It really made me mad that there was a blind man with a white cane crossing that street and people were just zipping around him in their cars not even caring at that intersection. What is wrong with people??? What does it hurt to just wait that extra few seconds to let the guy cross?
No ones gonna care until they start suspending licenses and impounding cars... I saw this one video of a guy blocking the sidewalk in SF and when questioned but the reporter if he knew that affects people in wheelchairs, the guy just said, I don't give a shit....
I love how everybody always assume bad things on their own without even thinking of other possibilities, how about this, at least one person offered help maybe even more than one, but they were like "Oh thanks but we're recording a video about how a blind person could cross the street on their own" of course it's just a possibility but I like to think there's a higher chance that's what happened.
It's that way in America too, regardless of blind or not. Pedestrians almost always have the right of way in cross walks and intersections. That said, not everybody follows those guidelines.
Erik R he meant even if there isn't a pedestrian crossing. Either with or without lights. I personally have not yet encountered it, but know that when a blind/otherwise disabled person indicates he wants to cross the road, I have to stop.
In the Netherlands people are civilized. Most prob do not need the law to show compassion. Manhattan is dangerous to all pedestrians. The bike riders are the #1 criminals.
People really fucking make me sick........ how are you gonna beep at a blind man crossing the street the just speed off like that, but I love the fact that he just kept on smiling and keeping a positive attitude WAY TO GO TOMMY 👏👏
what pissed me off was the blue car that went and sped right in front of him like...the fuck??? that is why i help the blind people that live in my city when i see them out walking (there's like 5 or 6 that i know of)
That would scare the hell out of me if I was blind and I had to cross the street without knowing where the cars were. I admire you and many other people that are blind.
Tommy, how do you feel about being offered help crossing the road if there's no tone? I'd feel bad for just leaving someone to judge the sound of oncoming traffic, but then I wouldn't want to sound patronising.
He's made another video saying that he's fine with anyone asking if he wants help. So if you saw him about to cross the road and there was no tone, I'm sure he'd be fine with you helping :)
The first time I was with my blind student when he was learning to cross the street by himself I was nearly having a heart attack. The biggest problem wasn't the blind kid crossing the street, it was the people turning right that weren't watching. I totally agree that all traffic lights should either have a tone or a verbal countdown that let's the visually impaired know when it's safe to cross. Watching Tommy almost get flatened by that car definitley brought back memories.
In the UK, traffic light have a little motorised cylindrical thing that moves when it's safe to cross under the box that has the button on it. They also have a noise xD
yep like Nerissa said all Australian one's beep but it's not the button that vibrates its the metal penal above the buttons, it has the speak behind it and it vibrates. as far as I know all lights have this.
Actually the main reason for not having the beeps is at a junction where there are multiple crossings and when one is safe to cross the other isn't. Standalone crossings which aren't at junctions (rare in London) will tend to have the beeper.
You are awesome. I have an 18yr old daughter who is visually impaired, and who is just as curious and afraid too. But nothing holds her back to try things. Thanks for your videos. We love them and love you. Thank you!
In Ireland everyone has to push a button on a pole for the traffic to stop, and there are sounds for the blind and also a little cone on the bottom of the box that spins when you have to go. You just grab the cone and wait for it to spin, then walk. :)
like the other people are saying, in the u.k there is a little dial underneath where you press the button, so if there is no beeping, it will spin, also, at the crossing, the path with have bumps on it so you know where to stand and will be the same on the opposite side so you know when you have crossed the road safely
+Sian Greenwood It's very smart and works really well. There's a busy dual carriageway on my way to the train station and it 's a jaggard crossing. For some reason there's a lot of blind people that live near it as well. Never seen a single one have any trouble crossing. The bumps work, the spinner works, and if not the sound of the traffic is really clear. Plenty of time to cross (unlike the one shown in Tommy's video), it's interesting watching these blind people be so confident, if they knew how insanely busy it is though.
In college I started trying to navigate the city with my eyes closed... got pretty good at it; got hit a few times; ran into a few things; but all in all a great experience to learn what it's like to navigate while visually impaired. Now I'm glad to say I get to apply it to my work as a traffic engineer, where audible signals (among other devices) are now standard in our area. Things are still far from perfect, but helping engineers gain this awareness and knowledge is the first important step.
Once I saw an aggitated blind girl at an intersection & asked if I could help. turned out she'd gone past a certain building at U of Toronto she was aiming for. She knew she'd gone too far but having missed it, wasn't sure how to backtrack. I ran down the block, identified the building, then walked with her to the entrance & she felt confident from there. I think she resented my helping, but I'm glad I stopped. When I'm lost, I ask for help, but I can see who's there to ask! My respect to her!
