“Critical Mass" Puts Blind Pedestrians At Risk

The July version of bicyclists' "Critical Mass" ride exposed a long-time problem that SF's political glitterati have steadfastly, adamantly, religiously, unrelentingly, and without exception refused to respond to: hazards to pedestrians. At the July Critical Mass demonstration, a blind pedestrian who uses a white cane was walking along the south side of Union Square after work. This ped. was stopped, for minutes and minutes and minutes, by the circling swarm of cyclists. Here's where it gets interesting. Those who are blind or low-vision often use the sounds of passing vehicles to detect which way vehicular traffic is flowing. But, since the SFPD and the DPT traffic control officers were allowing the Critical Mass bicyclists to continuously circle through all the intersections around Union Square, without stopping for any traffic lights, there wasn't the normal and expected sounds to guide the blind pedestrian.