City Considers Night Rules For Wheelchairs On Roads

[ccharles000]

JACKSON, Miss. -- A Jackson City Council committee has voted to require a light, reflective tape or warning flag on wheelchairs operated after sunset on city streets.

Wheelchair users said they cannot get around on the sidewalks, because those that exist are often too cracked for wheels, and don't have "curb cuts" to let wheelchairs cross at intersections.

Stokes said the issue came up last month when a constituent told him he narrowly missed hitting a person on a wheelchair after dark. In March, a 68-year-old man was killed by an SUV as he rode his motorized wheelchair.

A coalition of disabled citizens filed a federal lawsuit last year, saying the city fails to provide disabled access to public transit.

http://www.wapt.com/news/21260269/detail.html

[KamaAina]

1. Hmmm... radical disability rights group ADAPT is gathering in Atlanta right now...

http://www.adapt.org

perhaps a side trip to Jackson is in order?

[Odin2005]

2. There has got to be some major Americans with Disabilities Act violations here.

[petronius]

3. Sounds like a reasonable, common-sense regulation

Of course, I'm not sure that a wheelchair user (aside from being lower) is really all that different from a darkly-dressed pedestrian (or child)...

Perhaps when they're done discussing it they can talk about fixing the curbs and sidewalks, too.

[KamaAina]

4. So it's somehow the wheelchair users' fault the sidewalks and curb cuts aren't in order?

:grr: :banghead:

Hardly an isolated problem; my coworkers have to air it out in a bike lane every night, because there are no sidewalks leading to the Independent Living Center! :eyes:

[virgogal]

5. We've had curb cuts for years and the motorized wheelchairs are

being driven on the street.

Go figure.

[imdjh]

6. Even here we have some probs with this.

Most of our motorized disabled people have some kind of night safety measures, and I think they actually are required to have a rear reflector and a headlight like bicycles. You WILL get a ticket around here if you don't have a headlight and rear reflector on your bicycle.

Most of our sidewalks are ADA compliant, but you still run into some problems, a condition I became aware of both as a bicyclist and because my mom has an electric scooter. People will park in their driveways, but blocking the sidewalk and the driveway is too narrow for you to go around on pavement. ALso some of the sidewalks have canted over the years to the point at which they feel scary on a scooter or a trike. We also, (especially in St Pete) still have some sidewalks that for some reason or no reason, dead end in a high curb or roll off into loose sand.

[ccharles000]

7. kick

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Around here we've got wide bike lanes.

I've seen people cruising down the bike lanes in electric wheel chairs even when the sidewalks are in good condition.

I just wish they had those flashing red lights on at night like bicyclists use.

[Th1onein]

9. A wheelchair motorist is in intensive care now, in the Rio Grande Valley

because she rode her wheelchair in the road, at night.

I don't think these people need to be on the highways, but they do needs some kind of reflectors, if they are. The best thing that we can do is make a pathway for them, that's out of the street, though.

[kickysnana]

12. You need to give "These people" alternatives to confinement at home.

Geez. :spank:

[The Straight Story]

10. I think the Amish have similiar laws they must follow

Seems like common sense.

[SmileyRose]

11. Dear Jackson Mississippi City Counsel

Fix the fucking sidewalks you dumbasses !!!