JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor Donna Deegan was at City Hall Thursday to help bring awareness to White Cane Awareness Day, which is typically celebrated on Oct. 15 and is designed to make roads and sidewalks safer for blind people.
White Cane Day is also celebrated throughout Blind Equality Achievement Month.
“For blind people, the white cane is an essential tool that gives us the ability to achieve a full and independent life,” National Federation of the Blind. “It allows us to move freely and safely from place to place—whether it’s at work, at school, or around our neighborhoods.”
One of the people on hand to show the importance of it was 6-year-old Zaiden Williams. He’s one of the people in Jacksonville who rely on a cane to get around. Zaiden and his grandmother told News4JAX that it works well for him.
This Saturday, Disabled Services for the City of Jacksonville along with other agencies that help the blind will hold White Cane Day Awareness at the Riverside Arts Market. Police will be on hand to help them cross Riverside Avenue.
“I personally feel it’s a risk to cross streets in Jacksonville,” Russ Davis, with the National Federation of the Blind Jacksonville, said.
Davis also said more needs to be done to make people aware of the laws that give blind people with service animals the right of way when it comes to crossing roads no matter what.
To help tell this story, I went to my friend Don who has been blind since he was 12 years old.
Don showed me what it’s like for a blind person to try and cross the street, and I can tell you that it’s not safe. People didn’t stop for him and finally started to stop when I walked next to him. Don said he has to listen carefully to feel if a car is coming.
“I wish there was a safer way of doing it, for sure,” Don said.
We use our senses of hearing and touch to explore and understand the world around us, the National Federation of the Blind said. The white cane, in effect, makes our hands and arms longer, so that we can assess the situation, and move quickly and confidently. The white cane allows us to avoid obstacles, find steps and curbs, locate and step over cracks or uneven places in the sidewalk, find doorways, get into cars and buses, and much more.