International White Cane Day:

Look out for the Blind

M.C. Jayasiri

The symbol of the walking stick or cane in the hands of a blind person goes back to Biblical times and beyond. Blind persons have used everything from sticks of bamboo to tree branches to alert them to obstacles in their path.

Blind persons have walked with their canes held diagonally in a fixed position, but the return of the blinded veterans of World War II, in America altered the form of the white cane and its use.

Late U.S. President Lyndon. B. Johnson goes down in history as the one who proclaimed October 15 in 1964 as White Cane Safety Day. Sri Lanka first celebrated this event in 1969 by which time the white cane was considered as the symbol of the blind.

The initial white cane law stated:

use of white canes by other than blind persons prohibited. Vehicles to reduce speed, grant right of way.

a) No person except one wholly or partially blind, shall carry or use on any street or highway, or in any other public place a cane, or a walking stick which is white in colour or white tipped with red.

b) Any driver of a vehicle who approaches or comes in to the immediate vicinity of a person, a person wholly or partially blind, carrying a white cane or a white cane tipped with red, or a person being guided by a guide dog, shall reduce speed or stop if necessary to grant the right of way to such person.

c) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more than hundred dollars, that is the initial white cane law.

In some of the States in USA, a white stick is the equivalent of a Zebra crossing. If a blind Person carrying a white stick steps on to the road, the traffic must give him priority. In England a pedestrian using a Zebra crossing only has priority if he steps on to the crossing before an approaching vehicle drives on to it.

In other words, a driver must always approach a Zebra crossing slowly so as to ensure that if a pedestrian steps on to it before the front wheels of the vehicle go on to the crossing, he can stop.

In France, it is a criminal offence to carry a white stick unless you are on the equivalent of the blind or partially sighted register. To my mind, we need a similar rule in this country as well. It would certainly give legal status to the white cane.

Attention drivers please:

Two out of three pedestrians killed or seriously injured are under 15 or 60 years.

The young and the elderly may not judge speeds very well and may step in to the road when you do not expect them.

Look out for blind people who may be carrying white sticks and watch for the disabled and infirm. Give them plenty of time to cross the road. Remember that deaf people may not hear your vehicle approaching.

Blind Citizens Front, sponsored by the Lions Clubs International District 306A1, will conduct a white cane distribution - an awareness program at the National Apprentice Board, Katubedda, on October 25, 2009. This program has been fixed for the convenience of all concerned.

A word of caution for the general public:

Travelling on our highways is increasing. Even blind people carrying white sticks are on the move. So be careful if you are driving a vehicle or even if you take a walk.

Watch out for traffic lights, observe safety and traffic regulations. The life you save may be your own.

The writer is the President, Blind Citizen's Front, Moratuwa.