WHAT HANDICAP ACCESS?

Coronavirus 19 precautions are removing handicap access.

Here are examples of how precautions to prevent the spread of the virus are wrecking some of the provisions for people with disabilities:

Accessible parking:

  1. Closing some store entrances removes the handicap parking spaces near them from use by handicapped people. This cuts the total number of useful spaces available at the store.
  2. Making some store entrances one-way-in and others one-way-out requires the handicapped person to walk longer distances at that store. No single handicap space helps here.
  3. Some stores changed some accessible parking spaces into special spaces for law enforcement to park close to the building to deal with criminal activity inside the store. This moved accessible spaces farther from the store. But policemen do not need accessible spaces. They always park across the store entrance if there is an emergency.
  4. In the page author's town, someone crashed a car into a store entrance. They did not tell handicapped people that the entrance was closed until after they had parked and walked to the entrance. They were then expected to walk to another entrance.

Powered shopping carts:

  1. The need to sanitize these carts between uses takes some of them out of service.
  2. Because certain people had to sanitize these carts and charge them between uses, some of them are not sanitized or charged before they are used again. Many of them have early dead batteries.
  3. Removal of the benches provided for customers to rest on means more customers need powered carts. This means more carts than usual are needed.
  4. Benches where people waited when no carts were available were also removed. This means more carts than usual are needed to keep handicapped people from being forced to stand.
  5. The strains on businesses caused by the virus kept needed maintenance from being done on the carts. Many of them have failing batteries.
  6. Some carts have batteries with bad cells. They charge quickly, but power falls off rapidly. The cart works at reduced speed, but when full speed is attempted, the battery dies.
  7. Untrained people dragging the carts with dead batteries to places where they can be charged put flats on the wheels, causing once-around thumps to be felt and heard. People with spine or joint problems feel pain with every thump.
  8. One-way aisles used up more battery power.

Removed amenities:

  1. Many stores used to provide benches for customers with limited walking range to sit down every so often so they could shop without needing a powered cart. These were removed because they would have needed to be cleaned between uses, and also to keep multiple people from sitting together and spreading the virus.
  2. Many stores used to provide benches for customers to sit while waiting in line. These were removed because they would have needed to be cleaned between uses, and also to keep multiple people from sitting together and spreading the virus.
  3. Many stores used to provide benches for customers needing powered carts to wait on when none were available. These were removed because they would have needed to be cleaned between uses, and also to keep multiple people from sitting together and spreading the virus.
  4. Many stores used to provide drinking fountains for people who are thirsty. Many people with disabilities are very thirsty or need to take pills. These fountains were removed or turned off keep the virus from spreading.

Remedies for the above problems: