Pictured are a group of 10 smiling Lions. The Lions on each end have White Canes.
The White Cane
The white cane is the international symbol of independence, mobility and safety for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Great ideas often take ages to form before taking hold all at once. The white cane, the now universal and indispensable aid for the blind, follows that path. It came into wide use beginning in 1930 as two caring problem solvers stood on busy street corners thousands of miles apart—one in Paris, France, and the other in Peoria, Illinois.
Throughout history, visually impaired people have carried canes, staffs and walking sticks to help get around obstacles. But, they faced terrifying new challenges in the 20th century as cars replaced carriages on city streets—streets that were frequently without stoplights and crosswalks. The plain, walking stick still worked as a way-making tool, but it was useless as a warning sign to motorists. A blind Englishman named James Biggs claimed to have found an answer in 1921 when he painted his walking stick white. A decade later, this simple invention began to gain ground.
The white cane crossed first to continental Europe through a one-woman campaign. From her home on the bustling Boulevard de Courcelles, a wealthy Parisienne named Mme. Guilly d’Herbemont would watch nervously as sightless students commuted to a nearby school for the blind. In November 1930, she wrote a letter to a leading Paris newspaper urging the use of attention-getting batons blancs, similar to those carried by traffic police. A few months later, Mme. d’Herbemont arranged for the French president to ceremoniously present one white cane each to a blind war veteran and a blind civilian. She then made personal gifts of 5,000 more white canes to the city’s blind residents.
Meanwhile, Peoria Lions Club President George A. Bonham rallied the help of thousands of partners when he introduced the white cane to North America. Lions had eagerly embraced Helen Keller’s call to aid the blind at the Lions Clubs International Convention five years earlier. Now, they were primed to act on a fellow Lion’s compelling new idea for service.
Like his Parisian counterpart, Bonham was moved one day in 1930 in downtown Peoria when Bonham saw a blind man tapping his cane helplessly as traffic swirled around him. No one seemed to notice the man’s dilemma, which set Bonham thinking. The answer again was the white cane, this time with a red band for even greater visibility. Bonham shared his idea with club members who immediately voted their endorsement. Members took up the cause, painting white canes for the blind and writing letters to city officials. In December 1930, the Peoria City Council passed the nation’s first “white cane safety law,” giving blind citizens the right-of-way and other protections when carrying a white cane.
At the 1931 international convention in Toronto, Lions heard a detailed presentation on the white cane program and received copies of the Peoria ordinance to bring home. By 1956, with the help of a full-scale awareness and advocacy campaign, every state in the United States had enacted white-cane safety laws.
The white cane has become a symbol of the independence, confidence and skills of those who rely on it to guide their walk through life. Every Oct. 15 on International White Cane Safety Day, many Lions wear a white cane lapel pin, reminding us how far we have walked together.
The North Carolina Blind Lions Club
White Cane Etiquette
White Canes are adaptive aids used by people who are blind or Visually Impaired to enable them to travel more safely. As such, the White Cane is medical equipment. Many people who are not familiar with a White Cane or do not know its use may be tempted to engage the person with the White Cane. However, without realizing it, they may put the person in danger by interfering with their use of the white cane. To successfully use a white cane, a person must receive extensive Orientation & Mobility (O&M) training. This involves at least 40 hours of training with a certified O&M instructor. Below are some general guidelines that you will find helpful.
- Never touch, grab or interfere with a white cane.
- If possible, make way for a person with a white cane.
- People with white canes frequently get questions about their use, so if you get the short version of an answer, don’t feel slighted.
- Talking to a person with a white cane, or guide dog, at an intersection may be dangerous for the person with the cane. They will be listening to traffic patterns to determine when it is safe to cross.
- Feel free to offer to help a blind person cross the street. They will tell you if they want help and what can of help is appropriate.
- A person with a guide dog still needs to maintain their white cane skills because there will be planned and emergency situations where they will need the white cane. Many guide dog handlers carry a white cane for that reason.
- It is dangerous, both to the person & the public in general, to give a person who is blind or visually impaired a white cane without appropriate O&M training.
- Below is a picture of a white cane.
North Carolina State Law: White Cane & Guide Dog
20‑175.2. Right‑of‑way at crossings, intersections and traffic‑control signal points; white cane or guide dog to serve as signal for the blind.
At any street, road or highway crossing or intersection, where the movement of traffic is not regulated by a traffic officer or by traffic‑control signals, any blind or partially blind pedestrian shall be entitled to the right‑of‑way at such crossing or intersection, if such blind or partially blind pedestrian shall extend before him at arm's length a cane white in color or white tipped with red, or if such person is accompanied by a guide dog. Upon receiving such a signal, all vehicles at or approaching such intersection or crossing shall come to a full stop, leaving a clear lane through which such pedestrian may pass, and such vehicle shall remain stationary until such blind or partially blind pedestrian has completed the passage of such crossing or intersection. At any street, road or highway crossing or intersection, where the movement of traffic is regulated by traffic‑control signals, blind or partially blind pedestrians shall be entitled to the right‑of‑way if such person having such cane or accompanied by a guide dog shall be partly across such crossing or intersection at the time the traffic‑control signals change, and all vehicles shall stop and remain stationary until such pedestrian has completed passage across the intersection or crossing.
(http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-175.2.html)
Penalty:
20-177 Penalty for felony
Any person who shall be convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this Article herein or by the laws of this State declared to constitute a felony shall, unless a different penalty is prescribed herein or by the laws of this State, be punished as a Class I felon.
http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_20/GS_20-177.html
Some useful websites
North Carolina Lions, Inc - https://nclionsinc.org
Americans with Disabilities Act - https://www.ada.gov
American Council of the Blind - http://www.acb.org
National Federation of the Blind - https://nfb.org
Leader Dog for the Blind Accelerated Mobility Training - http://leaderdog.org
Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired - http://www.hadley.edu
NC State Library for the Blind & Physically Handicapped - http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/lbph
Leader Dog for the Blind - http://leaderdog.org
NC DHS Services for Blind - https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/dsb
