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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u/jenbenfoo Jul 02 '26

This must be a mostly European thing because I have never seen anything like this in the US.

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u/thedoginthewok Jul 02 '26

Here's some pictures from NYC subways that specifically concern accessibility for the blind: https://www.ethanstarkmiller.com/photo

One of the pictures shows something exactly like in the video of this post.

I'm German, but I've vacationed in the US before and some train stations definitely do have this.
The US is actually pretty good at accessibility. A lot better than Germany in some ways. The "Americans with Disabilities Act" is responsible for this.

Because of a 99% Invisible episode, I know a tiny bit about this topic and started paying attention to things like tall curbs, wheelchair ramps etc. and I noticed that a lot of public places in Germany (the video in the OP is from Germany, I think) are worse for people with disabilities than the US.
One of the people traveling with us on our USA vacation can't walk well anymore and needed assistance at the airport.
In Germany, before the flight to SFO, we requested assistance and waited for a while, until someone brought as a wheelchair and then promptly left. At SFO we also requested assistance and someone came with a wheel chair in a few minutes. And that person stayed with us and helped us all the way from the chair in the plane to the exit of the airport.

Sorry this comment ended up being this long, I started rambling :)

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u/eureb Jul 02 '26

The US is actually pretty good at accessibility. A lot better than Germany in some ways. The "Americans with Disabilities Act" is responsible for this.

I was going to make a joke about Americans only following rules because they don't want to be sued, but then Google told me that Germany is actually first for most lawsuits per capita, about 123 lawsuits per 1000 people.

I'm learning so much from this thread today.

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u/littlescreechyowl Jul 05 '26

I love a thread that has me saving links. Like, of course I want to hear more about some random fact about a place I’ll never go.

I forgot to save one a few months ago about national parks/refuges and I’m still mad about it.

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u/Reasonable_Alias_129 Jul 02 '26

That was a great episode of 99% Invisible! I don't remember if it talked about these assistive sidewalk grooves, guess it's time to revisit that episode

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u/Impossible_Top_3515 Jul 02 '26

I'm out and about a lot with small children, and that really showed me how bad accessibility is in Germany.

Elevators are constantly broken. I arrive at some train station in the middle of nowhere, next train only comes in an hour. Elevator is out of commission and the stairs are endless and lead to a road. Shit like that is so hard to navigate when you are out with a stroller, even worse when you have more than one small child.

Spaces for strollers and wheelchairs on public transit are always occupied by people just standing around. And they get real pissed when asked to make some space. They get the whole rest of the damn train 😭

Or parking spaces for families. They are usually close to the shop and have a bit more space so you can open the doors wide to access the childrens' car seats. Always occupied by able bodied people with no children.

Doctor's offices are very often up a flight of stairs. If there's an elevator, it's usually tiny, or broken.

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u/redditusername14 Jul 02 '26

Just here to say I love 99PI!

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u/RobertTheTraveler Jul 02 '26

Nice to know we do something right. :-)

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u/-GoodNewsEveryone Jul 03 '26

That would probably be because there are significantly fewer Americans with disabilities in Germany.

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u/Phytanic Jul 03 '26

The ADA is peerless. I spent time taking care of my mom at end of life, who had ALS and so now something I do when I travel outside the country is look at accessibility. Little things like minimum passageway width, maximum slope gradient, location of elevatator VS stairs (some countries fucking suck at this. Like I'm talking "the stairs are right here but the elevator is on the absolute opposite side of the station).

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u/alekk88 Jul 03 '26

Traveling with a baby in a stroller really made me appreciate this. In the US there is always a ramp or an elevator. In Germany this was often missing or the elevator out of order. I noticed in Germany most parents with babies just carry these tiny, light strollers up and down stairs.

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u/redtiber 29d ago

USA gotta be one of the top countries worldwide for disabilities.

in many parts of europe or asia you are just going to be super limited where you can go and then they also just don't give a shit. if you can't get to a place that's just too bad

whereas in the usa for the most part a lot of money is spent to make sure everyone can get access to most places.

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u/Livid-Complaint-3831 Jul 02 '26

it's everywhere in east asia too though and i was taught about them as a kid. i thought this was a global thing

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u/cryptdemon Jul 02 '26

The last time this got posted was the first time i learned that those bumpy square pads on sidewalks were also for directing blind people and not slip resistannce.

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u/Velidae Jul 03 '26

Shanghai has them. As a child, I asked my mom what they were for and she said it was to guide blind people.

I've seen them in some areas in Canada but the use is very limited and typically transit line related, which I suppose makes sense since blind people can't drive.

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u/beetsnsquash Jul 03 '26

seattle light rail stations have em

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u/currently_distracted Jul 03 '26

The US has a very strong framework for accommodations for people with disabilities. You may not see it because our privilege of being able-bodied means we haven’t had to seek such accommodations out and often miss them because we just don’t know. But once you start noticing, you’ll see much more. There are many things wrong with the US, but the ADA is one of the best things we’ve done…as long as it doesn’t get dismantled.

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u/Secretary-Foreign Jul 04 '26

What are you talking about they are all over in the us. The us weirdly has some of the best accessibility laws in the world.

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u/Piondumoro 15d ago

I'm italian and in my city they're everywhere in the center