Section 2: Teaching to recognize Uncertainty - Page 1 of 13        Self-Study Guide | OUTLINE | INDEX | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 |Section 5 | REVIEW |

WHAT IS EXPECTED of our students for uncontrolled crossings:


After they complete our O&M program, our students will

• realize that Situations of Uncertainty exist,
• know how they can be recognized.
  
  
To recognize Situations of Uncertainty,

• Students need to have an intuitive understanding of their crossing time for streets of various widths;
• If the crossing is unfamiliar, students who rely on hearing should be able to determine the probable width of the street by listening to the traffic; and
• Students can judge whether it is a Situation of Uncertainty by observing the traffic for a short time (listening or watching) and;
  
  • compare warning times of approaching vehicles with their crossing time intuitively (without having to count); and
  • notice whether the shortest warning times of approaching vehicles is so much longer than their crossing time that it is extremely unlikely that a vehicle can get close enough to reach them without being detected.
    If that's the case, it's a Situation of Confidence. It the shortest warning time in the sample of observations is close to or less than crossing time, or if no approaching vehicles were detected when quiet / clear during the assessment, it's a Situation of Uncertainty.
    
    
They know that

• the situation can change from day to day and sometimes even minute to minute;
• therefore Situations of Uncertainty can exist at a given crossing at some times and not at others.
  
As a result, whenever they reach a crossing with no traffic signal or stop sign, whether the crossing is familiar or not,
• they take some time to observe and judge whether it is a Situation of Uncertainty at that moment.
  
  
When they find themselves in Situations of Uncertainty, they can efficiently

• analyze the level of risk, and
• decide if the risk is acceptable:
  
  • where the risk is acceptable, they reduce the risks as much as possible and go ahead and cross, and
  • where the risk is not acceptable (or not preferable), they implement alternatives.
    
    
When they find themselves in Situations of Confidence, they can efficiently and reliably determine when it is clear to cross, including

• maximizing the use of their hearing / vision to detect approaching vehicles;
• (when using hearing) recognizing the effects of masking sounds;
• (when using vision) knowing how to look left and right efficiently to detect approaching vehicles.
  
  
Students who have both functional hearing and vision will
• use only one at a time (their hearing or their vision) to maximize efficiency when determining whether it's clear to cross; *
• realize that the process of using hearing to cross streets is vastly different from the process of using vision, and that each has its advantages and disadvantages; and
• be able to determine in any given situation whether the vision or the hearing would be best to use to cross in that situation.
  
  
* When determining if it is clear to cross, they will use only their hearing or their vision, but they will use both (hearing and vision) when determining if the gap in approaching vehicles is long enough to cross -- see section 4.


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