- Reaction score
- 1,733
With airplane bathrooms inaccessible to most people with disabilities, those who use wheelchairs have a necessary pre-flight routine: Dehydrate and hope for the best.
Now, relief is on the way.
Among a series of actions aimed at making air travel easier for people with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) finalized a rule late last month that will require new single-aisle airplanes to be designed with handicapped-accessible bathrooms. Some overseas airlines flying to and from the United States already have these bathrooms.
"They'll have grab bars," said Claire Stanley, a public policy analyst with the National Disability Rights Network. "They'll have a turning radius where someone can get in and actually turn and transfer to the commode."
Problems with airplane bathrooms are only one travel hassle for folks with disabilities. Some arrive at their destination to find their costly, custom wheelchair broken due to improper storage in an airplane's hold.
That's not just an inconvenience, but a serious health hazard, Stanley said.
"If your chair isn't designed right, you can develop pressure sores and that can lead to some pretty awful health problems," she said. "We hear countless stories of chairs broken in the cargo hold of a plan, where all the luggage is kept."
techxplore.com
Now, relief is on the way.
Among a series of actions aimed at making air travel easier for people with disabilities, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) finalized a rule late last month that will require new single-aisle airplanes to be designed with handicapped-accessible bathrooms. Some overseas airlines flying to and from the United States already have these bathrooms.
"They'll have grab bars," said Claire Stanley, a public policy analyst with the National Disability Rights Network. "They'll have a turning radius where someone can get in and actually turn and transfer to the commode."
Problems with airplane bathrooms are only one travel hassle for folks with disabilities. Some arrive at their destination to find their costly, custom wheelchair broken due to improper storage in an airplane's hold.
That's not just an inconvenience, but a serious health hazard, Stanley said.
"If your chair isn't designed right, you can develop pressure sores and that can lead to some pretty awful health problems," she said. "We hear countless stories of chairs broken in the cargo hold of a plan, where all the luggage is kept."
Passengers in wheelchairs can't use most airplane washrooms. That could change
With airplane bathrooms inaccessible to most people with disabilities, those who use wheelchairs have a necessary pre-flight routine: Dehydrate and hope for the best.
