There are many different types of disability. For example, people can have hearing or speech impediments, they can have sight problems or they can have mobility issues. This article aims to discuss solely how people with mobility problems are able to travel. How do people travel with disability?
I have chosen four forms of transport to write about; air, train, road and sea. I am presuming that the disabled traveler is alone. I shall quote instances of disabled people traveling in or from the United Kingdom.
The first form of transport to discuss is air travel. It can be a long walk from check in to the airplanes departure gate. Modern airports in the United Kingdom have the most fantastic systems for assisting people with mobility problems. Once the person is at the airport check in and they state they need assistance the check in operator makes a quick phone call and minutes later an able bodied member of the airport staff will turn up with a wheelchair and take the customer to the gate that the airplane is leaving from. The staff member is specially trained in assisting mobility impaired passengers and there is always a cheery smile. Loading a passenger onto an airplane is also expertly completed. Lifts can be used or airplane loading vehicles can help lift people in wheelchairs up to level with the aeroplane doors.
The next form of transport to mention is train travel. As at airports, mostly all railway stations have specialised facilities for disabled people. Roadside pavements leading into the railway station have been levelled allowing access for wheelchairs. There are also ramps as well as steps. Ticket booths have facilities where disabled rail users can sign papers or sort out their travel documents. As with air travel, at railway stations there are employees trained in assisting mobility impaired people, whether it be carrying luggage or pushing a wheelchair to the required platform and offering assistance with help into a train. The trains themselves usually have an area put aside for wheelchairs or those with walking difficulty.
Road travel, too, is a much easier process. Vehicles can be specially adapted to house a disabled person, either for transport only or to be driven by the disabled person themselves. Parking places are usually reserved for the disabled in parking bays that are closest to the area being visited.
The final form of transport is sea travel. Travelling, say from the United Kingdom to Holland, is by ferry. Again the disabled are catered for. On arriving at the port, the disabled person has to let it known that he requires assistance. This will come in two forms; assistance in parking his vehicle on the car deck close to a lift, and, if required, assistance to the cabin.
Over the last ten to fifteen years facilities for people that travel with disability have improved greatly. The stresses and pressures that mobility impaired people used to have to endure have been greatly reduced. Gone are the days when the disabled people were prisoners in their own houses.
Greg Scott insists that planning for
travel for disabled is extremely important. Fortunately, there are online resources that can assist in this. He recommends browsing a website that specializes in
handicapped travel.
Occupation: professor and entrepreneur
Greg Scott has been a professor, a video producer and a radio station manager. He owns gSport Enterprises LLC and operates a number of web sites.
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