At Orange County airport (SNA) the cross walk will talk to you. It says "wait", "walk sign is on", and gives a countdown when the flashing hand is on. Very cool!
How come crosswalk lines aren't slightly raised? I mean so that people who are blind or visually impaired can stay within the white lines and don't get off track.
ImAwesomeAli I was thinking slightly raised just so that a white cane could feel the difference. It wouldn't do any damage to cars, as it would be no higher than say a couple cm. I know in the town where I live, there are bricks as the crosswalk ground, which feel different than the regular pavement.
555th comment and he is such a nice man. I feel bad. I cry when I see him! He doesn't care if he is blind but he has a smile that will make my day! Live a good life Tommy and I hope he will help the people who do have blindness or things like that a wonderful life as well.
Back in my hometown there was a blind lady that I used to see cross the street once in a while. It was a wide four lane street. The first time I saw her I was riding my bike and I had to slow down to make sure she would cross fine. She stood at the curb for a good 30 minutes. She didn't use the cross walk either. I felt so bad but I felt I'd be wrong to asked her if she needed help. I'd see her cross that street so many times. She had alot of close calls but it didn't stop her from going out there every day. I truly admired her.
My 11 year old son is almost blind from brain cancer, brain tumor & brain surgery when he was five. This is frightening for me to watch as I think about him when he gets older 😢
In Sweden we have clicks that indicate the traffic lights at crossings. Slow ticking means red, and fast ticking means green. Then it's some kind of interval that indicates it's about to turn red again. I've also seen at some places they have a kind of braille on the box where you push the button, that shows what the crossing looks like and where cars will be coming from, so you know in case you don't have time to cross the whole street (when there's little platform to stand between the lanes).
In the UK, there are bumps on the footpath so that blind folk can feel where there's a crossing with their feet (or cane). Some crossings have a turning dial underneath the button that you can feel & it rotates when it isn't safe to go & stops rotating when it's safe. Other crossings beep when it's safe to go & stop beeping when it's not safe. There are also bumps on the road at some crossings to outline the crossing (to keep you on track so you don't wander off down the road). It's great.
In downtown Pittsburgh all of the crossings have two tones one low and one high that bleep every second. And a voice that tells you when to go and when its not safe to cross
A few years ago they installed clicking noises when the light is green and "wait wait wait" when the light is red and you push the button. Never knew what they were till now :o
yup, here in new zealand we have the tones for all the lights. so when i went to america on holiday, it was a strange experience. i kept on missing my turn because i was looking in some other direction, too used to relying on the sound.
In the UK we have little ridged cylinders on crossings so that if there isn't a beep, you can put your hand on it and wait for it to rotate, then you know it's safe to cross
And at places like pedestrian crossings where there aren't any lights, cars are required to stop if there's a person there so you're safe anytime. plus in front of all crossings the pavement has little ridges all over it so you can feel it with the stick and know you're at a crossing
@boredincan I live just outside of Houston, TX, and all of the crossings in my neighborhood (thankfully!) have audible sounds to indicate crossings. Crossings near schools, churches, or busy roads also have yellow traffic signs a few seconds back from the light saying "Crosswalk Used by the Blind," or something to that effect. I always forget other areas don't have that sound, though, so while traveling, even I, while messing with my phone or chatting, end up missing my turn to cross!
Toronto (Ontario, Canada) has some beeping crosswalks. However, they don't beep / vibrate ALL the time. You have to press the button and hold it down for a few seconds, to activate the beeping / vibrating. One downside of that is locating the button in the first place - it does make a quiet noise, but if you are blind and also deaf or hard of hearing, it's a challenge to find it or know it's there since not all signals have the beeping / vibration!
In Sweden, all the ped crossings which have lights also has a sound signal. They always make a sound so you can find them. But there are of course crossings with no lights or sounds, and they can be quite hard for the blind. But in the city there are always one with sounds and lights close by.
In my little town of Starke Florida there are no audible crossing signals. Drives me crazy (cheapskates lol!) crossing Highway 301 is a nightmare, especially with cars turning.
In sweden there's frequent signals coming out at the cross points. When the signals are short and fast, it's green to go, andwhen they are long and short, you wait for the cars to drive by.
Cool video Tommy! I am legally blind so I use my vision mostly to cross the street but my hearing as well. I was always curious how a completely blind person would do it. I’ve never seen streetlights that would indicate tonally how to cross the street, very cool!Thanks for sharing!
