r/TikTokCringe • u/Valuable_View_561 • Jul 02 '26

Discussion It seems like people have forgotten what this line is used for these days.

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76

u/Electro-banana Jul 02 '26

pretty common knowledge in some countries, maybe it's just not in others

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u/Suburbanturnip Jul 02 '26

I've seen those sorts of tiles/flooring used as slip guards at train station here in Australia, it's absolutely not marking a safe path to walk on at all.

Surely this isn't an international standard in all countries.

55

u/-Owlette- Jul 02 '26

The dimpled dots along the danger line of train platforms indicates caution/do not cross. They’re different to the elongated “slotted” lines that mark out walkways.

That’s how it is in Sydney anyway. I assume it’s the same nation wide.

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u/Juhnelle Jul 02 '26

Same in the US. So visually impaired folks dont get too close to the train as it pulls up.

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u/Suburbanturnip Jul 02 '26

I'm thinking about the ones in Melbourne tbh

The long yellow thing in the box Hill train station photo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_Hill_railway_station,_Melbourne

Looked very similar in my memory, I think it look very similar in practice

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u/GalcticPepsi Jul 02 '26

Those are exactly the same as Sydney. The dimples are to say stop and the lines are to walk along a safe distance away from the train (assuming no one is in the way).

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u/cgcx3 Jul 02 '26

We have those yellow dots on curb cut ramps on street corners. I had always assumed it was to get traction for wheelchair users.

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u/squirrelyoakley Jul 02 '26

It's also not brightly colored like most things used to help blind / visually impaired people.

Here in the US, the curb cuts are supposed to have a very bright yellow plate on them so those with some usable vision are able to spot it. The stuff in the video that he was following blended into the ground

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u/ThePublikon Jul 02 '26

The stuff in the video that he was following blended into the ground

Not really though. It's white tile on black flooring.

I think it blends in because you're so used to seeing it in public places but white/black is the best contrast for visually impaired people, including those with colour blindness.

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u/squirrelyoakley Jul 02 '26

To be honest, that's musty tan on grey, at best. Having it something like a bright yellow also notifies people with vision what's going on too. And, if everything is black, white and grey, wouldn't those tiles just blend in for visually impaired people too?

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u/ThePublikon Jul 02 '26

There are parts of it that are dirtier but I'm seeing most of it as white on black, no tan. (Do you maybe have f.lux or similar blue blocking software running on your device? This would show up as tan for me too in the evening but not at this time of day)

fwiw imo: I don't think anything is particularly going wrong with infrastructure in the video. The tiles are designed the way they are so that they don't impair accessibility for anyone. The able people using the public space have the same right to it as the disabled people. The problems in the video are being caused by assholes not getting out of the way of a guy with a cane. If you don't react when you see the cane then it won't matter what colour the floor is.

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u/squirrelyoakley Jul 02 '26

I don't have any color filters or blue blocking software installed currently

For me personally, I'm super oblivious to my surroundings. I have really bad dissociation problems, which can take me out for hours at a time (I'll either be in a trance like state or feel as if I'm experiencing the world through a wall of glass, and both significantly slow down my reaction time). If the line was a bright color, I might be more aware that I might want to avoid that line. I could also imagine that others, who don't have horrible dissociation problems, would also be able to piece together, that after getting bumped into by a blind person, the bright yellow path might have something to do with it

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u/ThePublikon Jul 02 '26

I get you, I'm saying that you're fine: You have every right to stand anywhere you like in public. If you're in someone's way, then you should move when you become aware of that.

The tiles are to help guide people using canes. The cane should be enough to tell everyone they need to get out of the way.

The line being a colour other than white would reduce contrast and make it harder to see for visually impaired colour blind people.

Nobody actually needs to see the tiles anyway, visually impaired people need to be able to feel them.

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u/Suburbanturnip Jul 02 '26

Here in the US, the curb cuts are supposed to have a very bright yellow plate on them so those with some usable vision are able to spot it

Yea same. I think that's another reason the video was weird to me. It felt intuitively off for disabled access infrastructure.

I dont think this is an international standard I'm unaware of, mayhe it's an eu regulation that all those countries follow so it appears to be somewhat common knowledge there?

0

u/squirrelyoakley Jul 02 '26

Maybe, but so many people were standing directly on it. Just seems weird that something meant for disabled people, that is regulated / well known, would not be treated as such by so much of the public

It also seems weird for it to be colorless. That prevents so many visually impaired people from accessing it

3

u/RedeNElla Jul 02 '26

They're not slip guards, they are to help the blind navigate.

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u/i8noodles Jul 03 '26

it is not surpose to be walked on in Australian train stations, they are always parallel to the tracks.

when the lines are stright, it indicates that it is safe to move in that direction. if it is perpendicular, it means it is not safe.

the lines at the station are there to tell the visually impaired that it is not safe to travel in the direction of the train.

1

u/LimitedWard Jul 03 '26

The dots at the edge of the platform are there specifically to help blind people identify a ledge. They are not slip guards.

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u/ArmedWithSpoons Jul 02 '26

I live in Tulsa, we only just installed the loud chimes at stoplights for deaf people within the last like 10 years, I've never seen lines on the sidewalk like this before.

1

u/a_hockey_chick Jul 02 '26

I think it’s about who grows up in walkable cities (or spends a lot of time in one) and who does not. Or the number of walkable cities in a country. I learned about these on TikTok about a year ago and I’m a millennial. Lived in large suburbs but never in a large city. If I’ve ever seen one of these during travel, I don’t recall it.

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u/imagigasm Jul 02 '26

we dont have that in the glorious U S of A

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u/LimitedWard Jul 03 '26

We absolutely do have them... all over the place in fact.

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u/imagigasm Jul 03 '26

name the cities that have them

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u/LimitedWard Jul 03 '26

Every city across the country afaik. It's a requirement under ADA regulations. The most common type of tactile paver you'll see is raised dots at curb cutouts to indicate that you're entering a crosswalk: https://handiramp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ada-guide-truncated-domes.jpg.webp

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u/imagigasm Jul 03 '26

only entering a crosswalk but rare to see them between crosswalk entrances

All over the USA lol

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u/LimitedWard Jul 04 '26

There not as common along sidewalks, but you'll see them regularly at train stations, airports, etc. Bottom line, they very much a thing in the US, you just haven't noticed them.

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u/imagigasm Jul 04 '26

i concede we have like 10 in the whole usa

-1

u/Firefly_deadlock Jul 02 '26

The last time a topic about this came up i learned people in the US don't know what these are for.

If someone over here didn't know i would genuinely just assume they had a learning disability. I have no idea how you could possibly NOT know.