National Institute of Health: Street Crossing Study

Helping to Improve Street Crossing Situations for Low Vision Patients

The National Institute of Health in collaboration with the University of Indiana and the Center for the Partially Sighted have been operating research on the decision-making abilities of low-vision patients while crossing the street. My work first focused on administering the exam that compared the actual walking speed of the patient and their perceived ability to cross the street safely. When patients were found to make unsafe decisions we led orientation and mobility training at the local university for the blind. After receiving the training, I took the patients back to the field to test their decision-making abilities once again. The purpose of the study is to learn more about how low-vision individuals are making street crossing decisions, early signals that these individuals are making unsafe choices, and the optimal training to improve their safety.