
cutting off a lane and designating it for parking -- this shortens the
crosswalk and slows the traffic -- see photos);