Maybe I Should Move to California

[Amianthus]

Do you actually keep a log of nonstandard traffic lights?

Not a log. I just have a memory and have noticed - in a number of places both inside the US and in other countries - where the "standard" was not followed.

And it is true that the position of red, yellow and green lights is standardized nearly everywhere.

Except, of course, for places where it's done differently for a reason. Just outside of Baltimore there is an intersection where the lights are mounted horizontally, because you couldn't see the red or yellow lights when approaching due to a very low bridge just before the intersection.

I guess I have to make my point more explicitly. Everyone being able to define words based on their own viewpoint could lead to a situation where a color-blind person gets a ticket for running a red light, and in court successfully defends himself by saying that FOR HIM the light was not red, and therefore the law does not apply.

And here is just one example of a "non standard" traffic light.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Is there not a standard position for horizontal traffic lights?

==============
I will agree that anyone lacking an ability is, by definition disabled.
Of course, there are many people who are not able to write with their left hands, and that is a disability, but being as over 80% of the population shares it, we don't call it one.

There is only a small percentage of people who can write with either hand: my maternal grandfather could do this.

When I was young, I could hear whether a TV was on with the volume turned al the way down by a very  high pitched sound that all TV's make, but apparently only I could hear. I seem to have lost this ability, or perhaps TV design has changed.

[Amianthus]

When I was young, I could hear whether a TV was on with the volume turned al the way down by a very  high pitched sound that all TV's make, but apparently only I could hear. I seem to have lost this ability, or perhaps TV design has changed.

Hearing very high pitches is an ability most of us lose in our mid-20s. It is due to deterioration of fine hairs in your ear canals.

There is a company that markets an "anti-teenager" device that produces an annoying noise to teens and those in their early 20s, but cannot be heard by older adults.

And that noise is produced by the scan clock for the cathode ray tube. It is not produced in TVs without this tube (LED, plasma, projection).

[Cynthia]

Not hearing the car's blasting boombox next door is not as risky.

Being deaf can lead to more life threatening situations than just not being able to hear your neighbor's boombox.

What about that deaf family that cannot hear the tornado horns in the middle of the night, sleeping on blissfully until their house is destroyed and they are killed?

Well, my point was that any type of hearing loss isn't as severe as the losing one's "sight". Color blindess is low on the list,imo.

[Cynthia]

Do you actually keep a log of nonstandard traffic lights?

Not a log. I just have a memory and have noticed - in a number of places both inside the US and in other countries - where the "standard" was not followed.

And it is true that the position of red, yellow and green lights is standardized nearly everywhere.

Except, of course, for places where it's done differently for a reason. Just outside of Baltimore there is an intersection where the lights are mounted horizontally, because you couldn't see the red or yellow lights when approaching due to a very low bridge just before the intersection.

I guess I have to make my point more explicitly. Everyone being able to define words based on their own viewpoint could lead to a situation where a color-blind person gets a ticket for running a red light, and in court successfully defends himself by saying that FOR HIM the light was not red, and therefore the law does not apply.

And here is just one example of a "non standard" traffic light.

 If one travels abroad and has to acclimate to the new environment, I would think if the person is responsible enough to prepare ahead of time, perhaps through researching the new surroundings . . this traffic light issue would not be a big deal.

[Amianthus]

If one travels abroad and has to acclimate to the new environment, I would think if the person is responsible enough to prepare ahead of time, perhaps through researching the new surroundings . . this traffic light issue would not be a big deal.

Never considered Baltimore and the various other US states where I have seen horizontal and otherwise skewed traffic lights to be "abroad".

Guess you learn something new every day...

[Cynthia]

If one travels abroad and has to acclimate to the new environment, I would think if the person is responsible enough to prepare ahead of time, perhaps through researching the new surroundings . . this traffic light issue would not be a big deal.

Never considered Baltimore and the various other US states where I have seen horizontal and otherwise skewed traffic lights to be "abroad".

Guess you learn something new every day...

LOL....well, then all the easier for the folks of the US of A.

I have driven through many streets in small villages in Europe where the traffic lights don't line up as ours in the US.

Point wasn't to find fault with the location...location location location.

But, if a disabled person can be smart enough to get a license to drive in any place in the world, then he/she is smart enough to find out how to read the signs. (safety first, they always say)

[Amianthus]

But, if a disabled person can be smart enough to get a license to drive in any place in the world, then he/she is smart enough to find out how to read the signs. (safety first, they always say)

But as I said, that was not my point anyway.

"Everyone being able to define words based on their own viewpoint could lead to a situation where a color-blind person gets a ticket for running a red light, and in court successfully defends himself by saying that FOR HIM the light was not red, and therefore the law does not apply."

It was more a comment on allowing people to make up their own definitions for words.

[Cynthia]

But, if a disabled person can be smart enough to get a license to drive in any place in the world, then he/she is smart enough to find out how to read the signs. (safety first, they always say)

But as I said, that was not my point anyway.

"Everyone being able to define words based on their own viewpoint could lead to a situation where a color-blind person gets a ticket for running a red light, and in court successfully defends himself by saying that FOR HIM the light was not red, and therefore the law does not apply."

It was more a comment on allowing people to make up their own definitions for words.

Sure, I agree. Your point, and your comment. I was also stating my opinion based on a bit of experience.

However, in a traffic violation court arena, I doubt that a colorblind disabled person who runs a red light is going to "successfully defend himself" as you state here. Your definition of the word "could" is more to the point. The definition of the word disabled is not necessarily a "get of ticket free" card in this red light case. But, the law is the deciding factor in terms of definitions. Your opinion of disabled and my opinion in such a case may differ, but in the courts----no room for debate.

[Plane]

But, if a disabled person can be smart enough to get a license to drive in any place in the world, then he/she is smart enough to find out how to read the signs. (safety first, they always say)

But as I said, that was not my point anyway.

"Everyone being able to define words based on their own viewpoint could lead to a situation where a color-blind person gets a ticket for running a red light, and in court successfully defends himself by saying that FOR HIM the light was not red, and therefore the law does not apply."

It was more a comment on allowing people to make up their own definitions for words.

Sure, I agree. Your point, and your comment. I was also stating my opinion based on a bit of experience.

However, in a traffic violation court arena, I doubt that a colorblind disabled person who runs a red light is going to "successfully defend himself" as you state here. Your definition of the word "could" is more to the point. The definition of the word disabled is not necessarily a get of ticket free card in this red light case. But, the law is the deciding factor in terms of definitions. Your opinion of disabled and my opinion in such a case may differ, but in the courts----no room for debate.

In a court , would doing something to a child that made it become deaf be described as an assault?

[Cynthia]

well, back to the original issue, anything that interferes with an human being's life without the permission of said human being--in my opinion is wrong.
Does the child have a say?
No.
Then it's wrong.
No need to define disabled here. . but that's my opinion.

[Rich]

So you're against abortion. That's good.

[Cynthia]

So you're against abortion. That's good.

Yes, I am.

[sirs]