Legally Blind Man Working to Improve Pedestrian Safety in Montgomery

The great irony for William Smith is that the worse his vision becomes, the more he sees.

There is the bus stop on Fenton Street in Silver Spring, built on a platform so close to the street that it's nearly impossible for the blind or disabled person to get to. There's the crosswalk where Georgia Avenue forks into Viers Mill Road in Wheaton that could pass as a maze. And don't even mention the construction zones that frequently block sidewalks.

Smith, 46, notices such things mainly because of his inability to see them.

The stay-at-home dad is legally blind. He has an eye disorder that progressively inhibits his central vision. But that hasn't stopped him from walking the streets of his Silver Spring neighborhood, camera in hand, to document each and every obstruction.

The hurdles he faces spurred him last year to launch a blog, Montgomery Sideways. There he chronicles the impediments he encounters, raises safety concerns for other disabled residents and lets county officials know where they have fallen short.

Smith said he seeks to raise awareness because the problems he finds aren't mere inconveniences. They are roadblocks to something much more precious: his independence.

"Initially, it was just so I could walk around," he said of Montgomery Sideways. "I realize now stuff like good sidewalks don't happen by themselves.

A need for safety


The things he notices now haven't always concerned him. His macular degeneration was diagnosed when he was 14. He still got his driver's license when he turned 16 and buzzed around the streets, not all that worried about the plight of the pedestrian.

In 1989, when he was 25, the disease progressed to the point where he could no longer drive. He was consigned to getting by on his two feet, which, to his surprise, was liberating.

"Being freed by not driving changes your perception -- it's profoundly sublime," Smith said. "Walking is the most natural thing. Knowing that his vision would continue to decline, Smith and his wife, Kathleen, moved to a house in Silver Spring close to schools, stores and churches. His mission as a self-described ambulatory activist began a dozen years ago with a sidewalk near his house. It was riddled with potholes and, apparently, bad luck.

In 1998, he was walking his two young children to school at East Silver Spring Elementary when his 4-year-old daughter tripped in a hole and hit her head. A week later, she was nearly hit by a car when a driver whipped through the crosswalk.



He first worked with parents and community officials to have that sidewalk replaced. That grew into sitting in on County Council meetings, e-mailing officials about safety concerns and trying to get the attention of his neighbors.

Smith then moved his efforts online. He "started with a discussion list, with two or three readers," said Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener magazine and a "car-free" resident of Silver Spring. "I think he was disappointed with that, and I told him, 'You might want to look into a blog.' "

Giving officials a set of eyes on the ground


He started Montgomery Sideways in October, and he's already sparking a conversation.

Smith's photo of the bus stop on Fenton Street was posted to several blogs, which caused quite a few phone calls to officials, said Jeff Dunckel, pedestrian safety coordinator for Montgomery County.

Dunckel said county officials had planned to build a ramp at the bus stop even before Smith documented the access issue, but his photos prompted them to rethink their plans. Now, instead of a ramp, the county will build a stop in a more accessible location.

The budget for the county's $5 million pedestrian safety program was cut by almost 10 percent in May, forcing the department to end its education efforts. Dunckel said Smith fills the void by being a set of eyes on the ground.

John Z Wetmore, a pedestrian advocate in Bethesda and host of the cable access television program "Perils for Pedestrians," said Smith alerts the community to hazards that often are overlooked.

"Most people have been dealing with a bad pedestrian environment for so long, they have learned to ignore it," Wetmore said.

It's his passion to correct that environment, Smith said, that commits him to the arduous task of maintaining the blog with limited sight.

Updating is "physically painful," he said. To use his computer, he has to hunch forward in his chair, sitting only a few inches from the 42-inch monitor he has set up in his basement, placing additional strain on his eyes.

It is a marked difference from the man traipsing about Silver Spring. He doesn't use a cane. There is no guide dog. Smith gets around relatively unfettered. He's trying to hold onto his independence as long as possible.

"The biggest problem is at what point do I identify myself as a blind person," Smith said. "I'm fighting it because I'm vain. I hate to admit it. I'm trying to live normally as long as I can."