S1E136 - 20231010 - Tuesday Topics - White Cane Safety Day and its related laws.
We have been threatening for the last couple of programs to spend
a program discussing White Cane Safety Day and its related laws. It now appears that the time for that has come! All over the country agencies and organizations of people who are blind cooperate to create awareness of folks who are blind on White Cane Safety Day. What impact do these activities have? What impact do White Cane Laws have? Can anyone provide evidence of a single driver who has been stopped for violating the law? When accidents happen, do a preponderance of the drivers get fined for inappropriate behavior? Is there any truth to the notion that all accidents involving people who are blind are blamed on the pedestrian? What good does it do to have a maximum charge of a misdemeanor no matter what the outcome of the accident is? These are just some of the questions surrounding a law that is different from state to state. In virtually all cases these laws have been on the books since the 1930s or 1940s without change. What changes would we propose? Are we ready to do away with White Cane Laws? If so, do we replace them with something else? If we read some of the laws they actually suggest that people who are blind do very strange things to identify themselves in the street like holding their canes up in the air! Is that relevant or okay? We need your input on a law that is perhaps being taken for granted or ignored now! The President
no longer issues a White Cane proclamation. It now has to do with employment.
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