Introduction:

An important skill for orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists to have is to monitor clients appropriately when they are learning to cross intersections. Techniques books provide some suggestions for positioning during street crossings, but no research has been conducted about consensus or priorities for making appropriate decisions on positioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate general positioning decisions using visual monitoring techniques.

Method:

A total of 234 participants (practicing O&M specialists, preservice O&M students, and O&M university personnel) completed a 40-question survey. The survey included demographic questions, diagrams of intersections that participants used to select positioning locations, questions about lanes of threat, and questions about important factors to consider when positioning to monitor safety. Commonality of selections were analyzed and compared with demographic information.

Results:

The greatest consensus was found for all intersection types when the client is positioned on the corner waiting to cross and for identification of the first lane of threat. More variable position selections were made for monitoring during the crossings, and the second and third lane of threat selections were also more variable. Factors respondents indicated as most important to consider when positioning aligned with their positioning choices overall.

Discussion:

Personnel preparation programs may want to consider to what extent they teach considerations for positioning before and during crossings, and whether the predominant tendency to put oneself between the client and traffic warrants additional conversation. Future research should look at more complex intersections and the additional nuances used to make positioning choices.

Implications for practitioners:

Practitioners should reflect on whether they actively change their positioning decisions based on the situation and type of intersection versus tending to use a standard strategy.

中文翻译：

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教路口时定向和流动专家的定位实践：是否有标准方法？

介绍：

定向和流动性（O＆M）专家必须具备的一项重要技能是，在他们学习交叉路口时，对其进行适当的监控。技术书籍为在过路时的定位提供了一些建议，但是尚未就共识或优先级做出适当决策的研究。这项研究的目的是调查使用视觉监视技术的一般定位决策。

方法：

共有234名参与者（实践与维护专家，在职的维护与管理学生和实践与管理大学的人员）完成了40个问题的调查。该调查包括人口统计学问题，参与者用来选择定位位置的交叉口图，有关威胁车道的问题以及有关在定位以监视安全性时要考虑的重要因素的问题。选择的共性进行了分析，并与人口统计信息进行比较。

结果：

当客户位于拐角处等待交叉并确定第一个威胁通道时，对于所有交叉路口类型都找到了最大的共识。在过境期间进行了更多可变的位置选择以进行监视，并且威胁选择的第二和第三道也更加可变。受访者表示，在将定位与其总体定位选择保持一致时，最重要要考虑的因素。

讨论：

人员准备程序可能需要考虑在过境之前和期间如何教授定位的注意事项，以及将自己置于服务对象和交通之间的主要趋势是否需要进行额外的对话。未来的研究应该关注更复杂的交叉路口以及用于选择位置的其他细微差别。

对从业者的启示：

从业者应反思他们是否根据情况和路口类型主动改变其定位决策，而不是倾向于使用标准策略。