Program to Teach Concepts, Skills, and Risk Analysis for Uncontrolled Crossings
Dona Sauerburger, COMS
Visually impaired pedestrians need to be able to recognize those situations where it’s not possible to hear or see the traffic sufficiently far to know when it’s clear to cross at streets with no traffic control. In order to do this, they need to:
know how much time is required for them to cross
know how far away they can reliably hear or see all the approaching vehicles, and determine if it’s sufficiently far to allow time to cross;
understand the effects of noise / lighting conditions on ability to detect approaching traffic.
A suggested curriculum for teaching people to recognize these situations is outlined below. Most of these concepts and skills can be taught in any order. A list of suggested activities to teach these skills and concepts is below the curriculum.
Goal 1: Consumer recognizes situations where s/he cannot reliably detect gaps in traffic.
Objectives: The consumer will
1. determine the width of various streets. Consumer learns:
the width of typical lanes;
to determine how far away are the passing vehicles;
the typical geometry of streets;
to determine the probable width of various streets.
2. accurately predict crossing time for streets of various width. Consumer:
learns to accurately determine the distance of walking across each lane;
understands and can predict crossing time needed.
3. understand the effects of masking sounds on ability to hear approaching traffic. Consumer:
learns how the sound of approaching traffic is affected by the sound of other traffic;
compares the detection of approaching vehicles when it’s quiet with the detection when there is a steady noise at various volumes.
4. recognize situations where cannot hear or see well enough to detect gaps in traffic.
Goal 2: Consumer understands risks and issues involved in crossing streets independently when s/he cannot reliably detect gaps in traffic.
Objectives: The consumer will:
1. understand the pedestrian and white cane laws regarding right-of-way.
2. consider the probability that a vehicle that was undetected at the beginning of the crossing could reach the consumer before the crossing is finished.
3. understand the likelihood that drivers will avoid hitting the consumer. Consumer:
learns about drivers’ need for sight distance, braking time, and good road conditions;
learns information from studies of the yielding behavior of drivers;
observes the yielding behavior of drivers in the consumer’s area:
Goal 3: Consumer demonstrates knowledge of and ability to use alternatives for independent street-crossing in situations where the consumer cannot reliably detect gaps in traffic.
Objectives: The consumer will:
1. name 6 alternatives to crossing streets independently (listed below).
2. execute alternatives to independent street crossing at risky situations.
ALTERNATIVES TO CONSIDER IF THE RISK IS NOT ACCEPTABLE:
Cross where you can hear or see better / you are more visible.
Cross at different intersection and/or different traffic control.
(In streets with multiple lanes going the same direction, traffic that is bunched together in a "platoon" followed by gaps in traffic usually indicates that there is a traffic signal upstream -- the closer the traffic is bunched, the closer is the traffic signal).
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).
Avoid crossing (achieve the goal without crossing: for example get a ride or paratransit; 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; use rides and taxis, bus/paratransit, etc.)
Engineer alterations: approach the traffic engineer for alterations such as installing bulbouts (extensions of the sidewalk into the street to decrease crossing distance and slow the traffic), raised crosswalks or humps or other traffic-calming strategies (click here for some examples), installing stop sign or traffic signal, etc.;
If the uncontrolled crossing meets three conditions, one alternative is to start to cross when it’s quiet (or nothing is seen coming) while listening / looking for approaching traffic, and turn around if anything is heard or seen approaching before reaching the middle. If no traffic is seen or heard approaching till the student reaches the middle, complete the crossing.
Requisite conditions for this strategy are that:
1) you can hear or see far enough to know it's clear to cross halfway;
2) you know when you've crossed halfway;
3) you are able to turn around and return to the curb.
NOTE: This strategy is NOT to cross to the middle 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 if you notice something coming before you reach the middle. If you reach the middle with nothing coming, keep walking and complete the crossing.
TEACHING STRATEGIES:
Below are some suggestions for teaching the skills and concepts to a student who relies on non-visual information.
1. Teaching the student to understand how wide lanes are, and accurately determine the distance of walking across each lane:
Walk with the student across a quiet street or across an area that is marked to represent lanes and tell the student when each lane starts and ends until the student can walk across the lanes and report accurately when the next lane starts. Congenitally blind students can examine vehicles in parking lots to become familiar with the width of cars and trucks and understand the reason for the width of the lanes needed to accommodate them. However, be aware that the width of parking lanes is usually more narrow than those in the streets, where traffic is given more room to maneuver.
Once the students seem to understand the width of the lanes, have them walk across a street or an area where traffic lanes are marked and report when they think they have reached the end of each lane and are beginning the next – practice until they can do so accurately.
