Readers: Curb ramps’ yellow bumps are a tripping hazard

QI was happy to see someone finally got the conversation started on the truncated dome madness at so many curbs. I was never a fan.

It seems that if we had given the problem of notifying the vision-impaired that they are heading into dangerous territory, a little more thought could have arrived at a better solution than these tripping hazards. Is there a way to continue to move this forward? — Mike Bernal, Morgan Hill

AYes, let’s start with hearing more from pedestrians who dislike them as well as those who like them.

QI’ve needed to use a walker for years, and I have sympathy for all those poor people who have slipped and injured themselves on those slick, annoying plastic dots.

Even in dry weather, I have to be particularly careful when forced to walk over them, and when they’re damp, I try to find ways to avoid them altogether. I hope people file claims against the cities where they were injured.

QI’d like to feel safe walking across the street, but it’s the sidewalk ramps I worry about the most.

— Karen Brenchley, Sunnyvale

AThis is a sad state of affairs.

Those bumps make it extremely difficult for those with walkers to walk without tripping.

They are not far enough apart to allow walkers to smoothly go through them and they are tall enough to cause the walkers to tip. I need to put a hand on my mom’s walker whenever we cross them.

They are also terrible for those using strollers as the bumps wake the babies. — Karen Jang, Pleasant Hill

AIn other countries, they have lines of tiles with the bumps to lead those with vision impairments, but the space between the lines is wide enough to allow walkers, wheelchairs and strollers to cross safely.

QA friend tripped on them and broke her hip.

Perhaps a different coating would make them less slippery.

— Laura Liccardo

AAnti-slip coating is coming with new ADA ramps, but it is going to take time to replace them.

QTruncated domes are slippery.

When my mom was alive, she first used a walker and they were very hard to walk over. We ended up going into the street at the last driveway before them and walking in the street until the next driveway.

There needs to be a better solution that works for the visually impaired and doesn’t put everyone else at risk. I’d like to challenge the designers out there to create something better. — Betty Fellows, Redwood City

AThe challenge is on.