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Posted on: Tue, Apr 29 2008 4:56 PM

Posted by: Kara Posts: 2,287

This wheelchair is cool-definitely would have come in handy on the streets of Athens. Glad to hear they are more available now and I like the fact I saw workers with disabilities manufacturing them. 

Disaboom moderator


My personal blog: If the World Had Wheels

Posted on: Tue, Apr 29 2008 5:54 PM

Posted by: ShimasChild Posts: 248

 Oooooo I want a WhirlWind!

  Taking pictures and video of the curb you are speaking about it the best way to prove your point. (Much like the video shown for the WhirlWind, they show how much better their chair is.) You need to show the city council the dangers of this and other curbs. They are going to be responsible for a huge lawsuit from the next person who gets injured from such a fall.

 I really got lucky. I mean reallyyyyy lucky. Right after I got my power chair, the county decided to dress up my end of town and put in sidewalks. The boss-man of the crew putting it in saw me and asked if I could test out their wheelchair dips to see if they were okay for wheelchairs and power chairs especially. As he put it, you can see them on the plans, but just how comfortable and accessable are they to a real disabled person?  He even let me put my initials in the cement before it dried. Kind of a "Seal Of Approval" by a real wheeler.

Posted on: Tue, Apr 29 2008 6:48 PM

Posted by: rainey826 Posts: 2,964

 PICK UP THE TELEPHONE  , THE AMERICAN DISABILITY ACT HAS A TOLL FREE NUMBER ,  CALL YOUR NEWPAPER EVEN YOUR LOCAL TELEVISON STATION ALSO , YOU WILL A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN A VERY SHORT TIME ! THE OLD SAYING IS VERY TRUE  " THE SQUEEKY WHEEL GETS GREASED FRIST " GOOD LOOK   RAINEY

Posted on: Tue, Apr 29 2008 7:20 PM

Posted by: DSB Posts: 767

 There are a couple ways to go about this. First contact your city or county building department. All cities and towns are to have the curb ramps under the ADA. Curb Ramps have specifications as in 

The ramp run has the least running slope possible. (On a curb ramp, the running slope is the slope in the direction of pedestrian travel on the ramp run.) [§ 4.8.2]

• For curb ramps constructed after January 26, 1992 (post-ADA), the slope must be 8.33 percent (1:12) or less. [§ 4.8.2]
  
  
• For curb ramps constructed before January 26, 1992 (pre-ADA), including those that have since been altered, the running slope must generally be 8.33 percent (1:12) or less. However, ramp runs with greater slopes are allowed for pre-ADA curb ramps in the two following instances where space limitations prohibit the use of a slope of 8.33 percent (1:12) or less:
  
  
  • The ramp run may have a running slope of up to 10 percent (1:10) if the rise is no more than six inches. [§ 4.1.6(3)(a)(i)]
    
    
  • The ramp run may have a running slope of up to 12.5 percent (1:8) if the rise is no more than three inches. [§ 4.1.6(3)(a)(ii)]
  You can look these specifacations on-line but by actually taking these and a photograph submit it to your building department as a code violation even if the department is apart of the city they must deal with the violation.

I would also contact the claimes loss department or lossprevention and turn in a claim for the damges having a non-compliant ramp caused you personally.  So take more then one approach is always the best city and counties have two different systems so if the city buliding department will not fix it contact the counity if that also fails contact the state level. Just remember to compare the ramp design against the ADA specifications and remember they cannot mix and match the two sprecifications.

Posted on: Tue, Apr 29 2008 7:54 PM

Posted by: DSB Posts: 767

 Go figureI forgot to provide a link that explains curb ramps in pretty good common terms from the Dept of Justice http://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap6toolkit.htm#fn3