2. Teaching the student to determine how far away are the passing vehicles:
Stand with the student facing a street with multiple lanes of traffic going the same direction. As the vehicles pass, tell the student which lanes those vehicles are in, then have the student identify the lanes independently.
3. Teaching the student the typical geometry of streets:
Explain that although there are many exceptions, most streets are symmetrical, so that if there are two lanes going one way, there are usually two lanes going the other way. However an extra lane is usually inserted at busy intersections for left-turning traffic entering the intersection, and there is sometimes a parking lane on one side of the street but not the other.
4. Teaching the student to determine the probable width of various streets:
Have students listen to traffic and determine how many lanes away is the nearest traffic on the far side of the street, thereby determining with a high probability how many lanes are on the near side of the street (although sometimes traffic in the nearest lane on the far side of the street can’t be heard because it is seldom used, such as a left-turning lane). The students will use knowledge of typical street geometry to calculate how many lanes wide the street is likely to be.
5. Teaching the student to understand crossing time needed:
Ask the student to imagine crossing the street, beginning when you start a timer. Based on the student's actual crossing times, report when the student would have completed the crossing (that is, when the time that the student needs to cross has passed). It often helps to break down the passing of time, and report to the student when she would have reached the second lane, the third lane, the middle of the street, the last lane, etc. Do not simply count the seconds -- although some students enjoy the challenge of accurately measuring the passage of seconds (and doing so can be a fun additional exercise for these students), they also need to develop an innate understanding of the passing of time during their crossings.
6. Teaching the student to predict crossing time (reported in actual passage of time, not in the number of seconds):
(NOTE: This is probably the most important skill that students need in order to be able to determine if they can hear or see the traffic far enough to know when it’s clear to cross).
Ask the student to imagine crossing the street, reporting when she starts her imaginary crossing and when she thinks she would have reached the other side. Start a stopwatch when the student reports that the imaginary crossing has begun, and stop the watch when the student predicts she would have reached the other side, and compare this to the actual crossing time. The exercise continues until the student can accurately measure the time needed to cross.
This may be reversed and the instructor asks the student to imagine starting to cross, then interrupts and ask the student to report where in the crossing she would be at that time. The ability to determine this will be helpful later, when the student is listening or looking for approaching vehicles -- the student can predict where in the crosswalk she would have been if she had started to cross just before detecting the approaching traffic and the driver hadn't slowed down for her.
7. Teaching the student to notice how the sound of approaching traffic is affected by the sound of other traffic:
It is surprising how many students who must rely on auditory information to cross streets are unaware that sounds such as receding vehicles or other traffic movements (such as traffic at a nearby intersection or roundabout) can reduce their ability to hear approaching vehicles. Just listening to approaching traffic to notice how far it can be heard in certain conditions is usually sufficient for students to learn this, especially if the sounds are compared objectively by measuring the time from when each approaching vehicle was heard until it arrives at the crosswalk.
For example, when it’s quiet, listen to cars approaching from a distance, and if there is a second vehicle behind the first or if there is a car approaching from the other direction, notice that the other car wasn’t audible until it got much closer than the first vehicle was when it was heard, sometimes not being detected until after the first vehicle passes. Many students have no idea why the second car wasn’t heard until it was so close, and must be told it was because the sound of first vehicle masked it.
Another very effective strategy is to have the student compare the detection of approaching vehicles when it’s quiet with the detection when there is a steady noise at various volumes. Use the Timing Method for Assessing the Detection of Vehicles (TMAD) to help the student objectively measure the detection of approaching vehicles when quiet, and then use the TMAD to compare that to the student’s detection of approaching vehicles while a steady noise is present. The steady noise can be provided with a recording of white noise or a recording of a vacuum cleaner or steady engine noise.
8. Teaching the student to recognize situations at uncontrolled crossings where the student cannot hear well enough to detect gaps in traffic.
Once the students have learned to determine the street's width and understand how much time they need to cross, use the Procedure to Develop Judgment of the Detection of Traffic.
9. Teaching the student to understand the pedestrian and white cane laws regarding right-of-way.
Erroneous assumptions are often made about who has the right of way and what pedestrians must do to gain the right of way; what effect the white cane or dog guide has on the right of way and what are the "white cane laws"; whether it is legal for pedestrians to cross midblock; etc. Orientation and mobility specialists should be thoroughly familiar with and teach their students the laws in their state or province as well as generalities about similar laws in other states and provinces (Sauerburger, 1999).
10. Teaching the student to assess the probability that a vehicle that was undetected at the beginning of the crossing could reach the student before the crossing is finished.
