Foreign I'm Darian Slayton Fleming and thank you for joining me on GET what YOU need and feel good about it. Do you find it difficult to ask for what you need? Do you frequently feel misunderstood? Do you have a problem or cause that you would like to learn to manage more effectively? What makes it so hard for us to tell each other how we feel and how do we speak up for ourselves so we get what we need and feel good about it? How do we do this respectfully so that we honor the needs and feelings of others? Together, we'll explore tips, strategies, and resources that, when used mindfully and consistently, will improve our results and enrich our relationships. Hello and welcome back to GET what YOU need and feel GOOD about it. I'm Darian Slayton Fleming, your hostess. Today we are going to talk about a very basic need that every single one of us has, and that is safety. In particular, we are going to talk about pedestrian safety and the white cane safety day law. Today I am joined by Mary Lee Turner. She and I are fellow Oregonians and friends and compatriots. And I would like to introduce Mary Lee now. Hello.

I'm thrilled to be with you, Darian. We've been doing this for a long time. I'm here because of my passion for pedestrian safety specifically but not limited to blind travelers. I am congenitally legally blind and have worked in the field of rehabilitation for specifically newly blinded adults for 30 plus plus plus years. I worked in Florida for the Bureau of Blind Services and also in Oregon for the Oregon Commission for the Blind.

Just to let you know if you're new to my podcast, I am also legally blind. At this point in my life. I don't use a white cane very often because I have multiple disabilities and I have begun using a four wheel walker. But I have been a white cane user and a guide dog user. Let's begin by giving a basic description of the white cane Safety Day law. Let me just start by saying that in 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson, who was president at the time, signed the White Cane Safety day Law into law. And the bar basically says that sighted users of any wheeled device, including a skateboard and a bicycle and a car or anything bigger than a car like a bus or a truck, must stop and remain stopped until the user is completely across the street. In Oregon, the law is that drivers must stop and remain stopped until the person holding a white cane or the harness of a guide dog is completely across the street.

I think that you made an important part of the statement, which is that if you need to have a white cane or be using a guide dog with a harness on when you step out to cross the street. Now, it's a little different in every state and territory. So it's important that, that each of us do our diligence and know what the laws are in our state or territory so that we are, we can be as responsible about doing our part of the safe travel. And you know, this, this also applies in, in, in Oregon. It doesn't matter. Even if the, the person who is blind is at a intersection, they can cross the street in the middle of a block if they want to. I don't recommend it. As a past mobility instructor, you know, it's our responsibility to know the law and to be attentive to what intersections are and, you know, we're responsible for where we want to get and how we're going to get there. But we don't have, unfortunately, whether we like it or not, we can't stop those motor vehicles that are traveling towards us if they aren't paying attention either. So it's to your advantage, to everybody's advantage, if you are, when you approach an intersection that you have done your homework, that you are relaxed, that you can, are able to identify the travel, the directions that, that motor vehicles and bicycles are traveling and that you fit yourself into the, the pattern at every segment of an intersection. And if you can't do that successfully by yourself, that's okay. Just, you know, have a, if you have another person with you who can assist you, or if you choose to use other forms of transportation so that you don't have to be crossing intersections by yourself, it really doesn't matter how you get there or how you get home, but it's, it's to your advantage to, to do it as safely as possible.

We know that specifically, if there is an available crosswalk and you are in the crosswalk and a driver violates the law, it's very clear that the driver may be held liable. So Mary Lee was talking about the responsibility of a traveler who is blind or visually impaired. Let's just expound on that briefly before we move on. In addition to knowing how to read traffic patterns, I think it's important that drivers know that that's what we do. We listen to traffic. We can hear if traffic is moving parallel to us or perpendicularly or across in front of front of us. And we know that when traffic is traveling parallel to us, that is usually the safe time to cross. And it is really not helpful for people in cars to honk at us because we are not necessarily going to know what that means. And we are listening to traffic flow. It's also not helpful if people who are crossing with us tell us it's safe to go because we know that a lot of times people who can see.

Are being irresponsible.

They sometimes cross against the light because they can judge distance, which we can't necessarily do. And while we're speaking about things that people who are pedestrians and also people with visual impairments can do to be safe, it's very important to wear light colored clothing, especially if you're traveling at night. And Mary Lee, talk about what the traveler can do to signal traffic that that traveler has intent to cross.

Okay. When you, when, when a pedestrian who is, has reduced sight steps up to an intersection, it's important that we figure out the pattern and, and when, you know, we believe it is safe for us to travel. But if, then, then when you're, when you're ready to go, if you are standing at the intersection, you've checked out what the curb that you're going to be stepping off is like. Are you stepping into a high court off a high curb? Or is there a gutter that you're, or a.

