For Immediate Release
Press Contacts
Rachel Weisberg, Disability Rights Advocates: [email protected], (332) 217-2363
Linda Paris, Washington Lawyers’ Committee: [email protected], (202) 308-5186
Michael Allen, Relman Colfax: [email protected], (202) 730-0318
Washington, D.C.—Today, three leading legal civil rights defenders, Disability Rights Advocates, Relman Colfax PLLC, and The Washington Lawyers’ Committee, have joined forces to file a critical public safety class action lawsuit against the District of Columbia on behalf of the DC Council of the Blind (DCCB) and five named plaintiffs. The complaint highlights systemic barriers that prevent individuals with disabilities from safely crossing the vast majority of signalized intersections in the District, depriving them of equal participation in public life. Read the complaint.
While the District has installed visual pedestrian signals at more than 1,600 intersections to ensure the safety of its sighted pedestrians, only a fraction of those intersections have devices with auditory, tactile and vibrotactile cues—Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS)—to make them accessible to blind pedestrians. Equally problematic, the modest number of signals equipped with APS are plagued by installation and maintenance issues. The class action lawsuit presents claims on behalf of people with disabilities who—in the absence of APS—have encountered significant challenges in navigating one of the nation’s most walkable cities. Without APS, tens of thousands of blind pedestrians who live in, work in, or visit the District are left to guess whether it is safe to cross the street.
In addition to endangering blind pedestrians, these experiences demean them by compromising their ability to travel through the District safely and independently, and isolate them from work, education, recreation, religious services, cultural events, and shopping. When blind pedestrians must spend extra time or money to navigate the District without functional APS, they are paying a “blindness tax” to participate fully in daily activities.
“As a blind resident of DC who lives, works, socializes, plays in, and navigates this city independently, I’m part of this class action because I’m tired of having to play a high-stakes guessing game just to cross the street,” said Kevin Andrews, one of the lead plaintiffs. “Sighted pedestrians get clear, immediate access to traffic signals and pedestrian signal information without delay or hesitation. Meanwhile, we are left waiting, listening, and hoping the quiet car creeping through the intersection sees us. It should not take a leap of faith to make it to work, Safeway, a medical appointment, or a friend’s birthday without risking your life.”
The plaintiffs allege that these failures violate Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.
“Accessibility is not optional; it is a legal right and a safety imperative,” said Michael Allen, Partner at Relman Colfax. “Failure to meet compliance standards compromises the well-being, as well as the independence and dignity of individuals with disabilities, undermining the principles of equal opportunity and inclusion.”
Through this class action, plaintiffs are seeking swift and comprehensive injunctive relief on behalf of themselves and all blind pedestrians who have been discriminatorily denied the benefits of the District’s pedestrian signals program.
“As a result of lawsuits in New York and Chicago, the District has two models for meeting the ADA and other legal requirements,” said Kaitlin Banner, Deputy Legal Director at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. “As part of the City’s masterplan to boost roadway safety, we can collaborate with officials to transform our intersections into safe, accessible, and inclusive spaces for all pedestrians.”
“APS provide life-saving traffic-safety information to blind pedestrians, but only when properly installed, programmed and maintained,” said Rachel Weisberg, Supervising Attorney at Disability Rights Advocates. “We are proud to partner with the blind community in D.C. to continue our work making streets across the country accessible.”
With the District planning to unveil a new Vision Zero Action Plan in 2025 and having already announced a new initiative in 2025 to curb traffic deaths, it is now imperative to ensure accessibility is prioritized in every part of the process, to avoid repeating or duplicating efforts down the road.
“APS is a key tool in my independence toolbox, and until the city adopts its widespread use, it makes it that much harder for me and my blind and low-vision community to live the independent and full lives that everyone deserves, regardless of disability,” said Qudsiya Naqui, another lead plaintiff included in the complaint.
“It is confusing and dangerous for us to cross the streets in DC,” said Reverend Ray Raysor, President of DCCB, the organizational plaintiff in the complaint. “We don’t know when to go or how long the light lasts, so it feels like we have to take our lives in our hands every time we get to a corner without APS.”
“I am part of this case to make a difference for people who are blind and visually impaired like me,” said Gerald Barnes, one of the lead plaintiffs in the complaint. “It is tough for me to get across many streets in DC and I want the City to do more to make sure we have an equal shot to get around the City.”
“We’re bringing this case to make DC focus on the necessities of accessibility for the blind and visually impaired community in the nation’s capital,” said Raymond Smith, another lead plaintiff in the complaint.
“I love the city of Washington D.C., but I do not love having to navigate the complicated spokes, islands, and circles that make up the city design without functioning APS,” said Claire Stanley, one of the lead plaintiffs in this case. “As someone who is blind, I travel safely by reading traffic patterns, but in D.C., the traffic patterns are often too complicated to understand. Accessible pedestrian signals enable me to travel more safely through the city and navigate these complicated traffic patterns. So, when the APS is out-of-order or simply not there, I feel limited by where I can go in the city, keeping me from a city I love.”
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Disability Rights Advocates (DRA): With offices in California, New York, and Illinois, Disability Rights Advocates is the leading national nonprofit disability rights legal center. Its mission is to advance equal rights and opportunity for people with all types of disabilities nationwide. DRA represents people with all types of disabilities in complex, system-changing, class action cases. Thanks to DRA’s precedent-setting work, people with disabilities across the country have dramatically improved access to education, health care, employment, transportation, disaster preparedness planning, voting, and housing. For more information, visit www.dralegal.org.
Relman Colfax: Relman Colfax PLLC is a national civil rights law firm with a litigation practice focused on combating discrimination. The firm’s disability rights practice is driven by a commitment to secure the promises of housing choice and community integration embodied in federal disability rights laws. For more information, visit https://www.relmanlaw.com/practices-35
Washington Lawyers’ Committee: The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs partners with community members and organizations on scores of cases to combat discrimination in housing, employment, education, immigration, criminal justice reform, public accommodations, based on race, gender, disability, family size, history of criminal conviction, and more. The Washington Lawyers’ Committee has secured a relentless stream of civil rights victories over the past five decades in an effort to achieve justice for all. For more information, please visit www.washlaw.org.