Oklahoma School for the Blind staff to celebrate White Cane Safety Awareness Day Oct 12 in Mural Park

Muskogee – Oklahoma School for the Blind staff are inviting white cane users and sighted supporters to celebrate National White Cane Safety Awareness Day starting at 1 p.m. on October 12 with a walk through Mural Park on Broadway Street.

State Senator Dewayne Pemberton will be walking with the group.

White Cane Safety Awareness Day is traditionally celebrated worldwide on October 15, but OSB organizers rescheduled this year because the Oct. 15 falls on Sunday when fewer workers will be downtown.

Oklahoma law requires drivers to completely stop their vehicles 15 feet away from pedestrians who are visually impaired and identified by use of white canes, white canes with red tips or dog guides. People who violate this law are guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to three months or $100 fine or both.

Oklahoma law also stipulates that only blind people may carry white canes with or without red tips, which are internationally recognized as mobility aids for people with vision impairments.

White Cane Safety Awareness Day was first established by presidential proclamation in 1964. The first white cane laws were drafted around the same time. Today, similar laws exist in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia.

“Approximately 3.3 percent of the population or 128,900 Oklahomans, all ages, report vision difficulties and may be potential white cane or dog guide users, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey estimates,” SBVI Administrator Tracy Brigham said. “As the state agency serving Oklahomans who are blind, we know there is strong connection between effective cane use, travel safety and reaching personal goals for employment and independence.”

For more information about the Oklahoma School for the Blind, go www.osb.k12.ok.us.

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