Bill would increase penalties for drivers who strike a blind pedestrian

A new bill would increase penalties for drivers that hurt or kill a blind pedestrian or their service animal.

In a Michigan House Health Policy Committee meeting this week, Nick VanderWall testified he’s lucky to have a guide dog, but he knows that as a blind person, he still needs to be careful around traffic. He recalls one time his dog stopped him from walking into the road where there were very quiet vehicles.

“ Electric vehicles, or the automatic stop portion of the vehicles that are also common now, are two very bad things for people who are blind or vision impaired because you can’t hear them,” VanderWall said.

With some nearly silent cars, it makes it very important for drivers to watch out for people who are blind or vision impaired.

The bill says if a driver does not take ne