[Blind-rollers] seatbelts

[Paul Wick]

I don't, apart from the one on my powerchair, as I think they take too
much time to fasten, and so down the bus (i'm speaking of regular
public buses, I try to avoid paratransit at all costs). However, some
smaller public transit agencies will radio dispatch just to let the
higher-ups you refused their belts; this is ineffective as a C.Y.A.
measure because it wouldn't relieve the agency of liability.

On Mon, May 10, 2010 at 2:56 PM, Becky Frankeberger
<b.butterfly at comcast.net> wrote:
> Do you all use seatbelts?  I sure do.  Do you make sure it is a four point
> tie down?  I sure do as someone forgot and I bounced backwards nearly
> tipping me backwards.  Do you do a lap and shoulder belt?  I do as I had to
> hold on for dear life as the van stopped kind of suddenly. Or is equal
> treatment more important then safety.  If my able bodied counterparts do not
> have to use seatbelts or four point tie downs why should I, according to Lex
> in the article..
>
> What do you all think of "equal treatment.
>
> Becky and Jake
>
> Bus seat belt laws mostly exclude wheelchairs
> By JOHN SEEWER
> ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
> TOLEDO, Ohio -- Lonnie Acton's lifeless body sat in a wheelchair fastened to
> the
> floor of a mangled minibus. No shoulder or lap belt protected him.
> Those restraints, attached to the bus, are specially made to secure
> passengers in
> their wheelchairs. They weren't being used when a tractor-trailer slid
> across a snowy
> highway and slammed into the bus in January, killing Acton and two other
> residents
> of a special-needs center in western Ohio.
> While federal law requires buses to be equipped with straps that lock down
> wheelchairs,
> as well as seat belts and shoulder harnesses to secure passengers
> themselves, laws
> in Ohio and most states don't require that people in wheelchairs on small
> buses and
> vans actually wear the seat belts - even though they're vulnerable to
> injuries from
> being tossed around in an accident.
> "It just doesn't make any sense," said Acton's stepfather, Steve Hoessli.
> "If they're
> required to have restraints, why aren't they required to use them?"
> A review by The Associated Press of seat belt laws in all states found just
> five
> - Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, Washington and Wisconsin - that require both
> wheelchairs
> and their users to be secured on paratransit buses that help people in
> wheelchairs
> to travel to work, doctor's offices and shopping centers.
> Just a handful of other states require seat belt use for wheelchairs, with
> some exceptions.
> Oregon requires buckling up on commercial buses with less than 16 seats but
> says
> nothing about floor restraints. New Jersey limits its requirements to
> passenger cars
> and vans. North Carolina's law doesn't mention wheelchairs, but a state
> police spokesman
> said the rules cover nearly all vehicles.
> It's not known how many people riding in wheelchairs are injured in vehicle
> accidents
> because little data are available.
> University of Michigan researchers have found 52 auto crashes involving
> wheelchairs
> during the past three years. While not a comprehensive list, the accident
> data show
> that simply strapping a wheelchair to the floor of a bus or van wasn't
> enough protection.
> In most of the crashes the wheelchairs were secured. However, seat belts
> weren't
> always used or fastened the right way, and in some instances, people slid
> from under
> lap belts and were injured.
> "By and large, many of these injuries are preventable if the restraints had
> been
> used, or used properly," said Gina Bertocci, a professor who works in
> wheelchair
> transportation safety at the University of Louisville.
> A survey of wheelchair users who ride on public and private transportation
> found
> in 2007 that one in seven never used restraints, mainly because drivers
> didn't take
> time or know how to secure their wheelchairs and lap belts, according to
> Easter Seals
> Project Action, a program that helps the disabled with transportation.
> "I've seen drivers who drop off the kids and they're in a hurry so they
> don't take
> time for each chair," said Margaret Griscti, of North Brunswick, N.J., whose
> son,
> Stephen, broke his leg when his wheelchair tipped over in a vehicle.
> That accident nearly 10 years ago and other crashes led to New Jersey's 2008
> law,
> which includes fines for violators.
> Acton's relatives hope Ohio lawmakers now will take another look at their
> state's
> seat belt laws.
> Crash investigators were surprised, too, that seat belts aren't required for
> people
> in wheelchairs. "I guess I thought there would be something," said State
> Highway
> Patrol Lt. Craig Cvetan.
> There's no guarantee restraints would have saved Acton, a 28-year-old born
> with spina
> bifida, because he died of multiple injuries. The only thing keeing him in
> his seat
> was a strap designed to help him sit up, not protect him in an accident.
> His stepfather pointed out that Acton was in the back of the bus and that
> most of
> the damage was up front. A man in a wheelchair across from Acton survived
> even though
> he, too, did not have lap and shoulder belts.
> The bus driver also died, and six passengers were injured. Three of the
> survivors
> had on lap belts, according to accident reports.
> Two employees on the bus told investigators that they usually attached the
> lap and
> shoulder belts for passengers in wheelchairs, but not always, and that they
> didn't
> know who secured Acton before the accident.
> Administrators at the Creative Learning Workshop in Springfield, Ohio, which
> operated
> the bus, referred all questions to the company's attorney, Steve Freeze, who
> did
> not return messages seeking comment.
> Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the decision on whether to use
> the safety
> restraints on buses and paratransit vans is left up to the wheelchair users
> and bus
> operators. The law says passengers riding on buses in wheelchairs can be
> told to
> buckle up only if everyone else aboard must wear a seat belt.
> The law sets out to treat people with disabilities the same as anyone else,
> said
> Lex Frieden, a former head of the National Council on Disability who helped
> draft
> the ADA in the mid-1980s.
> "If we're not going to require the general public to wear seat belts on
> buses, we
> shouldn't require people with disabilities," he said. "Clearly, one could
> argue we
> need to look after the well-being of the people using these vehicles, but
> that leads
> us to a patronizing approach."
> Some operators of small buses do require all passengers to be belted,
> setting standards
> that vary by city, according to interviews with transit managers. And some
> transit
> operators, especially those that are government-funded, say it's too risky
> not to
> make everyone buckle up.
> "It's a liability issue," said Robert Hiett, who oversees a rural
> paratransit service
> in Griffin, Ga., that requires seat belts for all. "If we didn't properly
> secure
> them and there's an accident, we'd get in all kinds of problems. Defending
> one lawsuit
> could put us out of business."
> Larry Schneider, a research professor at the University of Michigan's
> Transportation
> Research Institute, said he hopes legislation being considered in
> Massachusetts will
> become a model for other states. The proposal would require wheelchairs and
> users
> to be secured on all paratransit buses and vans and require training for
> caregivers.
> Paula Cieplik and her 35-year-old son, Kenny, of Middleborough, Mass.,
> pushed for
> the proposal after he was injured in a crash a year ago when the seat belts
> holding
> him in his wheelchair broke, throwing him out of his seat.
> "The people who are most vulnerable aren't protected," she said. "It's
> mind-boggling."
> -
>
>
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