XN000022-1984-07-17 — Page 3

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TUESDAY, JULY 17, 1984

SOUNDS TO HELP BLIND CROSS ROADS

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THE USE OF A NEW TYPE OF AUDIBLE TRAFFIC SIGNAL TO HELP THE BLIND CROSS THE ROAD IS BEING ACTIVELY STUDIED BY THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT.

THIS IS A RESULT OF CONTINUED DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT AND THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION OF THE BLIND THROUGH THE EDUCATION AND MANPOWER BRANCH OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT.

+REGULAR CONTACTS WITH THE ASSOCIATION ENABLE US TO REALISE THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY BLIND PEDESTRIANS. AUDIBLE TRAFFIC SIGNAL IS CONSIDERED A SIGNIFICANT HELP TO THEM TO DEAL WITH ROAD-CROSS ING PROBLEMS,+ SAID THE SENIOR ENGINEER OF THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT'S TRAFFIC ENGINEERING (KOWLOON) DIVISION, MR WONG CHING-WAI.

THE NEW DEVICE, KNOWN AS THE +ACOUSTIC INSERT, IS BEING INSTALLED AT A NUMBER OF ROAD CROSSINGS, AS PROPOSED BY THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION OF THE BLIND.

+THE PROPOSED SET-UP EMITS DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF AUDIBLE SIGNALS, REPRESENTING DIFFERENT PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL INDICATIONS.

+A SLOW HAMMER ING TONE DURING THE RED STANDING-MAN PERIOD, A QUICKER TONE INDICATING THE GREEN WALKING-MAN STAGE AND AN INTERMITTENT TONE FOR THE FLASHING GREEN-MAN TIME ENABLE BLIND PEOPLE FIRSTLY TO IDENTIFY THE LOCATION OF CROSSING AND THEN RECOGNISE THE SAFE PER 1OD IN CROSSING THE ROAD.

+A TAPE-RECORDING OF THE THREE DIFFERENT TONES HAS BEEN PREPARED BY THE ASSOCIATION TO HELP THE BLIND IDENTIFY THE SPECIFIC ROAD-CROSSING CUES.

+A PUSH BUTTON IS INCORPORATED AT THE AUDIBLE UNIT TO ENABLE ALL PEDESTRIANS, INCLUDING THE BLIND, TO CALL UP THE PEDESTRIAN GREEN STAGE IN CASE THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS ARE WORKING IN THE DEMAND DEPENDENT MODE, MR WONG EXPLAINED.

THIS NEW DEVICE IS STILL UNDER EXPERIMENT AND A SITE DEMONSTRATION HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN TO GATHER THE OPINION OF THE BLIND.

+ IF THE RESULT OF THE EXPERIMENT IS SATISFACTORY, THE DEVICE, WHICH IS BEING EXTENSIVELY USED IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, WILL BE ADOPTED IN HONG KONG, HE SAID.

MR WONG RECALLED THAT THE FIRST AUDIBLE TRAFFIC SIGNAL SYSTEM WAS SET UP AT THE JUNCTION OF MOK CHEONG STREET AND TO KWA WAN ROAD IN KOWLOON, OUTSIDE THE WORKSHOP OF THE BLIND IN 1973.

THIS EARLY INSTALLATION WAS SIMPLY AN ELECTRIC BELL FIXED ON TRAFFIC LIGHT POST, WITH ITS ALARM SYNCHRONISED WITH THE RED PHASE FOR VEHICLES, TO GIVE BLIND PEDESTRIANS AN AUDIBLE CUE FOR ROAD-CROSSING.

/THIS SIMPLE