Alternative reason for hi-vis.

[Arch]

This morning, I thought I was going to witness a collision. As I reached the end of my road, to turn right, I noticed, to the left, on the other side of the road I was turning into, a lady with a white stick, the long sort with a ball on the end for feeling the pavement. She was stood back a bit, with the end of the stick on the dropped kerb, and I assumed she was waiting to cross.

Two cars were coming from my left, and a little way behind them, a cyclist. As the cars passed her, I saw her take half a step forward, and thought "Oh no, she's heard the cars pass, but can't be able to hear the cyclist", and fully expected to see her step out bang in front of him. I was on the verge of shouting a warning, but she stopped, and waited again, and once he'd passed, she crossed safely.

So I have to assume she had enough peripheral vision to spot him. He was wearing a hi-vis vest - if he'd been in dull colours, it might have been harder for her. And it occurred to me that wearing something bright isn't always just for our benefit, but for the benefit of those who need all the help they can get to see what's coming.

Another point is, of course, to be aware of pedestrians at the kerbside, and especially of any carrying a white stick, or white stick with red bands (deaf and blind).

I'm always in awe of those who manage to get about when partially sighted or blind. I know people grow up with it, or put a lot of effort into training themselves, but bearing in mind my own talent for falling over my own feet when fully sighted, I can't imagine coping.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I might be wrong, but I think by the fact she has a stick and no dog that you are right and her vision is good enough to make out whats coming. The cane works both ways here, warning us that we should take care and to assist her with movement.

 

[Arch]

I might be wrong, but I think by the fact she has a stick and no dog that you are right and her vision is good enough to make out whats coming. The cane works both ways here, warning us that we should take care and to assist her with movement.

Exactly. She clearly did see the cyclist, and I've no way of knowing whether his yellow vest made the vital difference, but in a grey urban atmosphere, and with a cyclist being a relatively small target head-on, it's got to help.

People driving, of course, ought to have good enough eyesight to see such a 'target' unaided. So perhaps we should think of hi-vis and bright tops as something we wear to help others, not to save ourselves!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

probably age related macular degeneration. imagine walking about all day with a 1p piece immediately in front of each eye and you will get the picture . Peripheral vision quite good, straight ahead vision completely non-existent. The Aged P has it. Along with the red and white stick.

 

[Arch]

probably age related macular degeneration. imagine walking about all day with a 1p piece immediately in front of each eye and you will get the picture . Peripheral vision quite good, straight ahead vision completely non-existent. The Aged P has it. Along with the red and white stick.

She was actually a young lady, so I don't know. I'm sure there are all sorts of degrees of sight loss I don't know about....

 

[MontyVeda]

She was actually a young lady, so I don't know. I'm sure there are all sorts of degrees of sight loss I don't know about....

as far as i understand (from randomly listening to Radio 4's In Touch), the majority of blind people have very poor vision rather than total blindness. I guess from Wiggydiggy's post the guide dog denotes total blindness.

 

[Arch]

as far as i understand (from randomly listening to Radio 4's In Touch), the majority of blind people have very poor vision rather than total blindness. I guess from Wiggydiggy's post the guide dog denotes total blindness.

I remember something on Radio 4, might have been In Touch, where presenter Peter White was meeting BBC political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, and joked that a two blind men trying to meet in a pub was surely a recipe for disaster, which tickled me.

 

[MontyVeda]

I remember something on Radio 4, might have been In Touch, where presenter Peter White was meeting BBC political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, and joked that a two blind men trying to meet in a pub was surely a recipe for disaster, which tickled me.

Sounds about right.

One episode followed a bloke through London on his maiden voyage with a stick... he'd avoided getting one because he didn't want to look or 'feel' blind, in spite of the fact he knew his eye sight was deteriorating quickly... anyhow, for the first time in year he felt (pun intended) he could see again as the stick gave him so much spacial awareness. And being on the radio just listening to his voice describe the journey was fascinating. The article wouldn't have worked on TV.

 

[Red Light]

Some relevant points. First peripheral vision has very little colour perception. Second depending on the cause of blindness you can have blindsight where, although the concious vision pathways in the brain are not working, the unconscious ones are so that people know instinctively something is there and its location even though they cannot consciously see it. There is also the fact that the blind have heightened hearing to compensate so she may well have heard perfectly clearly that the cyclist was coming even if you couldn't