In the UK 90% of signal operated crossings have a small textured cone beneath the controll box, the blind person holds their hand against this small cone and when it starts to spin, it indicates when they have right of way.
On top of a tone for crossing (which might also be good for the visually impaired and day dreamers) it might also be nice to put a bit of a texture on the walking area. I imagine that some cities with brick style cross walks help because a blind person with a cane can feel those cracks in the bricks. Parts of Oshawa (ontario, canada) in downtown have this, but not all cross walks, and not all cross walks have lights, so for a sighted person you just wait until the cars stop and cross. A blind person wouldn't know unless they can hear the car stop and the engine idle while they wait for you to cross.
The crossings in the UK have a little spinning thing under the button you push to cross. When you feel it start to spin, you can cross. It is better then a noise making box, because in high traffic areas the noise would have to be very loud to be heard.
We also have triangles on either side of the road and a bumpy surface on the pavement so it's easier for people with a cane to recognize and stay on the crossing. I'm amazed the big cities don't have that as standard!
All crossings (if not broken) here in Dublin, Ireland have a tone and the button vibrates when it is time to cross. When you have been growing up with that all your life, if is hard to believe that there are modern cities out there that don't have any!
I rememeber the first time I stood next to a talking traffic light (instead of a beeping one), it freaked me out so much. This voice from the sky kept telling me to "Walk! Walk! Walk!"
The traffic lights in California (OC) talk to you, when you press the button it says "wait" and then when it turns green, the light beeps and says "Go"
In japan there are raised crosswalks where the path is patterned with raised bars to direct the blind. Not only cross walks but sometimes sidewalks too. We should do that.
I've always wondered about that when certain crossing have sound that beeps or chirps. Scares the heck out of my friends, but I become curious and try to find where the heck the sound is coming from! XD
Did you know that in Japan most of the major cities have 3D patterns on the ground to indicate a side walk, a cross walk, or an intersection? I was there a couple months ago and I tried to keep my eyes closed and walk on the blind paths! It was pretty cool
You, sir, are much braver than I ever could be!! I would be terrified, I was feeling a bit scared just watching the video. You just might be my new hero.
In norway all of the light crossings have blind assistance, the noise from the lights can get annoying for inhabitants, so instead there is a box on the pole where you press a button to cross, hidden on the underside of that box, is a little screw that starts rotating when it is ready cross. If it is a quiet area, you can hear the litte whirr of the screw turning, but it is meant to be held on to for noisy areas. I see these in britain too sometimes.
In England most of the crossings have a beeping tone, but they all have a little dial underneath the box where you press the crossing button. The dial turns when it is time to cross so you just need to keep your finger on the dial to know when. Pretty useful !
Cross walks, that I've noticed, in California don't all have the beepers. It seems that they only have the speakers when you're in a highly concentrated area, like down town or a main road. Also some cities have them completely and some have none at all. More cross walks are adopting the bumps on the ground though, so maybe the speakers for when to cross will show up as well.
You are really incredible! And brave to cross that street in Manhattan. You raise such an excellent point about why all crosswalks don't have speakers. Rock on!
In my home town (in NZ) all the crossings have a beeping sound and also a box you can touch next to the cross button that pulses along with the beeps and then vibrates when it's time to walk. I'm not sure who it serves (maybe I'm underestimating the both blind and deaf folk) but I like to use it for fun :)
A few people have commented that in the UK, it is very common to see patterned paving to help warn people with visual impairments about crossings and such, but these aren't always accurate. The different patterns and colours have different meanings. They are often misused on train stations and towns implementing the new 'shared paving' idea, where even sighted people have difficulty distinguishing where the road ends and the pavement begins.
I think every stop sign in the town I live in has a ticking sound. In Amsterdam I think a lot of them do too. At first it rattles really quick then slower to indicate it's about to become red.
In England as long as it is only one road to cross and there aren't tons of things around it will beep for a while and when it stops you have about 5 seconds before the cars start moving. Like someone else commented there is a little cone shape that spins underneath the box with the button on it. I don't know if you have this in America but if noone presses the button on the box the cars won't stop.
The town I live in doesn’t have tones or even lights to show when it’s safe for people to cross the road, nor bumps to show when to stop. I’m not blind/visually impaired, but I like to go biking and trying to cross the street is a nightmare even when I can see perfectly fine. Because even when the traffic stops people will turn into the road I’m trying to get across and I end up feeling as if I’M the one holding up traffic by crossing. So I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who needs these systems to cross properly.
