Disabled troops fight for Segway rider rights

[cec]

Disabled troops fight for Segway rider rights



Federal law could raise accessibility concerns
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 21, 2008 11:20:02 EDT

Army Maj. Daniel Gade doesn’t think a wheelchair is the right piece of equipment for him.
“I should be able to choose a reasonable piece of equipment,” said Gade, who lost his right leg at the hip after he was wounded in Iraq in 2005. For him, that’s a Segway — a two-wheeled, gyroscopically stabilized, battery-powered personal transportation device.
“Disabled veterans and others with mobility issues should be accommodated in all circumstances, whether they use a Segway or a wheelchair,” Gade said.
With his prosthetic leg, day to day, he walks like anyone else. “But a three-block walk is a long walk for me,” he said. The Segway allows him to stand while gliding to his destination, easily controlling the speed. It’s also healthier to stand at least part of the time, instead of sitting all the time, to improve balance, circulation and digestion.
As part of a raft of proposed changes to meet the guidelines of the 2004 update of the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Justice Department is considering addressing the use of Segways in public places. The proposed changes were published in the June 17 Federal Register.
“If people feel this is important, they need to comment,” Gade said. Comments can be submitted at http://www.regulations.gov. The deadline is Aug. 18.
“The Segway, for the first time, allows someone with a disability to get around standing up,” said Jerry Kerr, president of Disability Rights Advocates for Technology. In DRAFT’s Segs4Vets program, 157 Segways have been donated to wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the group hopes to give another 135 this year.
Kerr contends that the Segway should be classified identically to the wheelchair, noting that it is specifically designed for indoor and outdoor environments. The footprint of the Segway is smaller than a wheelchair, and it weighs less than power wheelchairs and most scooters.
But Justice officials propose lumping the Segway into a category of “other power-driven mobility devices,” such as golf carts, bicycles “or any mobility aid designed to operate in areas without defined pedestrian routes.”
This could pose a problem, Kerr said, because it will separate them from a category of “medical devices,” such as wheelchairs and scooters, which must be accommodated.
The proposed guidance “threatens to deal a severe setback to America’s disabled community and senior citizens,” by discriminating against Segways and other technology devices that improve the quality of their lives, Kerr said
The original 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, Kerr said, was written to take future technology into account.
The fact that devices such as Segways are not designed primarily for people with disabilities complicates the issue, Justice officials said. Segways are used primarily as recreational devices.
“Those who question the use of [electronic personal assistive mobility devices] in pedestrian areas argue that the speed, size, and operating features of the devices make them too dangerous to operate alongside pedestrians and wheelchair users,” officials note in the Federal Register.
A power wheelchair can go up to 6 miles per hour, Justice officials say, although Kerr said some wheelchairs and scooters can go more than 12 miles per hour. The Segway can go up to 12½ miles per hour.
Kerr and the Paralyzed Veterans of America support the Department of Transportation’s position, which is to allow disabled passengers to use Segways.
“If it’s a mobility device used by a person with a disability, it’s OK,” PVA advocacy director Maureen McCloskey said. The issue of Segways has not come up with their membership, she said.



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[Woodmonkey]

They should be allowed their Segways and it shouldn't matter that they were designed for entertainment. Their uses have expanded and the buearocrats need to open their minds.

[Anth]

When the US Army uses Nintendo Wii for rehab they should be allow Segways for the disabled. Unfortunately they're only legal on private property over here