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Accessibility

© William Robb

There are three things which can happen during one's lifetime. Two you have no control over but the third you may. What are these three? They are your birth and your death and the possiblitiy that you could become disabled. You have no control over the first two but the last one,disability, you may be able to exert some meaningful control. You may do this by taking measures which could prevent a disability or at least lessen its effect upon the person. One way to exert control over disability may be to insure that all forms of public transportation are accessible to all citizens.

Not all disabilities can be prevented but their effects could be lessened if enlightened leaders would endeavor to remove all artificial barriers to employment. A major artificial barrier which could be removed now is inaccessibility to public transportation. If this is allowed to remain then haven't leaders insured that some people have been made needlessly disabled.

If leaders both nationally and locally allow public transportation to remain inaccessible then disability may continue to grow unchecked. Unchecked growth will mean that people will have to spend more and more money just to help the disabled. If this could be prevented by making public transportation accessible then why haven't leaders taken measures to do so?

Shouldn't government's primary objective be to help people return to productivity instead of allowing some to be made needlessly disabled? Isn't inaccessibility to public transportation just a way to allow people to be made needlessly disabled?

Allowing one to become needlessly disabled could be called the ostrich approach to the problem of disability. Unfortunately some leaders stubbornly adhere it. They may do this becuse they find the status quo easier to follow than trying to exert meaningful changes in it. If change does not come then how will a person with a disability expect to gain some semblance of independence? Isn't making public transportation accessible a good change in the status quo?

Leaders who practice the ostrich approach, the stick your head in the ground approach, don't realize that it may cost their countries millions in lost revenue or that it will insure that some disabilities will never cease to be a problems. Fortunately for some countries there are leaders who advocate the progressive approach instead of the ostrich aproach. These leders realize that this approach, not the ostrich approach, could pump millions if not billions into the economy of their country. They also realize that it could make some disabilities cease to be problems. This could hapen because the progressive approach advocates removing all forms of artificial barriers to employment. Leaders advocating this approach also advocate making all forms of public transportation accessible to people with disabilities.

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