Anything that.

Yeah, well, curb cuts can sometimes be very deceiving. But I'm thinking sometimes there's a, a grate at the bottom of the crosswalk. So it's important to check out your, the curb before you step off. But when, when you are ready to go, if you take your, you want your cane to be seen, so don't have it close to your, you know, parallel to your body standing straight up next to you, but make a motion with that cane either. This is something I didn't do when I was younger because I didn't think it was necessary. But since I've been hit by a car, necessary is out the window. So I take, I put my cane tip on the ground and I lift the cane tip up so that it is swinging out into the street in front of me. And I do that three times before I step off a curb. And I've paid attention to who's on my, you know, where the traffic is on my right, my left, you know where it is in every intersection. And then when I start walking, I move out smoothly and efficiently to get myself across the intersection. So it's important for you to know what that intersection is like. Is it set out at T, you know, so you, you need to be sure that you're crossing with the, with the traffic and that you are not veering off into the traffic that may be coming towards you.

The theory is.

Think about.

Yes. The theory is that drivers notice movement, and that is why mobility instructors more recently have recommended that we make sure that we move our canes to draw attention to that.

And there have been studies done that show that by far the cane that is most easily detected by drivers is that it's a white cane. So if you want a cane that matches your navy blue outfit, that is not going to be as visible to the drivers, and they're the ones that you need to make sure that they see you before you step out.

So we have been speaking to the blind or visually impaired traveler up until this point, and the law does apply to the driver stop and remain stopped until the traveler has made it across the street. I know that Merrilee has probably had experiences like I have, where cars like to play chicken with us or drivers of cars like to play chicken. And they sometimes cut it pretty close and cut right in front of us and zip on by. And that can be kind of scary. So now, Mary Lee, let's talk about what it's like to be hit by a moving vehicle. I have been knocked down by bicycles, and I have been cut off by skateboard users, and both of us have been hit by a car.

Yes.

And that can happen, but drivers often may be backing out of parking spaces or driveways and not taking a second look before they back out. And it can happen when they are turning in intersections as well as traveling at a fast pace on a larger intersection. So, Mary Lee, you've been hit by a car. What was that like?

Well, it. I got hit by somebody pulling out into a driveway. My. I'm totally blind in my right eye, and I was walking down my sidewalk, you know, on a beautiful September day. It was sunny and, you know, listening to the birds. And actually, I was talking to my twin sister on the phone, which is not illegal. It's not necessarily safe. But I was hit by a. My neighbor's granddaughter who decided ask her grandma if she could drive. And the grandma said, sure. So she stepped on it backward and threw me, hit, hit me and threw me into the street. Now, luckily, I was talking to my twin sister who heard the hit and called 911 in her state, which was across the country, and got me the emergency care that I needed. So it's really important to, as Darian said, intersections, driveways leading into malls and grocery stores can be very dangerous. So it's important that we, as travelers that we stay alert. I was hit in Night in 2012, and I still bear the impact of being hit by the car. It really, even though I have always been a really good cane traveler that didn't stop that car. So I have paid. I've had physical challenges because of that accident. And more importantly, I've had emotional anxiety ever since then. So that's one of the reasons that I'm so passionate about pedestrian safety. Not only for folks that are blind or sight impaired, but for parents pushing strollers short or small, you know, children or people using wheelchairs that don't fall into the typical line of sight of travelers. So, you know, it's. It's up to all of us to work together to pay attention. And whenever I get across the street, I can hear the angels sing because I did it successfully. So I stop and acknowledge that internally so that I can keep on moving on.

I too have been hit by a car. It happened to be a suburban and it caused me to have a tibial plateau fracture, which is one of the bones in the leg, requiring me to be off my foot for 12 weeks. I was in the hospital for three weeks in a care facility for three months. And it. And I was employed at the time and I ended up missing six months of work. So I can relate totally to the emotional trauma that a person experiences when they have a close encounter with a 10 ton moving vehicle. And it also interrupted my life. It caused me to have to postpone my wedding for several months. And the. My accident happened crossing 102nd street in Portland. Every time I had to cross that street after that, I had so much anxiety. I usually didn't do it alone. I would only do it if my husband was with me and he was blind too. So. So you can see that it is traumatic, to say the least, to be hit and injured by a vehicle. And I'm thinking that it could be traumatic for some drivers and hopefully a learning experience for drivers. So please know your law and understand that if you're a driver and something happens, you may be held liable and you may have to pay a fine. In my case, I won a lawsuit against the perpetrator. And to be clear, we are thankful for this law that was passed in 1964. And we have been joined by civic organizations such as Lions Clubs, by rehabilitation agencies that hire orientation and mobility instructors. And we have in the past 20 years, at least in my career as a pedestrian safety advocate, planned White Cane Safety Day events every year. And White Cane Safety Day, the law is celebrated on October 15th of every year, in honor of educating the sighted public and raising awareness. So Mary Lee and I formed a coalition called the Pedestrian Safety Action Coalition, and we partner with the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Transportation and many other agencies to plan events. Did you want to talk about that at all, Mary Lee?

