Partially sighted people & buses

CaptainObvious_ · 08/04/14 - 23:25

How do blind (or, partially sighted)' people know how which bus-stop to stand at and when the bus at the stop is indeed theirs?

I saw a guide dog almost seem to know which one to get on itself!

I know there are differing degrees of blindness

:kitty:

exlordlucan · 08/04/14 - 23:29

Ultrasonic signals are sent out from both buses and stops.

maidinscotland · 08/04/14 - 23:31

I remember when I used to live in London and a blind guy regularly got on the same tube train home as me with his guide dog. The dog was so clever, used to sit there obediently until it came to the right station then lead his master off the train. I used to wonder how the dog knew, thought maybe he counted the stops but sometimes the train would stop between stations so it wasn't that....amazing whatever it did. I wasn't the only one who used to watch it admiringly.

missy83 · 09/04/14 - 01:04

My local bus company has a voice announcement before we reach every stop which is a good idea.

It's not on every journey though so I'm not sure if it's only on certain buses or if the driver chooses to switch it on.

Nilrem · 09/04/14 - 02:17

I think it's either voice announcements, the user knowing the route that particular bus takes, and the dog being trained to know the area.

I know one of our old dogs, who was in no way special (except to us), used to quite happily sit in the foot well of our car at the time when we went on holiday, but whenever we got to about quarter of a mile from the destination she'd sit up and start looking in the right direction and get more and more excited.
And that was a fairly average dog, with no training, and a location we went to once or twice a year.

So I wouldn't be surprised at all if a well trained dog could get to know routine bus or train stops with relative ease.

[Deleted User] · 09/04/14 - 04:42

maidinscotland wrote: »

I remember when I used to live in London and a blind guy regularly got on the same tube train home as me with his guide dog. The dog was so clever, used to sit there obediently until it came to the right station then lead his master off the train. I used to wonder how the dog knew, thought maybe he counted the stops but sometimes the train would stop between stations so it wasn't that....amazing whatever it did. I wasn't the only one who used to watch it admiringly.

That's great. What a wonderful story.:)

[Deleted User] · 09/04/14 - 09:12

I'm partially sighted and can see which bus to get on if it's stopped but if a bus is coming up the road I struggle to work out which number it is,So normally have to ask somebody.
I've also been provided with a magnifier for this,but it looks like a mini camera and I'm sure people think I'm taking pictures of them,

Jesse Pinkman · 09/04/14 - 10:39

masonk wrote: »

I'm partially sighted and can see which bus to get on if it's stopped but if a bus is coming up the road I struggle to work out which number it is,So normally have to ask somebody.
I've also been provided with a magnifier for this,but it looks like a mini camera and I'm sure people think I'm taking pictures of them,

Same as me: I have glaucoma and bad eyes as well so I if I haven't got my distance glasses on, I can't see what number the bus is until it's way too late to flag it down. (If it's a request stop) Then I have to get on whilst taking off my distance glasses and putting on my close-up glasses to deal with the money and change.

All a bit of a kerfuffle especially if you have a grumpy driver who is in a rush.

Hey there!

Quick Links

Partially sighted people & buses

Comments