Many years ago I requested some mobility training. I was able to travel in very familiar environments without the use of a cane. As I was losing more of my vision independent travel was becoming difficult.
One day I was going to leave my office building for a lunch break. I had no idea that there was a man standing on a ladder cleaning windows. This ladder was erected directly in front of two large heavy brass doors with glass panes from top to bottom. I was walking directly for these doors, lucky someone yelled for me to stop. When the situation was under control the person who stopped me started laughing. He said "You should have seen the expression on his face!" If I had gone through those doors since he did not have the door locked or barricaded, the ladder would have been knocked out from under him.
A few days later, I talked to the mobility instructor telling him that story. I asked him what could happen if I would have made him fall. He didn't know the answer and later proposed it to his department lawyers.
It took a team a few weeks to research and come to a conclusion. The first question I was asked was if I was using my cane. When I told him no, it was explained that I would be totally responsible for his injuries.
It was explained that the cane has more than one purpose. It is not only for my safety but also to identify myself as having a visual problem. He then went on to say that if I had been carrying my cane the liability would shift totally to the man on the ladder. He explained that I would have done everything I could to protect myself including identification, whereas the man on the ladder did nothing to protect himself.