[rehab] FW: [OandM] Safe not sighted

Fri Mar 26 17:14:20 UTC 2010

Attention fellow Federationists.  I saw a post on another list from the lady below.  She is a wheelchair user and is experiencing some discrimination in her country.  She told us that wheelchair users who have power chairs may be required to get a driver's lisence.  That blind users are being told that they must be able to see to drive a chair.  We blind folks know that there are proper O.&M. skills that let a blind person operate a power chair safely and effectively.  If we have resources that she can use to change things in the UK, we need to send them her way.  You will see what I recommended but you may have recommendations that I didn't think of.  

Remember folks, if they think of doing this in the UK, someone will think it is a good idea here.

Jane Lansaw
NOMC

-----Original Message-----
From: Sasha Ayres [mailto:sashaallears at yahoo.co.uk] 
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 11:27 AM

Jane,

Thank you for your mail.  Yes, please do forward it to other lists as you see fit.

Thanks for the suggestions of organisations to contact.  I hadn't thought of the WBU.  Unfortunately RNIB aren't willing to fight this one and simply suggested I contact the Guide dog for the Blind Association.  But I will keep plugging away at it!

Sasha

> From: Lansaw,Jane (DARS) <Jane.Lansaw at dars.state.tx.us>
> Subject: RE: [OandM] Safe not sighted
> To: "Sasha Ayres" <sashaallears at yahoo.co.uk>

> Sasha, do you mind if I forward this > to other lists?  What part of the UK are you in?  Have you contacted the NFB AE in Canada or the RNIB?  You also might want to send information about this attack to the World Blind Union.  I don't have any contact info so just google.
> 
> Good luck and hang in there.  You have lots of blind brothers and sisters in the US and we'll spread the
> news.  
> 
> Jane Lansaw
> NOMC
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 3:04 PM
> To: oandm at lists.aerbvi.org
> Subject: [OandM] Safe not sighted
> 
> Freedom is a fundamental human right but the UK government
> is threatening to take it away from blind wheelchair users.
> Help protect our right to freedom.
> 
> The Department for Transport is consulting on proposed
> changes to the UK’s laws covering powered mobility
> scooters and powered wheelchairs. One of the proposals is to
> introduce a fitness to drive test including an eyesight
> test. Imposing a vision requirement would have appalling
> consequences for those of us who are blind and need to use a
> wheelchair; it would strip us of our right to freedom.
> 
> With appropriate use of long canes, guide dogs and/or
> electronic obstacle detectors, blind people can and do
> safely use powered mobility vehicles. The assumption that
> good eyesight is necessary for the safe use of powered
> scooters and wheelchairs is prejudice, discriminatory and
> utterly unacceptable.
> 
> I am blind and use a powered wheelchair, a long cane and an
> electronic obstacle detector. I am able to independently and
> safely get out and about in my local area. Being able to get
> around my house, go for a potter around the village, pop to
> the mailbox or go to get a pint of milk from the village
> shop are things that matter hugely to me. If the use of
> powered wheelchairs were restricted to those with good
> eyesight, blind wheelchair users, such as myself, would be
> trapped in our homes and robbed of our right to freedom.
> That simply cannot be allowed to happen.
> 
> Users of powered mobility vehicles need to drive safely; we
> do not need to be sighted. That is the message we must get
> across to the Department of Transport, the National Health
> Service, scooter and wheelchair suppliers, the general
> public and the media. To do this, we need evidence and
> personal testimonies.
> 
> Wherever you live in the world, you can help. If you are a
> blind wheelchair user, or if you have worked with any blind
> wheelchair users, please share your experiences. Why is it
> important that blind people can get around independently? Do
> you believe that blind people can safely and independently
> use powered wheelchairs and scooters? If so, how? What are
> the techniques, tools and skills that make this possible?
> How did you, or your students, learn to use the powered
> wheelchair or scooter safely? Do you know of any published
> research or practice reports that show that blind people can
> use powered wheelchairs or scooters? The more evidence and
> testimony we can gather from across the world, the better
> our chance of preventing the Department for Transport from
> implementing this disgraceful plan.
> 
> If you are able to share your experiences, I would
> appreciate it if you could also let me know whether you are
> happy for me to pass it on to other blind wheelchair users
> in the UK, quote excerpts from it on the Safe Not Sighted
> campaign blog (http://www.safenotsighted.wordpress.com) and/or quote
> excerpts from it in my response to the Department for
> Transport’s consultation. If you are happy for me to use
> your feedback in any of these ways, please also let me know
> whether I may include your name or whether you would prefer
> your comments to be anonymous.
> 
> If you live in the UK, don’t allow the Department of
> Transport to imprison blind wheelchair users. Please respond
> to the consultation on proposed changes to the laws
> governing powered mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs
> (DFT 2010-10), by 28 May 2010, available online at http://www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/2010-10/ and
> oppose the inclusion of an eyesight test in the fitness to
> drive test. Tell them that we need to be safe not sighted.
> 
> Thank you in advance for your anticipated support of the
> freedom of blind wheelchair users.
> 
> Sasha Ayres
> 
> Visit the Safe Not Sighted campaign blog at http://www.safenotsighted.wordpress.com

> 
> 
> 
>       
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