Improving Pedestrian Street Signs Will Improve Pedestrian Safety

Vision complication can significantly impair your quality of life. As we age, vision complications can adversely affect our ability to continue to be independent. For some senior adults, the complications of vision often result in the loss of specific privileges, including driving privileges.

If you, or someone you love, has lost their driving privileges, you have probably considered other transportation options. For many senior adults, simply walking to and from desired destinations has become increasingly more common. While there are many rules and regulations regarding safe driving in the United States, communities are now looking at the rules and regulations that are focused upon pedestrian rights. Because the number of individuals in the aging community are anticipated to increase in the next several decades, more and more pediatricians are anticipated to hit the roads and sidewalks.

While many cities are promoting more safe streets and sidewalks for pedestrians, including the upgrade to street signs, for many senior adults the safety with walking may continue to be a concern. Because many vehicles, today, are designed with quieter engines, elderly pedestrians are at a unique risk especially when unable to hear the traffic around them.

In an effort to promote a safer pediatrician area, many communities are looking to street signals as a way to improve. Considering the vision complications commonly associated with the elderly population, street signal are one way in which cities can make an effort to manage the safety of the citizens and visitors. While the street signs and sidewalks have been improved for those who are totally blind, the visually impaired population are now a growing concern. To improve street signs for the visually impaired, some are looking to the augmentation of the street signal to include not only the traditional "walk" and "don't walk" indicators, but also the use of animated eyes or other icons to indicate the presence of moving traffic. Using this type of augmentation, it is the hope that the visually impaired and hearing impaired will find greater safety when crossing streets and moving through intersections.

In some communities, however, the senior adults with vision impairment are not finding difficulty in the "walk" identification. As a result, the use of animated eyes may not prove beneficial in the "walk" indicator. As a result, many street engineers are considering options to vary the "don't walk" signs, adding caution or warning flags. The issue, therefore, is in the risk for developing a complication in the visually impaired known as visual clutter. That is, with too many street indicators, the mind becomes cluttered and confused, unable to focus and interpret the stimuli.

As our elderly population continues to increase in number, it is expected that issues involving infrastructure will become a major concern. With many adults losing vision with age, thus losing the ability to drive, there is a need to make our streets and sidewalks more pedestrian friendly. In your town, you may notice a change to street signs, with more illumination or animation. However, these changes may only lead to greater confusion and distress for the visually impaired.