Deafness and privacy...

Why the silence on my blog? Oh, I spent a week and a half of vacations on "the Cape" and around, err... I mean Cape Cod, and then I venture to Boston and to the Lowell Folk Festival before going back home.

While on the Cape, I went to the beaches, and I cycled along the backroads of Eastham (and on their great Rail Trail). I had a great time.

While cycling on one of these backroads (notice the traffic "congestion". It sure beats Route 6!), I encounter that sign: "Deaf Child Area".

I had to pause. There's always a good intent in everything, but the way good intents percolate into reality, things go awry and miss the target.

Maybe I'm fussy because of my own work, I see privacy issues everywhere, but if I were parents, I wouldn't like to advertise the fact that I've deaf children. It's not a matter that my neighbours would know (I'm sure they would know!!!), but about people passing on that road, period. That's none of their business... and that might even giving ideas to bad people who might take advantage of my kids *because* they are deaf.

Yet, I can see the good intent behind that sign, for drivers to pay attention that there are kids who won't hear you coming.

The problem isn't with deafness, the problem is the road. The problem is the crazy drivers on that road! The problem is that there's no one enforcing the slow speed limit on these roads!

As you can see, this is a fairly deserted road and it parallels busy Route 6, the main thoroughfare on the Cape. So, the temptation to bypass the heavy traffic and to floor the gas pedal on these winding roads is there. So whatever is on the side of the road, kids, adults, deaf or not, walking or cycling... they all are in danger.

As a cyclist, my ears are my rear view mirrors. Problem is, when there's a car facing me, its engine noise covers everything else. I might not hear a car behind me. Or that car behind me makes so much noise, that it hides the fact that there are *several* vehicles behind that car.

A few times there have been very close calls, everytime because of vehicle speeding in excess of 60mph on these winding roads, and at that speed, they were just too busy attempting to stay on that road without hitting anything to even notice your presence.

I consider these backroads, while to be enjoyed (and *I* enjoyed cycling on them!), as far more dangerous than a busy street in downtown Montréal as a result. And I am a hearing person!

A sign that reads "Deaf Child Area" won't do much to vehicle speeding on that road. The driver doesn't care, and even to hearing people, things happen so fast there's no time to do anything.

And in the week and a half I've been cycling on these little roads, I haven't seen a single police cruiser. They were all busy ticketing motorists on Route 6. Maybe that's where the problem is...

Cheers,

-E