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[–] 19 points 2 months ago (12 children)

I agree...
but not in the way the Twitter OP expects.

For the majority of intersections, if you don't press the button (or more often, don't press it in time), you don't get the walk light. Doesn't matter if the parallel car traffic has a green and all cross traffic is blocked, if you didn't press it beforehand, it stays on the red hand and skips your turn.

I say the buttons should not be there to "beg" for crossing permission. They should be used to say, "Hey I'm in a wheelchair or carrying a heavy can you give me 15 extra seconds?" And it should not need to be pressed beforehand.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    Honestly fuck the button entirely, we live in the modern era, you can use human detection technology to detect people waiting to cross

    There's plenty of places that have that

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    exactly, the button should just be a backup if the detection fails
    There should also be a light to indicate that you're detected, and ideally a change in the sound signal as well (because the signal has a sound so blind people know when it's green, right?)

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    Plenty do instead a mechanical actuator, as it's not uncommon for people who are blind to also be deaf, but very rare for anyone to be insensitive to touch

    Literally a tiny dial under the crossing button, attached to a motor, that begins spinning very slowly (like 5-10 rpm) when the light is green

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (5 children)
  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago* (4 children)

    Europe's a big place. I don't have anything resembling that here in Romania. You mean like in the Netherlands?

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    France too, in cities the buttons is mostly just switching on a speaker to announce when it's green for pedestrians for the visually impaired or if you like "ding ding" sounds

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    Love ding ding sounds. I'd hit em all even if I wasn't crossing just for the ding dings. My local transit agency is probably onto this fact, because instead of ding dings ours make a sound similar to when you flick a spring-loaded doorstop, but bassier.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago

    I ignore crossing signals at intersections that don't turn the walk sign on by default

    I've been honked at for it. nothing worse. hasn't actually happened in a while now, but my reaction would definitely be a lot more aggressive towards drivers if they did it to me now

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