Elisabeth Smelik herself walks with her dog Wendy and the white cane, but many blind or partially sighted people only use the cane. With that you always have right of way, but the stick users do not always get that: “I have a whole collection of broken sticks, because people drive into them,” says Smelik. When you are at the side of the road and the stick is tilted, other road users must let you in front, even if there is no zebra crossing.
“Somehow we are not always seen,” says the ambassador of the Eye Association. “By organizing this kind of action on International White Stick Day, we hope that will change and that such a campaign will ultimately be redundant.”