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July 2025

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Resolution for NFB Convention re Traffic Signs Warning Drivers about Blind Pedestrians
by Justin Salisbury 02 Jul '25

02 Jul '25

Hi everyone, I'm writing to you as my Structured Discovery colleagues about a resolution that I've written for the NFB national convention. This one may be somewhat controversial. I want you all to be aware of this resolution, and I'd love your help in convincing anyone who needs convincing that this resolution is a good idea. As many of us here probably know, cities and towns sometimes put up traffic signs that function specifically to warn drivers about the possible presence of blind pedestrians. This is most common, in my experience, near training centers for the blind, state VR agencies, libraries for the blind, or schools for the blind. The traffic sign may read "Watch for the Blind" or "Blind Pedestrian Crossing" or something like that. Sometimes, these signs get put up near the homes of blind children, and they might read "Blind Child." When I was a sighted kid, I remember seeing signs that said "Blind driveway," and I thought at the time that this meant that blind drivers lived there. That is not what this is about because those signs are not about blind people. Many of these signs are used to focus on blindness as a reason that drivers should be careful. This harnesses low expectations for blind people to make the case, as if sighted pedestrians were not also worth protecting. If it's a school for the blind, telling drivers that it's a school zone should be sufficient. They shouldn't be speeding there because there are children going to school there, period. Blindness does not need to be part of the sign. When local NFB chapters fight to get signs like these removed, it can be a long and arduous process. To make things a little bit easier, this resolution urges the National Highway Administration to add guidance in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) that discourages the use of signs that specifically alert drivers to the existence of blind pedestrians and instead recommend signs that are inclusive to both sighted pedestrians and blind pedestrians without regard to eyesight. Since many traffic control bureaucrats use the MUTCD as their primary manual, having guidance in there that aligns with the NFB chapter's case will help make that advocacy easier. These decisions and advocacy processes take place on a local level, but we can do our part in the NFB to work with the relevant national entity to put our stance into their primary manual. I am hearing from some important folks in our movement that this resolution is going to get a lot of pushback from NFB members who think it's unsafe to cross streets without these signs. I do not know how widespread that resistance will be. I think that, if people are properly informed, this will go quite smoothly. This is where credible Structured Discovery professionals can say something in affiliate caucus meetings to help assuage fears. The other piece of pushback that I am told to expect is that NFB members may worry that, if an NFB member does not know about the policy stance that we took through this resolution, they may advocate for a blindness-specific traffic sign and then be out of compliance with NFB policy. My opinion on this concern is that, if an NFB member were to unknowingly advocate the other way, our response would not be to tar and feather them, but to give them a call and talk with them about why we have the stance that we have. In Minneapolis, there were some traffic signs like this near a training center for the blind that had also relocated to another city. The signs remained after the training center left. This is not the NFB training center here but another one. We found out about these signs because they're in my neighborhood. Earlier this year, we were able to make the case with our local city council to get those signs removed pretty easily because the training center was no longer there, but not all local chapters have it that easy. This message is to alert you to the topic of this resolution so that you can think about whatever you may want to say about it if you feel compelled. If you have any thoughts for me, I'm happy to hear them on or off list. Aloha, Justin Salisbury Justin MH Salisbury, MEd, NOMC, NCRTB English Pronouns: He/Him/His Email: President(a)Alumni.ECU.edu<mailto:President@Alumni.ECU.edu> ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Sa…> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury<https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury&s…> ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1786-2786 "Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter." Chinua Achebe

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