In Australia all crossings have a sound when waiting and a different sound to know when it time to cross. I'm sighted and I use the sounds instead of the lights. The button also vibrates to the sound of the crossing, incase you are deafblind or can't hear the sounds over the traffic. This crossing seems scary as hell.
I'm curious - when it comes to preparing for your response-to-comments videos, do you rely on text-to-speech software to read the comments, or do you have someone else review, categorize, and then tell you the general categories of the comments? (I'd be interested to see how horribly Siri trips over RUclips's standard spelling quality, so I hope you don't have to rely on that too much...)
At most traffic lights in the UK underneath the box where you press the button if you want to cross there is a cone-shape. When it is safe to cross this spins. Though it is not as good as sound it is better than nothing.
I live in an area exactly like this. I'm sighted yet everyday when I cross it still terrified me. There are always cars turning right in front of me and behind me when I crossed. There were also cars beeping at the car that stopped to let pedestrians go. My coworker's daughter acrylic died getting hit by a car when crossing the road at night at age of 24. This may be the richest country in the world but it's beastly.
In the UK every crossing has a small knob hidden under the controller. you can hold onto it and it spins when the crossing is safe to cross. This is on damn near every crossing i've ever checked. We also have beeping or voice prompts at 90% of them.
Actually some of the US Currency has one raised number. The 20 for example has a slightly raised and textured 20 in the lower right corner on one side. I believe the 50 and the 100 do also, but the font used is not very good.
Here in Scotland at street crossings there is a box on each of the posts holding the traffic lights. There is a central button when pressed puts a timer on stopping traffic so that its green for g Then you have beeper but sneakily there is also a small steel cone underneath the box. If you wrap your fingers around it, it will ratate as soon as its green for go. McIntyre Legally Blind Dec 2000 Retinitis Pigmentosa. Best Wishes.
@loneblindjedi I second what you said. There are a few intersections in my city where the beeping intersections are actually out of sync with the visual traffic light. Better to follow traffic itself than the stupid chirping anyway. Plus there is no consistency with which tone or chirp means green and which means red.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
It really made me mad that there was a blind man with a white cane crossing that street and people were just zipping around him in their cars not even caring at that intersection. What is wrong with people??? What does it hurt to just wait that extra few seconds to let the guy cross?
Welcome to New York City. Ain't nobody got time for that, unfortunately.
BlackburnBigdragon apparently it hurts something fierce.
No ones gonna care until they start suspending licenses and impounding cars... I saw this one video of a guy blocking the sidewalk in SF and when questioned but the reporter if he knew that affects people in wheelchairs, the guy just said, I don't give a shit....
I love how everybody always assume bad things on their own without even thinking of other possibilities, how about this, at least one person offered help maybe even more than one, but they were like "Oh thanks but we're recording a video about how a blind person could cross the street on their own" of course it's just a possibility but I like to think there's a higher chance that's what happened.
It’s New York. Same as Chicago. No one stops for anything
That looks scary as fuck. Even sighted people get hit by cars.
really?
I've been hit by a car a few times, people can be such bastards.
in the Netherlands when you see a person with a white stick for blind people or a helper dog you are forced by law to let them.cross first.
It's that way in America too, regardless of blind or not. Pedestrians almost always have the right of way in cross walks and intersections. That said, not everybody follows those guidelines.
Erik R he meant even if there isn't a pedestrian crossing. Either with or without lights.
I personally have not yet encountered it, but know that when a blind/otherwise disabled person indicates he wants to cross the road, I have to stop.
In the Netherlands people are civilized. Most prob do not need the law to show compassion. Manhattan is dangerous to all pedestrians. The bike riders are the #1 criminals.
gkbluestocking not every biker
Honestly, it should be everywhere!
People really fucking make me sick........ how are you gonna beep at a blind man crossing the street the just speed off like that, but I love the fact that he just kept on smiling and keeping a positive attitude WAY TO GO TOMMY 👏👏
what pissed me off was the blue car that went and sped right in front of him like...the fuck??? that is why i help the blind people that live in my city when i see them out walking (there's like 5 or 6 that i know of)
That would scare the hell out of me if I was blind and I had to cross the street without knowing where the cars were. I admire you and many other people that are blind.
Those people are so rude, they beep and just drive right past him being so close.
Most people suck.
***** i absolutely agree - most people are egocentric and don't care for others in the slightest.
***** It's really always like that there?!
That looks absolutely terrifying. I can't imagine that all the practice in the world truly prepares you for something like that.
