A federal court on Thursday ruled an order to update Chicago’s traffic lights with audible signals to help visually impaired people cross busy intersections safely, after a class action lawsuit.
“We have been waiting for this ruling for a long time, and I hope the authorities will implement the update soon,” Sandy Murillo explains.
Blind people have been calling for years to improve the traffic lights known as ABS, and replace them with more modern and sophisticated software, which is characterized by providing useful details such as the time remaining before the signal turns red, and others.
“Every time I go downtown for a meeting, I feel like I’m going to get into a car accident and not go home,” says John Gleichman, a 65-year-old blind man who has been involved in 4 car accidents while crossing intersections in Chicago.
Maureen Read explains: “The acoustic cue will provide you with additional feedback that makes it feel safe to cross the street.”
And New York City made a decision to add audible signs for blind people to about 10,000 intersections in the city in December 2021.