SAFER CROSSINGS |
Imagine yourself…
…walking down this street, focused on your phone. Picture
yourself being blind, deaf – possibly even both – or maybe
wheelchair bound. Visualize being short and lacking experience
with traffic and the rules and laws that follow
Words | Mac Edin, PrismaTibro, Sweden
Everyone has done it:
Above: Crossing a
busy road is even
more dangerous for
the deaf, blind or
wheelchair-bound.
PrismaTibro has a
solution that will
help all of these
pedestrians
focused on their phone
while walking through
town. Focusing on your
hand and all the important things
that are happening there can take
place under a shorter period of
time or during the whole walk
along pavements, over streets,
through countless groups of people
and rows of traffic.
Vehicles that occur in traffic can be
simple bicycles but even scooters, cars
and lorries with trailers – even in city
traffic. Kick-bikes are even common
now. More and more electrical
vehicles are basically silent and the
risk of them being noticed too late is
big. Regardless of the size of the
vehicle, a collision between vehicles
and an unprotected person hurts a lot
if you’re that unprotected person.
In many cases it can lead to
serious injury without forgetting
176 Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2020
that neither one of those are
completely prepared.
Blind
Close your eyes and picture yourself
walking down the street in the
picture above.
How are you going to know where
the safest place to cross the road is?
And how are you going to know
when it is safe to cross this road
with traffic passing fast enough
to cause fatal injuries?
This is where Prisma Daps comes
in. The sound and embossed symbols
of this safer-crossing technology map
the crossing ahead to create a picture
even for those who can’t see.
Wheelchair bound
The view is obstructed because you
are half a meter lower than most of
those around you. You see cars and
bodies instead of the overview
offered to the others standing and
walking. Imagine a locating sound
that helps you find a safer place to
cross, a locating sound functioning
as a beacon as opposed to the
warning sounds of lorries. A sound
you clearly hear that leads you to
our Prisma Daps at the crossing.
Deaf
Imagine not having a sense of
hearing, partly or totally lacking
that sense. At the same time, you
are at a junction with dense traffic.
You see what is happening, you can
move freely but all sound is gone.
Prisma Daps lights up brightly
and clearly from its location and
indicates, “Here I am, here it is safe
to cross.” But now you are probably
thinking, “What if I lack both
hearing and sight...?”
Yes, it makes the challenge even
bigger, and many live in that reality.