YO DRIVERS

[etana.livejournal.com]

Dear Davis Square Drivers and Drivers-at-will:

STOP HITTING THE BLIND PEOPLE.  WE DO IN FACT BLEED.  AND NO, WE'RE NOT MADE OF RUBBER.  AND NO, YOU DON'T GET 50 POINTS FOR HITTING US!!!

thanks.

Comments

[gib.livejournal.com]

context?

[tikva.livejournal.com]

Borrow my cane for five minutes, and you'll get more context than you ever wanted. ;)

[etana.livejournal.com]

Today marks the second time I've been hit and/or sideswiped by an either impatient or distracted driver. The first time broke the tip off my white cane, this time just made me dump my tea on the ground. Damnit and it was good tea too!

[etana.livejournal.com]

heeee!

[ifotismeni]

oh my god X_X i'm sorry to hear this is happening. i drive in the area but some people do go way way too fast through the square. augh.

[etana.livejournal.com]

This wasn't a matter of going too fast (though that could be an issue for some) or even me ignoring cross-walk regulations, but rather some driver getting "bored" or "distracted" while waiting for me to cross. Once I got almost half-way through, he floored it and nosed right into me. If he had waited 5 more seconds I would have been at least half-way across and out of his way. Well, I would have been completely across, either way.
Gah.

[ron_newman]

This would be a good topic to bring up with your ward alderman (Rebekah Gewirtz if you live in ward 6).

[etana.livejournal.com]

Ron - I beg to know why. And what am I to say? And what would be the result? The fact of the matter is that this is a problem of drivers regardless of where or what time of day, I'm just a little steamed about my most recent encounters.

[teratomarty.livejournal.com]

You would be perfectly justified in jabbing your cane through the side window and poking out the driver's eye.

[etana.livejournal.com]

oooooh if you knew me....you'd know I've already justified myself plenty 'o times....hehehe

[ron_newman]

That, in your experience, more traffic enforcement is needed -- specifically, of the requirement that drivers yield to pedestrians (blind or otherwise0.

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

Perhaps she can work on increasing the penalties, for, ya know, hitting a pedestrian with your car. I mean, she can only do something in Somerville, but it's better than nothing at all, right?

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I doubt enough drivers hit blind people to warrant a public service announcement. Still, if you were struck, sorry to hear it.

[ron_newman]

"If you see someone with a white cane, STOP and let them cross" is always a useful thing to reiterate.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more. Didn't she say, though, that someone was already stopped and intentionally accelerated into her as she made her way across the street? That sounds like a lunatic, not a traffic problem.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's only 25 points.

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Hit and run is pretty up there with moving violations.

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

I certainly hope you called the police and filed a report. We appreciate the PSA, but law enforcement needs to know about this if you think it's a pervasive problem and want tougher enforcement of traffic regulations.

[etana.livejournal.com]

Really? Are you a fellow cane/dog traveler? I would love to hear your personal experiences traveling as a blind person in the area, it's always refreshing to hear other people aren't having the problems that myself and those other blind folks I know are having...

[etana.livejournal.com]

If I could have seen the license plate number, maybe I could have filed a report. Perhaps if the driver had stopped to make sure I wasn't injured or dead, I could have traded information. The Somerville cops wouldn't exactly be interested in taking a report that states "some random vehicle of unknown make/model driven by unknown gender/race/ethnicity hit me on this street..."

[etana.livejournal.com]

No man, it's gotta be like 10 or something, it's just too easy - we're like taking candy from infants propped up and strapped in with swaddling clothes and stuff...

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

that's something to definitely call the cops about.

also, mastering the spinning back cane hit to sideswipe their car with. it's a shame you'd ruin the carbide tip of your cane, but that's the breaks ;) "but officer, he hit me and i spun around and ..."

drivers (and bikers and cyclists) shouldn't be hitting ANYONE in a crosswalk. period.

#

[etana.livejournal.com]

Sad part is it's a driver problem, not a lunatic problem. More blind folks (including myself) get hit in intersections than not - and we more than other pedestrians are schooled in how to accurately cross at an intersection, taking more precautions than most folks. Right of way be damned, I s'pose.
This makes 7 hits in the past year for me - I'm waiting for 10 so I can get a free beer...

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

They can't do anything like increase patrols in the area if they don't know about the problem. So tell them about the problem.

[etana.livejournal.com]

You're right - but there's a systemic problem to vehicular violations and the disabled. Long history of ignore-n-run and besides, if no bodily harm is done, what *can* be done? There's no damage to report, save my sanity, not this time at least, and there's no information that I can give to help find the ignunt.
Hence a PSA. Maybe some unsuspecting driver will think twice the next time they get caught up in an intersection.

I think it's time drivers get paranoid, not just us blind folk. If we both get nervous and hault at an intersection, maybe I won't get hit.