At streets where the student is unable to hear or see the approaching traffic far enough away to know for certain that it’s clear to cross, there is a wide range of probabilities that when the student starts the crossing, there is an undetected vehicle approaching which would have to slow down or stop to avoid hitting the student.
When students find themselves in situations where they cannot reliably know that it’s clear to cross, have them consider (compared to other such situations) how likely it is that they’ll start their crossing when there is an approach of an undetected vehicle that would have to slow down or stop to avoid hitting them. They should understand that the probability of that happening is greater at busy streets than at streets where there is seldom any traffic, and it is greater at streets where the traffic is very fast and cannot be heard until it’s very close than it is where the traffic is slower and can be heard further away. They also need to know that the probability will vary depending on the time and the day of the week.
Students who are deaf-blind may need to learn to get assistance from someone with vision or hearing to analyze situations and assess the probability that a vehicle might approach during their crossing at various times of day. They can have the assistant indicate the movement of the vehicles, for example by pointing to them as they pass by, indicating the speed and volume of the traffic. This can give the deaf-blind person an understanding of the typical traffic situation at that time of day, so that he can determine how likely it is that as he starts to cross, an undetected vehicle will approach which will have to slow down or stop to avoid hitting him.
11. Teaching the student to understand the likelihood that drivers will slow down or stop to avoid hitting the student.
Teach the student about the drivers’ need for sight distance, braking time, and good road conditions. The student should realize that drivers need several seconds to react and start to brake when they see something in their path, and more time is required to bring the vehicle to a stop. Statistics of the distance required to stop at various speeds are available from the Federal Highway Administration, and can help students understand that drivers need to be able to see the pedestrian far enough away to be able to stop. Students also need to understand that drivers are less likely to take the necessary action to slow down or stop in time to avoid hitting pedestrians who are not crossing where drivers are expecting them to cross, even if they have white canes, and in most states, pedestrians with white canes who are not in crosswalks do not have the right of way (Sauerburger, 1999). In addition, students need to understand that drivers are unable to control their vehicles and slow down or come to quick stops in some road conditions, such as during icy conditions or during light rains on roads that have been dry for a long time.
The student should also learn information from studies of the yielding behavior of drivers. Several studies have been done in the last few years to document whether drivers yield to pedestrians with white canes or dog guides. Among them are Geruschat and Hassan (2005) who studied the percentage of drivers at various speeds who stop for pedestrians with a white cane crossing at Maryland roundabouts, and Sauerburger (2003), who studied the percentage of drivers who yielded to a person with a white cane trying to cross separate right-turn lanes in California and in Maryland.
Finally, have the student observe the yielding behavior of drivers in the student’s area. This information may be more applicable to the student’s situation than the results of studies in other areas. Have the student try to get drivers to yield in various situations and observe (with sighted assistance if necessary) how many drivers comply. Make sure students understand that they should not trust the verbal assurance of drivers or others that it’s safe to cross, and understand the dangers of crossing multiple lanes when only one lane is blocked with a yielding vehicle. The presence of that waiting vehicle reduces the visibility of the pedestrian to other drivers, and reduces the ability of the student to hear other approaching traffic, as was hopefully already learned in Goal 1, objective 3.
12. Teaching the student to use alternatives to independent street crossing at risky situations.
Have the student execute spontaneously planned alternatives. For example have the student approach an intersection, evaluate the crossing and, if it’s not possible to hear or see the vehicles well enough, consider the feasibility of various alternatives and implement one of those that don’t require planning ahead (such as getting assistance, crossing elsewhere, etc.).
Give the student assignments to go to destinations in familiar areas which have intersections where the student knows he cannot hear or see the vehicles well enough, and have him plan the route to avoid those intersections.
Have the student contact traffic engineers responsible for troublesome intersections to consider the feasibility of revising the intersection to make it safer to cross -- click here for some ideas. To find out more about modifications and features that increase accessibility and safety for people who are blind or visually impaired, you might contact the Orientation and Mobility Division’s Environmental Access Committee and the representative for your area in the U.S. and Canada.
References:
Geruschat, D. and Hassan, S. (2005) "Driver Behavior in Yielding to Sighted and Blind Pedestrians at Roundabouts" Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, AFB Press, Vol. 99, No. 5, p. 286-302
Sauerburger, D (1999). "Rules of the Road" September 1999 Newsletter, Metropolitan Washington Orientation and Mobility Association (WOMA)
Sauerburger, D (2003). "Do Drivers Stop at Unsignalized Intersections for Pedestrians Who are Blind?" Proceedings, conference of Institute of Transportation Engineers, March 25, 2003, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Return to Home page