Tommy, how do you feel about being offered help crossing the road if there's no tone? I'd feel bad for just leaving someone to judge the sound of oncoming traffic, but then I wouldn't want to sound patronising.
Of course he can, he has software to do it for him.
***** And if he has software that reads it out to him, then he can hear my original comment. What exactly is your point?
He's made another video saying that he's fine with anyone asking if he wants help. So if you saw him about to cross the road and there was no tone, I'm sure he'd be fine with you helping :)
how and why do you think he does his videos? His videos are responses to peoples questions in the comments...
You say very politely, "may I help you cross the street, sir?"
The first time I was with my blind student when he was learning to cross the street by himself I was nearly having a heart attack. The biggest problem wasn't the blind kid crossing the street, it was the people turning right that weren't watching. I totally agree that all traffic lights should either have a tone or a verbal countdown that let's the visually impaired know when it's safe to cross. Watching Tommy almost get flatened by that car definitley brought back memories.
In the UK, traffic light have a little motorised cylindrical thing that moves when it's safe to cross under the box that has the button on it. They also have a noise xD
All Australian crossings have noise too. I think some of them also a button that vibrates when it's safe to cross.
yep like Nerissa said all Australian one's beep but it's not the button that vibrates its the metal penal above the buttons, it has the speak behind it and it vibrates. as far as I know all lights have this.
Actually the main reason for not having the beeps is at a junction where there are multiple crossings and when one is safe to cross the other isn't. Standalone crossings which aren't at junctions (rare in London) will tend to have the beeper.
this made me nervous watching this
Is that why you put two thises
@@fluffy695 I was so nervous I couldn't contain I myself
You are awesome. I have an 18yr old daughter who is visually impaired, and who is just as curious and afraid too. But nothing holds her back to try things. Thanks for your videos. We love them and love you. Thank you!
I love it I met other blind people on here! I am not alone!
In Ireland everyone has to push a button on a pole for the traffic to stop, and there are sounds for the blind and also a little cone on the bottom of the box that spins when you have to go. You just grab the cone and wait for it to spin, then walk. :)
It's very convenient
Same here in England too
like the other people are saying, in the u.k there is a little dial underneath where you press the button, so if there is no beeping, it will spin, also, at the crossing, the path with have bumps on it so you know where to stand and will be the same on the opposite side so you know when you have crossed the road safely
+Sian Greenwood I was just about to comment saying this! good job! :)
+Sian Greenwood It's very smart and works really well. There's a busy dual carriageway on my way to the train station and it 's a jaggard crossing. For some reason there's a lot of blind people that live near it as well. Never seen a single one have any trouble crossing. The bumps work, the spinner works, and if not the sound of the traffic is really clear. Plenty of time to cross (unlike the one shown in Tommy's video), it's interesting watching these blind people be so confident, if they knew how insanely busy it is though.
+Sian Greenwood where i live all the dials have gum on
Our crossings in the UK beep when its safe to cross, they also have a cone under the unit that spins
In college I started trying to navigate the city with my eyes closed... got pretty good at it; got hit a few times; ran into a few things; but all in all a great experience to learn what it's like to navigate while visually impaired. Now I'm glad to say I get to apply it to my work as a traffic engineer, where audible signals (among other devices) are now standard in our area. Things are still far from perfect, but helping engineers gain this awareness and knowledge is the first important step.
Once I saw an aggitated blind girl at an intersection & asked if I could help. turned out she'd gone past a certain building at U of Toronto she was aiming for. She knew she'd gone too far but having missed it, wasn't sure how to backtrack. I ran down the block, identified the building, then walked with her to the entrance & she felt confident from there. I think she resented my helping, but I'm glad I stopped. When I'm lost, I ask for help, but I can see who's there to ask! My respect to her!
As i found out after completing the TommyEdisonXP playlist, Tommy has a video about "How to Offer a Blind Person Help"
At Orange County airport (SNA) the cross walk will talk to you. It says "wait", "walk sign is on", and gives a countdown when the flashing hand is on. Very cool!
How come crosswalk lines aren't slightly raised? I mean so that people who are blind or visually impaired can stay within the white lines and don't get off track.
Sifu Hotman then cars passing over at high speeds might risk damage, unless I am misinterpreting what your idea of "slightly raised" is
ImAwesomeAli It would be more of a speed bump kind of thing and your supposed to tun at no more than 15mph anyways so the car wouldn't get damaged
ImAwesomeAli I was thinking slightly raised just so that a white cane could feel the difference. It wouldn't do any damage to cars, as it would be no higher than say a couple cm. I know in the town where I live, there are bricks as the crosswalk ground, which feel different than the regular pavement.
