To the editor:
The snow is now here and I would like to take the time to remind drivers that people who use wheelchairs, scooters and walkers may be stuck using the roads. At the moment, the sidewalks are slushy and I cannot safely use them. The term power chair is a misnomer. Yes, it is powered, but only by two twelve volt batteries. I get stuck in snow that is only a centimeter or two deep. When I get to people’s driveways, often the sidewalks tilt towards the road & I can be slung out into traffic without any control, especially if there is ice on the sidewalk. Some cities now bring the entire sidewalk down to the road, so that this doesn’t happen.
We don’t do that here, yet.
When the sidewalks are slushy, or have fresh snow on them, they are not useable by people who use mobility devices. The city cannot possibly keep up since once someone has walked on the sidewalk and ice forms, they leave small ruts & holes that make using them in a wheelchair nearly impossible. I don’t ask that able-bodied people stop using the sidewalks until they’re cleared. That would be stupid and unsafe for them. I am asking drivers to have a little understanding. Already, I’ve been honked at, sworn at and threatened.
Two years ago, I fell through a sidewalk that had recently been repaired. The city’s answer to my complaint was that blacktopping on a sidewalk is only meant to be temporary and that I should not expect to be able to use my power chair on those spots. I can’t see where those spots are in the winter, when there is snow on the sidewalks. I couldn’t believe that they said that, but they did.
For years I’ve been asking the city to put together a “Share the Road” awareness campaign for drivers & people who use mobility devices, but they are not interested. Perhaps they are waiting for someone else to be killed before they do that. I hope and pray that it doesn’t come to this. I’ve also asked the city to allow us to use the bike lanes in winter. Yesterday, a police officer stopped me & asked me why I was using one. I asked him to look at the sidewalk. His response was “I see. There’s no way you can use that. I don’t know where I’m supposed to tell you to go, but I am supposed to tell you not to use the bike lane. This is ridiculous.”
The awareness campaign would be for drivers, as well as for mobility device users. Many have no clue where they are to go on the road. I’ve seen people using their scooters along the middle of the road, using traffic lanes, like vehicles do or going between two lanes on four-lane roads. This is very dangerous! I walk in my chair as close to the curb as possible, facing traffic on side roads and go with the traffic on main ones. For some reason, some drivers think it’s funny to swerve and pretend they’re going to hit me, or to grab my scarf or hat and take off or to honk the horn and threaten me. It seems to take the fun out of those games if they are coming up behind me. I guess they think it’s not as much fun to do that if I can’t see it coming.
Instead of doing that, why not think and be thankful that you have a body that works and that you can drive a vehicle and have the money to buy one? Many of us don’t and would dearly love to. I wish I could walk! That would be so nice! I can’t, though and my arms don’t work right, either, so I use a power chair. I cannot drive a vehicle because of my disabilities. It’s not a choice. I have multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy, both of which mean that I cannot do all the things other people take for granted, like walking on a snowy sidewalk.
I try to use Lift in the winter, but let’s face it, I don’t always know a week in advance when I’m going to need groceries or need to go to the ER or a last-minute doctor’s appointment. Lift+ is great, but it’s not perfect. If I have to use the bus, I have to get to the bus stop. Also, there are times when able-bodied people or people who use walkers (and can still sit in other spots) refuse to give up the wheelchair access areas, and then I have to wait at least a half-hour for the next bus.
How would you like to do that?
Please be considerate and look for us on the roads. It’s not a choice. Well, it’s as much of a choice as it is for you to get in your vehicles and drive on the roads. I don’t expect you to stay home and off the roads. Don’t expect me to.
Tracy L. Hurlbert,
Thunder Bay
