by "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
Published 02/09/2017 at 09:28
by "ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
Published 02/09/2017 at 09:28
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STARS: 6
Those sections of bumpy pavement at crosswalks? I always thought they were for traction. Turns out I was wrong.
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The BBC also has a very interesting article on other examples of human engineering that you may never have noticed.
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"Jcarr" (jcarr)
02/09/2017 at 09:41, STARS: 1
This guy has some interesting stuff.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
02/09/2017 at 09:41, STARS: 1
Interesting! I rarely see those crosswalk bumps, but remember them vividly. Sort of ironic that a lot of the UK is not handicapped/accessible due to old buildings and roads, but so much of the modern infrastructure is.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/09/2017 at 09:44, STARS: 1
We have these at the crosswalks in our neighborhood, and I’m going to point it out to my boys this afternoon.
"smobgirl" (smobgirl)
02/09/2017 at 09:52, STARS: 1
The city recently spent a ton of money (a grant, I would assume) to build bumpy ramp access at every corner in my neighborhood to meet accessibility standards. Did nothing about the fact that our sidewalks are barely two feet wide and no one in an adult-sized wheelchair can use them anyway.
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
02/09/2017 at 09:54, STARS: 4
Tell them it’s braille and that blind people have to get on their hands and knees to read it. And that it says “CAREFUL CAREFUL CAREFUL CAREFUL.” See how long it takes for them to get wise. #dadjokes
"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78)
02/09/2017 at 09:56, STARS: 0
Local government in action! Our residential neighborhoods are putting in tons of sidewalks and they meet the width requirement, but in some areas they’re so undulating and steep you’d have to be a Paralympian athlete to get up them in a chair.
"wiffleballtony" (wiffleballtony)
02/09/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 1
I assumed they were to jostle my groceries out of their bags.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
02/09/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 0
In Mexico DF, there are series of metal dots on a lot of sidewalks to help guide the blind move about the city
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/09/2017 at 10:06, STARS: 0
“DF”?
"EL_ULY" (uly)
02/09/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 0
Distrito Federal. Kind of like Washington “DC”. Yet they are trying to move away from that and name everything under the trademarked CDMX which is Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City)
"Tom McParland" (tommcparland)
02/09/2017 at 10:10, STARS: 2
This is fascinating! It’s funny despite the ages of the buildings and infrastructure in Europe they are so much better about accessibility.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/09/2017 at 10:12, STARS: 0
Yeah, and you would know better than I, America is way behind other countries in accessibility, even with ADA.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
02/09/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 0
That’s really cool! It’s impressive how much thought goes into infrastructure design sometimes. I wonder if the blind go through training that explains all this to them. I might never have even noticed the difference without this video.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/09/2017 at 10:27, STARS: 1
I’m sure there is lots of training. There is a legally blind young girl who attends our elementary school, and she always has an aide with here. We also have the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and I often see students out with aides, learning the ropes. I also see aides in training, walking with big blindfolds and using a cane. As a sighted person, I can only imagine how scary and difficult it would be to navigate a large city safely without sight.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
02/09/2017 at 10:45, STARS: 1
Yeah, there’s a leader dog place near my old office, and it’s very common in that area to see two people (one with a cane, one not) with a dog, presumably practicing sidewalk usage.
This textured infrastructure sure seems to be less developed (or at least less common) around me than what’s shown in that article & video. But maybe it’s starting to catch on.
I really get a kick of how subtle it all is. Like those raised lines that help persuade cyclists to choose the proper path. Even if they’re ignoring signage, it’s in their best interest to avoid the bumps. I bet there are more neat aspects to modern road design that we’re unaware of that help make things easier for us...
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/09/2017 at 11:06, STARS: 2
There are certainly many subtle signs on American highways they don’t teach us about in driver’s ed.
Barricades, while obviously designed to catch our eye with the bright orange stripes, also give us information on how to avoid the obstacle. If properly placed, the stripes should point downward and in the direction you need to take to avoid the obstacle. In this case, you have to go to the right, the open lane.
The stripes on bridges act in the same way. They point down and in the direction of the lane of travel to cross the bridge. A center island will have stripes pointing down in both directions.
The layout of a highway sign will also give you information. The placement of the exit sign to the left or right of the information sign will tell you if it’s a left or right exit.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
02/09/2017 at 11:24, STARS: 0
Yeah, and the colors, too! They totally didn’t have to go and color-code everything, but they did anyway, and it’s massively helpful.
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/driving-is-child-s-play-road-edition-1719699994
"RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire" (ricerocketeer2)
02/09/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 1
Why does he know so many things that I don’t?