How do the blind manage in winter?
Urbania asks how the blind get around in winter and speaks to five Montrealers about how they manage.
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mare 00:10 on 2020-12-29 Permalink
How do the disabled in wheelchairs get around in the winter?
The ones I know don’t get around, and stay inside. Busses often don’t stop —and when you’re sitting in a wheelchair you get too cold waiting 20 minutes to the next one—, adaptive transport is a joke and the metro is not accessible.
And I see even less people in wheelchairs in the winter than in the summer. I’m possibly not in the right places, I bet there are more in suburbia and in malls.
EmilyG 10:56 on 2020-12-29 Permalink
Mare brings up an important point – Montreal can be extremely unfriendly towards disabled people.
And as for malls, there are some that are more wheelchair-friendly, but sadly not all of them are. Society really needs to do more for disabled people, instead of just saying, Well, things work for most people, so what if some are inconvenienced.
(You can look up “social model of disability” for more information.)
Ephraim 13:40 on 2020-12-29 Permalink
The city constantly removes handicapped parking spots. There is no report on the number of spots available. And parking enforcement should just write tickets even if someone is in the car in a handicapped parking spot without the hanging tag.
The city doesn’t have enough places for people to sit in some places. Older people and the handicapped often need to stop. Even planters offer a pace to lean against.
We don’t hold pedestrian spaces as inviolate (a fast moving bicycle/skateboard feels threatening to a handicapped person who may not be able to twist to see where the threat is coming from.) Think of what it feels like with you unable to twist and holding a cane or using a walker. (I live next to a rehab).
Police don’t ensure that crossing pedestrians don’t have to wait extended periods (the invisible handicapped often can’t stand still for long periods.)
There are plenty of things we don’t think of that would make things for older people and the handicapped better. But until you have to walk with a cane, help someone with a walker, etc. It’s hard to understand.
I was temporarily handicapped at one time, my mother is in a walker, my friend walks with a cane, my father walked with a cane. When you deal with it, you realize how vital this access is. Just someone stopped in a handicapped spot means that you have to look further away… because they think it’s a waiting zone.
Michael Black 13:55 on 2020-12-29 Permalink
The dog has become impatient in old age, some corners are so complicated that it’s a long time between pedestrian lights. I can’t say I’ve noticed it lately, but for a time I was seeing a lot of cars blocking sidewalks where they are sloped for wheelchairs. Or cars parked on the sidewalk, that really sticks out this year when the sidewalks are already too narrow for distancing. And cars stopped or parked in bus stops makes it harder to get on and off busses.