Brussels midi today. A blind man with his stick walking in platform 11. Yellow line is just a paint. Is this safe? I realized after I saw this guy that there is no plastic stepping things on the ground.

9 comments

1. I saw the same once and looked out for the person in question but they seemed perfectly aware of their surroundings by swiping their stick (I’m sorry if there is a specific word for this, “stick” sounds kinda weird lol) from left to right.

2. I’m sure the topic of train platforms comes up in blind people school.

3. Many blind people using a stick are not 100% blind. Some still see light/dark contrasts, some have extremely narrow vision (imagine only seeing what you can see looking through a straw). This person is likely aware there is something to the left of him. He might not know for sure it’s a train (it could be a wall, a truck, any large object) but that is the most likely if he knows where he is.

   Having the guide stones would be better, especially if they have the different ribbed kinds at the places where the train doors are likely to be (but knowing how irregular Belgian trains are, that’s a distant dream).

4. He knows where he’s at, and he has a stick to feel the edge. He can perfectly triangulate his location based on the edge.

   If all else fails he’ll echolocate like DareDevil because that’s how that works.

5. He’s probably used to taking the train.

6. Update: Brugge station has them.

7. Blind (usually) doesn’t mean you see just pure darkness, thankfully. Most blind people can still see rough shapes, light/dark, and sometimes colour. Presumably this person – though unable to see the fine details of the train itself, can still distinguish between the ground, the train, and the door of the train. The guide stick is there to help with stairs, gaps and curbs.

8. Odd. My stokloopbegeleider taught me there should always be special warning tiles there.

9. This train station doesn’t surprise me. Brussels is a total disgrace when it comes to accessibility for disabled people. I went to Brussels Expo last year and there were crosswalks without curb cuts. You’d think that no one would make such an obvious mistake in the capital of Europe…but here we are. Accessibility for disabled people and their safety are afterthoughts at best.