+Sifu Hotman Imagine roads that have snow tho. They would be scrapping up the raised part :/
+Sifu Hotman then people in wheelchairs would have a hard time crossing the street.
555th comment and he is such a nice man. I feel bad. I cry when I see him! He doesn't care if he is blind but he has a smile that will make my day! Live a good life Tommy and I hope he will help the people who do have blindness or things like that a wonderful life as well.
Back in my hometown there was a blind lady that I used to see cross the street once in a while. It was a wide four lane street. The first time I saw her I was riding my bike and I had to slow down to make sure she would cross fine. She stood at the curb for a good 30 minutes. She didn't use the cross walk either. I felt so bad but I felt I'd be wrong to asked her if she needed help. I'd see her cross that street so many times. She had alot of close calls but it didn't stop her from going out there every day. I truly admired her.
My 11 year old son is almost blind from brain cancer, brain tumor & brain surgery when he was five. This is frightening for me to watch as I think about him when he gets older 😢
In Sweden we have clicks that indicate the traffic lights at crossings. Slow ticking means red, and fast ticking means green. Then it's some kind of interval that indicates it's about to turn red again.
I've also seen at some places they have a kind of braille on the box where you push the button, that shows what the crossing looks like and where cars will be coming from, so you know in case you don't have time to cross the whole street (when there's little platform to stand between the lanes).
In the UK, there are bumps on the footpath so that blind folk can feel where there's a crossing with their feet (or cane). Some crossings have a turning dial underneath the button that you can feel & it rotates when it isn't safe to go & stops rotating when it's safe. Other crossings beep when it's safe to go & stop beeping when it's not safe. There are also bumps on the road at some crossings to outline the crossing (to keep you on track so you don't wander off down the road). It's great.
here in the netherlands we have a slow clicking sound when the light is red and a fast clicking sound when the light is green.
As in Sweden. :)
graaf yep
In downtown Pittsburgh all of the crossings have two tones one low and one high that bleep every second. And a voice that tells you when to go and when its not safe to cross
A few years ago they installed clicking noises when the light is green and "wait wait wait" when the light is red and you push the button. Never knew what they were till now :o
yup, here in new zealand we have the tones for all the lights. so when i went to america on holiday, it was a strange experience. i kept on missing my turn because i was looking in some other direction, too used to relying on the sound.
In the UK we have little ridged cylinders on crossings so that if there isn't a beep, you can put your hand on it and wait for it to rotate, then you know it's safe to cross
And at places like pedestrian crossings where there aren't any lights, cars are required to stop if there's a person there so you're safe anytime. plus in front of all crossings the pavement has little ridges all over it so you can feel it with the stick and know you're at a crossing
@boredincan I live just outside of Houston, TX, and all of the crossings in my neighborhood (thankfully!) have audible sounds to indicate crossings. Crossings near schools, churches, or busy roads also have yellow traffic signs a few seconds back from the light saying "Crosswalk Used by the Blind," or something to that effect.
I always forget other areas don't have that sound, though, so while traveling, even I, while messing with my phone or chatting, end up missing my turn to cross!
Toronto (Ontario, Canada) has some beeping crosswalks. However, they don't beep / vibrate ALL the time. You have to press the button and hold it down for a few seconds, to activate the beeping / vibrating. One downside of that is locating the button in the first place - it does make a quiet noise, but if you are blind and also deaf or hard of hearing, it's a challenge to find it or know it's there since not all signals have the beeping / vibration!
In Sweden, all the ped crossings which have lights also has a sound signal. They always make a sound so you can find them. But there are of course crossings with no lights or sounds, and they can be quite hard for the blind. But in the city there are always one with sounds and lights close by.
In my little town of Starke Florida there are no audible crossing signals. Drives me crazy (cheapskates lol!) crossing Highway 301 is a nightmare, especially with cars turning.
In sweden there's frequent signals coming out at the cross points. When the signals are short and fast, it's green to go, andwhen they are long and short, you wait for the cars to drive by.
Cool video Tommy! I am legally blind so I use my vision mostly to cross the street but my hearing as well. I was always curious how a completely blind person would do it. I’ve never seen streetlights that would indicate tonally how to cross the street, very cool!Thanks for sharing!
