Respecting the Handicapped & Their Space
Thursday, April 19, 2007 3:45 PM
Yesterday returning from lunch, I noticed a strapping young man blithely eating a hamburger while sitting on the handicapped bench on the train coming from Main Street Square to Downtown Transit.
A man who had had his legs amputated rolled his wheelchair onto the train. He didn't even bother to go near the handicapped seat but instead, expertly maneuvered his chair snugly into the corner, parallel to the doors. He seemed accustomed to doing this U-turn with his wheelchair.
The young man chomping on his burger was oblivious to the whole scene.
Some months ago, I spoke with Mary Wiens, a regular METRO passenger who rides the bus and train to get from Spring Branch to her job downtown. She says this happens to her all the time.
People do not realize the handicapped benches on the train flip up, making room for a wheelchair to fit securely in that space, instead of blocking the aisles or doorways.
"I have given up on this particular battle," said Wiens. "The signs on the train indicating where wheelchairs and handicapped are supposed to be on the train are not adequate because they don't tell anybody that the seat flips up where the wheelchair can go."
Indeed, I had had no idea the handicapped seats fold up until Wiens informed me. 
"They see me in my wheelchair and think, ‘Oh, she's already in her seat so I don't have to move.' So what happens is that I'm in the middle of the aisle," said Wiens, adding that not only does it make her feel awkward to be in everyone's way, it's dangerous.
When I disembarked from the train, I said, "Excuse me" to the man in the wheelchair as I turned sideways slightly to avoid hitting him with my workout bag. He politely replied, ‘Excuse me."
I felt bad that I hadn't asked the burger-chomping young man to please move so the gentleman in the wheelchair could use that space. But this was the day after the Virginia Tech mass murder spree, and I didn't want to confront anyone bigger than me.
Do we need to post more explicit signs above the seats for the disabled? Train riders, how often have you seen passengers in wheelchairs marooned in the aisles, and how often have you seen them safely parked where the handicapped bench is?