Oh, I'm happy to. One of the things that, that we do is we create a proclamation that is taken to our governor for signature to declare Oct. 15 as white cane Safety Day in our state. And we also do it in the city of Portland, and we work with other communities within Oregon because we are committed that every pedestrian who experiences sight law is. Feels safe in their community. So as they. As they travel, because that is our right as individuals. You know, we can travel in, in our. In our states and throughout the country and of course, internationally, which I do often.

And.

But there, it's very, very different in other countries. So don't expect you're going to get the level of awareness anywhere else as much as we do in. In the states. Also in Northern Europe, they're there. They are very strong in their support of white cane safety as well. But we don't want it for just that day. We want it every day and every night so that we can be out living our lives to the fullest as we move about our communities and elsewhere.

We have a slogan that is make every day a white cane safety day. And our coalition will offer technical support to other organizations and other locales to write and submit suggestive proclamations to your city and state governments. Mary Lee and I are also working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation to be present at an event that they call Sunday Parkways, where we will be having a walking route and handing out information about the law to raise awareness. And we would encourage you in any city or state to consider presenting proclamations to your governments to help raise awareness.

I also know that the American Council of the Blind has some resources that they can make available to you. I'm guessing that the National Federation of the Blind does as well. And so wherever you go as a pedestrian who is blind, know that there are people that are watching you whether you like it or not. And they are often thinking, wow, look at that blind person out there walking and living their lives. Gosh, maybe my neighbor down the street doesn't leave her house very often anymore because she can't see very well. So you might want to just go knock on that person's door and get to know them and get them involved in moving outward from their home. So that they can be out living their lives to the fullest as well.

Check the show notes because I will be adding some links to resources where you can get more information about the White Kin Safety Day Law as well as other resources that can help improve the quality of life for people who experience vision loss. I thought that as we close, I would read an example proclamation in place of a quote that is usually provided at the close of an episode. So this is the proclamation that has been submitted to Governor Tina Kotech in Oregon regarding White King Safety Day in the law Whereas blindness or visual impairment affects persons from infancy through advanced years and Whereas people who are blind or visually impaired enjoy all of the rights, benefits and privileges of working, playing and traveling in this great state of Oregon and Whereas white canes and guide dogs are tools that people who are blind or visually impaired use to identify themselves and to travel independently while enjoying these rights, benefits and privileges and Whereas people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired have the right to travel safely while conducting their business and daily acts of living and whereas October 15th has been designated as a day of education and celebration of the advent of of white canes and guide dogs for independent and safe travel. And Whereas this great State of Oregon calls upon public officials, members of civic organizations, and all Oregonians to join together as we work to ensure the benefits and privileges of life in our state are available to persons who are blind or visually impaired. Now, therefore, I, Tina Kotak, Governor of the State of Oregon, hereby proclaim October 15, 2025 to be our White Cane Safety Day in Oregon and encourage all Oregonians to join in this observance Eyewitness whereof I here to set my hand and and cause the Great Seal of the State of Oregon to be affixed done at the Capitol in the City of Salem in the State of Oregon on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 and it will be signed by Tina Kotak, Governor and Tobias Reed, Secretary of State. And just so you know, Tobias Reed spells his last name R E A D and this will be presented to us, I am certain, before October 15th. When you present a proclamation you usually receive a copy of it upon signing and if you need any support in writing proclamations, you can reach out to us. Our contact information will be in the show notes and be sure to check out the other resources in the show notes such as the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind. Thank you, Mary Lee, for joining me and helping me produce this episode. I hope it's informational and helpful for all thank you. Be safe, be seen, and make every day a white cane safety day. The only way to do this is with. Thank you for joining me today on get what you need and feel good about it. Remember, when you speak up for yourself assertively, you will get what you need and feel good about it. You will also be showing respect for yourself and for the other people in your life who are important to you. Until next time, try thinking about it like Stephanie Lahart says it say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it me. Yes. The only, the only way to do.

This is with hope, not pain.