In the UK 90% of signal operated crossings have a small textured cone beneath the controll box, the blind person holds their hand against this small cone and when it starts to spin, it indicates when they have right of way.
Where I live, in England, every crossing point beeps loudly and also has a small motor on the bottom that turns when you are safe to go.
I really admire ur courage crossing the street without seeing the cars or anything !!! , you r sooo brave
I want to hug his man, and that's a lot to say because I don't express this kind emotions very often.
On top of a tone for crossing (which might also be good for the visually impaired and day dreamers) it might also be nice to put a bit of a texture on the walking area. I imagine that some cities with brick style cross walks help because a blind person with a cane can feel those cracks in the bricks.
Parts of Oshawa (ontario, canada) in downtown have this, but not all cross walks, and not all cross walks have lights, so for a sighted person you just wait until the cars stop and cross. A blind person wouldn't know unless they can hear the car stop and the engine idle while they wait for you to cross.
The crossings in the UK have a little spinning thing under the button you push to cross. When you feel it start to spin, you can cross. It is better then a noise making box, because in high traffic areas the noise would have to be very loud to be heard.
That is courage man. good job.
We also have triangles on either side of the road and a bumpy surface on the pavement so it's easier for people with a cane to recognize and stay on the crossing. I'm amazed the big cities don't have that as standard!
Do a video on getting dressed by yourself (matching clothes) or clothing shopping in general
All crossings (if not broken) here in Dublin, Ireland have a tone and the button vibrates when it is time to cross. When you have been growing up with that all your life, if is hard to believe that there are modern cities out there that don't have any!
I have propensity to retinal detachment and I have fear that some day go blind. you are my inspiration thanks
god bless you
I rememeber the first time I stood next to a talking traffic light (instead of a beeping one), it freaked me out so much. This voice from the sky kept telling me to "Walk! Walk! Walk!"
The traffic lights in California (OC) talk to you, when you press the button it says "wait" and then when it turns green, the light beeps and says "Go"
In japan there are raised crosswalks where the path is patterned with raised bars to direct the blind. Not only cross walks but sometimes sidewalks too. We should do that.
In spain we also have tones in all trafic lights! Even in small towns like mine :)
He is blind, but He is still Smiling and Happy.. Awesome!
In my town's downtown it has a computerised voice telling you when to cross and it makes a loud ticking noise when the time goes down
I've always wondered about that when certain crossing have sound that beeps or chirps. Scares the heck out of my friends, but I become curious and try to find where the heck the sound is coming from! XD
My heart breaks. But he is getting on. Good on ya!
Wow, I love your videos, Tommy! Keep up the good work!
im so glad things like this are on youtube. this is really cool, i enjoy these videos!
Did you know that in Japan most of the major cities have 3D patterns on the ground to indicate a side walk, a cross walk, or an intersection? I was there a couple months ago and I tried to keep my eyes closed and walk on the blind paths! It was pretty cool
Milford Green!
You were in my home town. :)
You, sir, are much braver than I ever could be!! I would be terrified, I was feeling a bit scared just watching the video. You just might be my new hero.
wow. God bless you man!
Move to the Uk, all crossing chirp, and there are studs at each side so you can tell where the crossing starts and ends, as well as the road
Tommy, thanks for making this video, showing us your world and your perspective.
That is so scary
You are so inspirational!!! Keep making videos
In norway all of the light crossings have blind assistance, the noise from the lights can get annoying for inhabitants, so instead there is a box on the pole where you press a button to cross, hidden on the underside of that box, is a little screw that starts rotating when it is ready cross. If it is a quiet area, you can hear the litte whirr of the screw turning, but it is meant to be held on to for noisy areas. I see these in britain too sometimes.
like an accident waiting to happen, amazing he's alive
1:47 Thought he was about to get in that van and drive off for a moment haha.
In England most of the crossings have a beeping tone, but they all have a little dial underneath the box where you press the crossing button. The dial turns when it is time to cross so you just need to keep your finger on the dial to know when. Pretty useful
!
Great video and you are commended for your sense of humor and outlook on life!
Thank you!! I have been too scared to try it myself! Great job!
This is a great video thanks for getting this message out!
Cross walks, that I've noticed, in California don't all have the beepers. It seems that they only have the speakers when you're in a highly concentrated area, like down town or a main road. Also some cities have them completely and some have none at all. More cross walks are adopting the bumps on the ground though, so maybe the speakers for when to cross will show up as well.
Love your videos, hope you make more soon :)
Another interesting and entertaining video, thanks Tommy!
