Bad sidewalks can drive wheelchair users into street


Q: At any time of year, but more often in good weather, I see people in motorized wheelchairs riding on city streets instead of sidewalks. This seems hazardous, since wheelchairs have no side mirrors or reflective strips, the occupants don’t wear any safety equipment, and parked cars make it impossible for them to stay out of the way of traffic. Also, their height presents a visibility issue.

Do you know whether New York State is considering addressing these “vehicles” in traffic law?

What prompted me to write was the most recent time I saw a wheelchair in traffic. It was last week during the evening rush hour on Madison Avenue just east of Washington Park, where there’s often a jam up. He was an older fellow, not looking around him as far as I could tell, and in that mess he was really risking his neck. All that would have been needed would have been for a cyclist to come flying along and ram him.

 — Linda Delfs, Albany

A:  A person in a motorized wheelchair is a pedestrian and should be on the sidewalk, but there are many reasons that person may end up in the street instead.

The only current reference to a person in a wheelchair is Vehicle and Traffic Law 130, which defines a pedestrian as a person afoot or in a wheelchair,said Nick Cantiello, a spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

“A person in a wheelchair is subject to all the rules of the road applicable to a pedestrian,” he said. “Wheelchairs are not considered motor vehicles. A change in the V&T law would need to be introduced and passed by the State Legislature.”

State Police Sgt. Daniel Larkin, Troop G traffic supervisor, added that the law also says “where sidewalks are provided and they may be used with safety it shall be unlawful for any pedestrian to walk along and upon an adjacent roadway.”

“It could well be that where you see wheelchairs using the roadways that have sidewalks adjacent to them that the sidewalks in that area are in disrepair and therefore cannot be used safely,” he said. “The other obvious possibility is that the ‘pedestrian’ is in violation of the law. Whenever a wheelchair occupant is using a roadway or parking lot, it would be advisable to wear brightly colored clothing in order to improve their visibility.”

Deborah Williams-Muhammad, a local human rights advocate who spent 11 years in a wheelchair, said there are many reasons people end up taking their wheelchairs in the street. Often it is because there are problems with the sidewalk.

“In downtown Albany, there are several streets that do not have curb cuts,” she said.

She recalls one block near LaSerre Restaurant where there was no curb cut. She’d get to the end of the block, be unable to get off the sidewalk and then have to ride back to the other end of the block and go into the street.

“The curb cuts are a big issue,” she said. “Troy and Schenectady are better for people in a wheelchair than in Albany.”

In cold weather, curb cuts are often buried under snow and ice. Even if the area is shoveled, enough ice can be left to make manuvering impossible, she said.

“If there is even a little bit of moisture, that makes an ice patch,” she said.

Even in good weather, cracked sidewalks can make it hard to get by, Williams-Muhammad said.

“Some sidewalks are kind of narrow, so if there is a mailbox or tree, it could be hard to navigate,” she said.

So if you see a person in a wheelchair in the street, that might be a place to alert authorities — or your friendly neighborhood Getting There columnist — of a problem in need of a remedy.

Tim O'Brien

6 Responses

  1. cp retiree says:

    “…the sidewalks in that area are in disrepair and therefore cannot be used safely,”


    Welcome to the Capital City!

  2. Bill W. says:

    A major irritation to me is an able bodied person walking down the center of the street when a perfectly good sidewalk is available. It’s almost like they dare you to hit them.

  3. Z. Fechten says:

    The Americans with Disabilities Act is two decades old. You’d think that would be enough time to put in curb ramps.

  4. Rick says:

    At least Albany is far better than East Greenbush. Half the neighborhoods don’t even have a sidewalk and those that do have sidewalks that will abruptly end several feet before hitting the road, leaving a patch of grass inbetween. We have a neighbor in our apartment complex that must rely on the bus and is in a wheel chair and is really frustrated by this.

  5. Gary Toth says:

    Of all the vehicles on Madison Avenue during rush hour Ms. Delfs is afraid that a cyclist is going to hit the person in a wheelchair?

  6. JayK says:

    Rick, sorry to hear about your neighbor. That’s awful. I would suggest, however, that East Greenbush wasn’t built for people, but cars instead. When that is the case, it’s unreasonable to expect a walkable area. Your neighbor’s problems are by design.