asked the Minister for Local Government if his Department have any proposals to help blind people to use pedestrian crossings and traffic light crossings.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Blind People Assistance.
22.
Mr. Kitt
I am very conscious of the problem of handicapped people in coping with traffic and I am glad to receive suggestions to this end. The only suggestion made to my Department was that audible signals should be provided in pedestrian lights to help blind people to cross the road where such lights are provided. Preliminary examination has indicated that while there may be advantages in this system there would also be serious disadvantages. However, I intend to keep the matter under review having regard to experience of its use in other countries.
Mr. Kitt
Does this involve a "bleep" signal at these crossings?
As the Deputy is aware, in a number of countries various types of signals for blind people have been tried and that is one of them.
Mr. Kitt
Can the Minister say what the success rate has been in the countries where these signals have been tried?
I cannot tell exactly but there have been fatal accidents at a number of them because of malfunctions in the signals while a blind person was on the crossing. One of the worst aspects is that it may create a false sense of security for the blind person who feels that once the "bleep" goes he may walk out. Sometimes the buzzer continues to operate while the red light is on. This happened in a number of cases in one country and caused a lot of trouble. Such a signal would need to be fairly loud and it could be a source of annoyance to residents in the area especially at night-time. The introduction of this might result in a lessening of assistance being rendered to blind people. In Ireland, particularly in Dublin, blind people get more assistance in crossing the streets than anywhere else I know of. However, I will continue to consider it to see if something can be done. I appreciate the problem but it is not as easy as it might seem.