You are really incredible! And brave to cross that street in Manhattan. You raise such an excellent point about why all crosswalks don't have speakers. Rock on!
In my home town (in NZ) all the crossings have a beeping sound and also a box you can touch next to the cross button that pulses along with the beeps and then vibrates when it's time to walk. I'm not sure who it serves (maybe I'm underestimating the both blind and deaf folk) but I like to use it for fun :)
In the UK if the crossings don't make a noise, they have a little thing beneath the button which you can feel turning around when you can cross.
A few people have commented that in the UK, it is very common to see patterned paving to help warn people with visual impairments about crossings and such, but these aren't always accurate. The different patterns and colours have different meanings. They are often misused on train stations and towns implementing the new 'shared paving' idea, where even sighted people have difficulty distinguishing where the road ends and the pavement begins.
DId you forget about nearest parellel traffic surges? Glad you made it across!
I think every stop sign in the town I live in has a ticking sound. In Amsterdam I think a lot of them do too. At first it rattles really quick then slower to indicate it's about to become red.
In England as long as it is only one road to cross and there aren't tons of things around it will beep for a while and when it stops you have about 5 seconds before the cars start moving. Like someone else commented there is a little cone shape that spins underneath the box with the button on it. I don't know if you have this in America but if noone presses the button on the box the cars won't stop.
In the uk there is a thing that spins when it is safe to cross underneath the button
podrían indicarme la dirección exacta del cruce en Connecticut por favor.
In the U.K. There are little buttons under the button that you press to cross the road which spins when it's time to cross
The town I live in doesn’t have tones or even lights to show when it’s safe for people to cross the road, nor bumps to show when to stop. I’m not blind/visually impaired, but I like to go biking and trying to cross the street is a nightmare even when I can see perfectly fine. Because even when the traffic stops people will turn into the road I’m trying to get across and I end up feeling as if I’M the one holding up traffic by crossing. So I can’t imagine what it would be like for someone who needs these systems to cross properly.
In Australia all crossings have a sound when waiting and a different sound to know when it time to cross. I'm sighted and I use the sounds instead of the lights. The button also vibrates to the sound of the crossing, incase you are deafblind or can't hear the sounds over the traffic. This crossing seems scary as hell.
Tommy, are you from CT? I live about an hour north of Milford. I enjoy learning about those making a difference in my small state!
I'm curious - when it comes to preparing for your response-to-comments videos, do you rely on text-to-speech software to read the comments, or do you have someone else review, categorize, and then tell you the general categories of the comments? (I'd be interested to see how horribly Siri trips over RUclips's standard spelling quality, so I hope you don't have to rely on that too much...)
At most traffic lights in the UK underneath the box where you press the button if you want to cross there is a cone-shape. When it is safe to cross this spins. Though it is not as good as sound it is better than nothing.
So there are people helping you to edit & shoot video? Nice man. Keep up the good work.
I live in an area exactly like this. I'm sighted yet everyday when I cross it still terrified me. There are always cars turning right in front of me and behind me when I crossed. There were also cars beeping at the car that stopped to let pedestrians go. My coworker's daughter acrylic died getting hit by a car when crossing the road at night at age of 24. This may be the richest country in the world but it's beastly.
In manchester, england there is a touch signal under each of the buttons that you press to cross. When it is ok to cross, it spins around
In the UK every crossing has a small knob hidden under the controller. you can hold onto it and it spins when the crossing is safe to cross. This is on damn near every crossing i've ever checked. We also have beeping or voice prompts at 90% of them.
Actually some of the US Currency has one raised number. The 20 for example has a slightly raised and textured 20 in the lower right corner on one side. I believe the 50 and the 100 do also, but the font used is not very good.
All traffic lights make noises in Australia
In the UK we have some that beep and some have little things that stick out below the wait button, it twists around when it's time to cross.
Amazing video you are an inspiration and you cheer me up and I have just losted my eye sight i only see blur
Here in Scotland at street crossings there is a box on each of the posts holding the traffic lights. There is a central button when pressed puts a timer on stopping traffic so that its green for g Then you have beeper but sneakily there is also a small steel cone underneath the box. If you wrap your fingers around it, it will ratate as soon as its green for go. McIntyre Legally Blind Dec 2000 Retinitis Pigmentosa. Best Wishes.
@loneblindjedi I second what you said. There are a few intersections in my city where the beeping intersections are actually out of sync with the visual traffic light. Better to follow traffic itself than the stupid chirping anyway. Plus there is no consistency with which tone or chirp means green and which means red.