Archive for February, 2009

Latest Senior University Update

All remaining Senior University (Senior Action Network) classes scheduled for SFPD Taraval have been canceled, including the March 2 class.

The public speaking training segment originally scheduled for February 16 has been rescheduled.

The new date and location is:
March 2, 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
Mission Creek Community, 225 Berry Street

Cantonese translation will be provided.
 
LightHouse for the Blind will be training participants to speak at community and neighborhood meetings regarding the hazards of obstructed sidewalks.

For each assigned speaking engagement, presenters will earn $50.

Mission Creek was chosen because a number of seniors living there
have friends and relatives who live in the Sunset District.
 
By March 6, Senior Action Network will update everyone on the Senior University classes scheduled for the remaining fiscal year.
 
Thank you for your time and patience.
 
Pi Ra
Senior University Director
Senior Action Network
965 Mission St. #705
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-546-2096 work
415-225-2080 cell

TV Feature on SAFE this Saturday

Catch Jessie Lorenz, LightHouse Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, on Access SF. She is being interviewed about the Sidewalks Are For Everyone campaign.

The program airs this Saturday, February 21 at noon on Channel 29. It will also be simulcast on the web at www.accessf.org/guide/watch/.

Access SF 1 is San Francisco’s award-winning public access television channel. Programming is provided by San Francisco residents and nonprofit organizations on a first-come, first-served basis. The channel features programming reflecting San Francisco’s diverse communities and cultures.

Sidewalks are for Everyone Speaker Training

Join us in paving the way for pedestrian safety – Attend a Speaker’s Training!

February 17, 2009 9:00 to 3:00

Senior Action Network
965 Mission Street, Ste 705 (Between 5th and 6th)
San Francisco CA

LightHouse Job Blog launches

The success of the Sidewalks are for Everyone blog has inspired the LightHouse to roll out a blog that contains employment listings. This is an effort to help people find open jobs, increasing employment of the blind and visually impaired.

Bob Planthold Sets His Cites on Illegal Motorcycle Parking

Disability Advocate: Hire Me and I’ll Make San Francisco $600K a Year

By Joe Eskenazi

[Bob] Planthold, a former city ethics commissioner who walks with braces and crutches after a childhood bout with polio, notes that California has a little-used law allowing cities to hire the disabled to enforce disabled parking access laws. Based upon his survey of the six square blocks around City Hall alone, he feels he could write “$600,000 worth of tickets a year.”

Read more at SFWeekly.com Blogs

Please note that sidewalk safety in San Francisco is a complex issue. While this blog may highlight many different events, stories and projects relating to pedestrian safety, the LightHouse does not necessarily share all viewpoints.

U.S. Representatives Edolphus Towns and Cliff Stearns Introduce Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, NFB Applauds Measure

 
January 28, 2009 12:17 PM Eastern Time  

National Federation of the Blind Press Release

CONTACT:
Christopher S. Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (Cell)
<mailto:cdanielsen@nfb.org>cdanielsen@nfb.org>

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Representatives Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY) and Cliff Stearns (R-FL) today introduced H.R. 734, a bill intended to protect the blind and other pedestrians from injury or death as a result of silent vehicle technology. The Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act of 2009 requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study on how to protect the blind and others from being injured or killed by vehicles using hybrid, electric, and other silent engine technologies. Thirty-two original co-sponsors have already signed on to the bill.

Because blind pedestrians cannot locate and evaluate traffic using their vision, they must listen to traffic to discern its speed, direction, and other attributes in order to travel safely and independently. Other people, including pedestrians who are not blind, bicyclists, runners, and small children, also benefit from hearing the sound of vehicle engines. New vehicles that employ hybrid or electric engine technology can be silent, rendering them extremely dangerous in situations where vehicles and pedestrians come into proximity with each other.

“The National Federation of the Blind appreciates the wise and decisive action taken today by Congressmen Towns and Stearns to preserve the right to safe and independent travel for the blind,” said Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “The blind, like all pedestrians, must be able to travel to work, to school, to church, and to other places in our communities without being injured or killed. This bill will benefit all pedestrians for generations to come as new vehicle technologies become more prevalent. The blind of America will do everything in our power to ensure its swift passage.”

“The beneficial trend toward more environmentally friendly vehicles has had the unintended effect of placing the blind and other pedestrians in danger,” said Representative Towns. “As someone who taught travel with a white cane to the blind for many years, I understand that the sound of traffic is critically important in order for them to travel safely and independently. This bill will prevent many injuries and fatalities while still allowing more clean vehicles on our nation’s roads.”

“I understand the safety concerns of blind pedestrians with these quiet automobiles; I have heard the same concerns from senior citizens in my district, and I appreciate the threat to children, bicyclists, and runners,” said Representative Stearns. “I deeply appreciate the support of all parties in supporting this important safety legislation.”

The bill requires the Secretary of Transportation, within ninety days of its enactment, to commence a two-year study to determine the best means to provide the blind and other pedestrians with information about the location, motion, speed, and direction of vehicles. Upon completion of the study, the Secretary will report the findings of the study to Congress and, within ninety days, establish a minimum vehicle safety standard for all new vehicles sold in the United States. Automobile manufacturers will have two years to comply with the vehicle safety standard.