Posts Tagged ‘Wheelchair Accessible Vans’

Wheelchair Accessible Parking Courtesy

Many times, the public isn’t concious of the disabled parking lines painted in parking lots across America.  Often, especially with recent snow falls, wheelchair accessible parking spaces are hard to see, and parking lots are already extremely full.  All too often, this leads to crowding wheelchair vans and their drivers or passengers, creating impossible situations for them.  Many people with disabilities drive customized vans for wheelchairs that include ramps or mobility lifts that need room to extend.  And once extended, these wheelchair ramps and lifts could be too close to an adjacent vehicle to allow for easy access by a mobility device.

This dilema causes the person with disabilities to have to wait for the offender to move their car.  Cold weather can complicate some disabilities, and wheelchairs and other mobility equipment do not do well in frigid temperatures.  So the person driving a wheelchair van or accessible vehicle has to wait in the cold, or wait in the store and try to see when the car blocking their access moves (hard to do when sitting in a wheelchair with shoppers walking in and out of a store)  Often the police become involved.

In short, be considerate when parking.  If there is a spot open right next to the front door of the store, think twice.  It might be a wheelchair accessible parking space, or the additional reserved space needed for wheelchair accessible vans.

Extreme Wheelchair Van Adventure

The whole point of wheelchair accessible vans or vehicle is to allow people with disabilities to experience the fullness of life that able bodied individuals have.  Maybe that means taking the wheelchair van to the mall, to a ball game, or out for a night with friends.  For one non profit organization, it means off road adventures:

Disabled Explorers is a non-profit organization that exists to enhance the lives of disabled people through independent four-wheel-drive backcountry travel.

The Wheelchair Accessible Van for Expeditions (WAVE) is an off-road capable, four-wheel-drive recreational vehicle equipped with a wheelchair lift and hand controls. It is designed to be driven by a wheelchair user, taken into remote areas, and lived in while traveling. Disabled guests on the Desert Solitude Series of trips will drive the WAVE on remote roads and trails and experience independent adventure travel.

An accessible wheelchair van is one thing.  But it is entirely different to take a fully accessible vehicle offroad in rough terrain.  Most mobility vans have lowered floors or raised roofs and don’t exactly do well on back roads.  But these beefed up vehicles for wheelchair users are specifically designed to withstand the demanding nature of off road activity.