Mr. Protocol
08-19-2006, 11:53 AM
I just got back from Yellowstone National Park - I'll get pix on the Web
in a bit - where I saw not one, but two Segs in the wild. One was the
most beat-up P series I've ever seen, gliding along the Old Faithful
boardwalk. The rider was one of the cutest girls I've ever seen, and
as I live in LA that's saying something. She had left-side weakness.
As this left her with speech problems, her husband/BF/SO/whatever,
who was in a wheelchair did most of the talking. I pointed them
in the direction of DRAFT. She was just gliding along on the
"forgiveness is easier than permission" philosophy, unaware of
what I remember to be an official "on hold, don't use 'em" NPS
policy towards Segs till they can make up their minds around 2007
or 2008 or so.
A few days later I ran into a woman gliding down the Upper Basin
boardwalk toward Castle Geyser, making use of the ramp that
replaced the stairs at the Firehole River bridge. She was firmly of
the opinion that it didn't matter what the NPS said, the ADA trumped
them. I smiled and let her go on her way.
But the ADA and the NPS are both Federal, so there is no default
precedence here. Does the ADA indeed prevent the NPS from, not
banning Segways, but placing them "on hold" till a policy can be
put in place?
I'm diabetic. My feet are more or less OK so far but I managed to
whack one of them up badly enough on this trip that I am now
sporting a temporary handicapped parking placard for the first
time in my life. Realistically I have to prepare for the possibility that
that red placard may turn blue some day. So I'm keenly interested
in the answer.
I'd like responders to bear in mind the fact that although many posters
in this forum state categorically that, for example, the ADA means
Disney is legally obligated to allow Segways in their (U.S.) parks,
they currently don't, and I haven't heard of any lawsuits either in
progress or in preparation to reverse this. What's with that? So,
please differentiate between legal theorizing and "truth on the
ground".
in a bit - where I saw not one, but two Segs in the wild. One was the
most beat-up P series I've ever seen, gliding along the Old Faithful
boardwalk. The rider was one of the cutest girls I've ever seen, and
as I live in LA that's saying something. She had left-side weakness.
As this left her with speech problems, her husband/BF/SO/whatever,
who was in a wheelchair did most of the talking. I pointed them
in the direction of DRAFT. She was just gliding along on the
"forgiveness is easier than permission" philosophy, unaware of
what I remember to be an official "on hold, don't use 'em" NPS
policy towards Segs till they can make up their minds around 2007
or 2008 or so.
A few days later I ran into a woman gliding down the Upper Basin
boardwalk toward Castle Geyser, making use of the ramp that
replaced the stairs at the Firehole River bridge. She was firmly of
the opinion that it didn't matter what the NPS said, the ADA trumped
them. I smiled and let her go on her way.
But the ADA and the NPS are both Federal, so there is no default
precedence here. Does the ADA indeed prevent the NPS from, not
banning Segways, but placing them "on hold" till a policy can be
put in place?
I'm diabetic. My feet are more or less OK so far but I managed to
whack one of them up badly enough on this trip that I am now
sporting a temporary handicapped parking placard for the first
time in my life. Realistically I have to prepare for the possibility that
that red placard may turn blue some day. So I'm keenly interested
in the answer.
I'd like responders to bear in mind the fact that although many posters
in this forum state categorically that, for example, the ADA means
Disney is legally obligated to allow Segways in their (U.S.) parks,
they currently don't, and I haven't heard of any lawsuits either in
progress or in preparation to reverse this. What's with that? So,
please differentiate between legal theorizing and "truth on the
ground".