They make a noise. It’s for blind people. When touched, it makes a different sound once the light turns green.
They activate support for the visually impaired. They either vibrate or activate a buzzing noise, so people who cannot see the traffic light, can hear or feel it.
That symbol is used in Germany to represent the sight-impaired. Where you see these things on traffic lights, they can be activated to produce an audio signal or vibrations to signal when it’s safe to cross. On the underside is probably a raised shape in the form of an arrow that you can feel to tell you which direction you need to cross.
Three black dots on a yellow background is a very common symbol for blindness in Germany.
Some traffic lights have a button to request green light for pedestians. But if in place of the button there is either something with these dots, or something blue with a white cane on it, the pedestrian light will turn green on its own, and there is some form of nonvisual indication, either a part of the button/box thingie will vibrate (often there is also an embossed arrow/triangle to indicate the direction of the crossing itself), or there is a button (often on the underside) to request a beep along with the green light. The latter is especially common with traffic lights that make a clicking/knocking noise all the time. The clicking/knocking helps blind people locate the traffic light, and the beeping tells them it is now green.
Occasionally, there is both: A button to request a green light, *and* nonvisual hints for blind people. But that’s (at least in my experience) pretty rare.
Looking at the replies here, makes me wonder why locals in berlin actually believe it helps to change the lights on the 🚦. More often than not when I’m staring at the intersection waiting to cross over I see some impatient person rush in front and press his/her palm against this as though implying if you do it changes the lights
Amazing. You learn something new everyday. So
Clearly these are not meant to change 🚦 but for the blind
5 comments
They make a noise. It’s for blind people. When touched, it makes a different sound once the light turns green.
They activate support for the visually impaired. They either vibrate or activate a buzzing noise, so people who cannot see the traffic light, can hear or feel it.
That symbol is used in Germany to represent the sight-impaired. Where you see these things on traffic lights, they can be activated to produce an audio signal or vibrations to signal when it’s safe to cross. On the underside is probably a raised shape in the form of an arrow that you can feel to tell you which direction you need to cross.
Three black dots on a yellow background is a very common symbol for blindness in Germany.
Some traffic lights have a button to request green light for pedestians. But if in place of the button there is either something with these dots, or something blue with a white cane on it, the pedestrian light will turn green on its own, and there is some form of nonvisual indication, either a part of the button/box thingie will vibrate (often there is also an embossed arrow/triangle to indicate the direction of the crossing itself), or there is a button (often on the underside) to request a beep along with the green light. The latter is especially common with traffic lights that make a clicking/knocking noise all the time. The clicking/knocking helps blind people locate the traffic light, and the beeping tells them it is now green.
Occasionally, there is both: A button to request a green light, *and* nonvisual hints for blind people. But that’s (at least in my experience) pretty rare.
Looking at the replies here, makes me wonder why locals in berlin actually believe it helps to change the lights on the 🚦. More often than not when I’m staring at the intersection waiting to cross over I see some impatient person rush in front and press his/her palm against this as though implying if you do it changes the lights
Amazing. You learn something new everyday. So
Clearly these are not meant to change 🚦 but for the blind