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Fill-Ups Still a Hurdle for the Disabled

By Jon Hilkevitch
Chicago Tribune
Published December 4, 2006
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi- 0612040161dec04,1,4678046.column?page=1&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=chi-news-hed

Chicago-area drivers might find it a pain to refuel their vehicles in snow and ice, but for 41-year-old Bob Ness it requires careful planning or sheer luck.

A wheelchair is the driver's seat of Ness' blue Dodge Caravan, which is specially equipped with hand controls as a result of injuries he suffered in an automobile accident 20 years ago that left him a quadriplegic.

The Chicago resident cannot count on a federal law that requires gas stations to provide refueling assistance to disabled drivers because compliance with the law is haphazard and government agencies provide little enforcement. When his Caravan's fuel gauge indicator drops down near the E, Ness must either be sure he is near a gas station where he is a regular customer or he has someone along to pump the gas.

Thousands of disabled U.S. soldiers returning from service in Iraq face similar obstacles. Some veterans groups say it was easier to refuel a fighter jet in mid-air over hostile territory than refueling their vehicles as disabled veterans.

But a Chicago company is trying to help the 10 million disabled drivers in the U.S. by marketing a Fuel Call system of signs and other equipment to gas stations that lets disabled drivers know they are welcome and that assistance is available.

Ness usually gasses up at a Shell station at Halsted Street and Wrightwood Avenue that participates in the Fuel Call system. But the program has not caught on nationally, in part because of resistance from some station owners about the image such a campaign may project--that catering to a disabled clientele may be seen as uncool.

Knowing how far he can get on a tank of gas is especially important in winter when Ness, a marketing consultant for a navigational software company, travels alone around the country on business. He recently made it home "on vapors" from a trip to Minneapolis, said Ness, who lives in the Lakeview neighborhood on the North Side.

Ignored by attendants

The biggest problem is that gas station attendants often ignore disabled drivers, even when they honk their horns or wave an arm out the window to obtain service.

"They don't understand why I am sitting in my car waving, like I'm crazy or something," Ness said. "Once a guy finally came out and yelled at me, `What do you want? Are your legs broken?'

"I said, `Yes, kind of,"' said Ness, whose spine is in four sections. He is able to move his wrists, although he does not have control of his fingers or lower body.

A provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires gas stations to pump fuel, at the self-serve price, for disabled drivers when more than one attendant is on duty. But the Justice Department's refueling-assistance policy doesn't set specific standards for gas stations, nor does it spell out how disabled drivers should go about requesting help.

The upshot is most major oil companies and gas station owners either ignore the federal mandate, which is sporadically enforced, or they come up with solutions that don't work, according to advocates for disabled people.

Many stations post small stickers displaying a figure in a white wheelchair on a blue background--the universal symbol for disabled access. Signs are also often posted instructing disabled drivers to honk their horns for service. Some stations have attendant call buttons on the refueling equipment, but disabled drivers are unable to reach or manipulate the buttons unless they carry a golf club or a pool cue in their cars.

Inclusion Solutions, a Chicago company created six years ago to come up with practical solutions on a range of challenges facing the disabled community, markets the Fuel Call system to gas station owners.

For about $1,000, the stations receive communications tools, including Fuel Call signage to let disabled drivers know service is available. Other features include an ADA-accessible touch pad on the fuel-pump island that disabled drivers can ring for assistance.

"Years ago, it wasn't as much of a problem because the stations were full service and attendants came out and pumped the gas. Today, the stations are more interested in selling coffee and doughnuts," said Patrick Hughes Jr., president of Inclusion Solutions.

Fuel Call kits are outfitted at 50 gas stations in the U.S. Half are in Wisconsin and Florida.

The company's other products include equipment to improve accessibility for disabled people at locations ranging from fast food drive-up windows to polling places. Inclusion Solutions has a contract with the Chicago Board of Elections to help disabled voters get inside voting places.

"We work on solutions so people are not inhibited from leaving their comfort zone or made to feel isolated," said Hughes, 38, who became involved in disabled issues at age 19 when he volunteered his time to work with autistic adults.

Changed his outlook

"It shifted the way I saw things," said Hughes, who was executive director of a school for the autistic before moving on to create Inclusion Solutions.

The need for improved access at gas stations is increasing to match the ever-growing needs of disabled drivers, including military veterans.

About 20,000 wounded U.S. soldiers returning home from the war in Iraq have had their personal vehicles retrofitted with steering, acceleration and braking levers so they can get around. But they are blocked at the pump.

"I've encountered situations where I had to wheel myself out of my car and try to refuel by myself, only to find out that the pump or credit-card reader didn't work or I couldn't reach buttons designed for a standing person from my wheelchair," said Lee Page, associate advocacy director at the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

"This is a big issue for us, and a hard issue to crack," he said.

Enforcement of the federal refueling-assistance policy in Illinois occurs primarily after complaints are received, according to the Illinois attorney general.

The state recently settled a case that was filed against a Minute Man 76 station in Lincolnwood for charging disabled drivers a higher price to pump gas for them, said Joe Russo, chief of the disability rights bureau in the attorney general's office.

"There have been other cases of gas stations' overcharging disabled drivers," Russo said.

More than 700,000 drivers in Illinois have been issued disabled placards or license plates enabling them to park in spaces reserved for the disabled and to receive other assistance.

Litigation across the U.S. over the federal refueling policy has led to settlements requiring some oil companies to lower the placement of at least one fuel pump in each station or implement refueling policies.

Lawsuit in Florida

A lawsuit against the Florida Turnpike resulted in the Fuel Call system's being installed at gas stations along the 450-mile turnpike in a 2005 settlement, said Hollister Bundy, a vice president at Inclusion Solutions.

"The suit was filed over two turnpike plazas in Miami and Orlando, but it was a win for everybody resulting in access at all stations throughout the Florida Turnpike," Bundy said.

While most drivers running on empty would feel anxious about being miles away from the nearest gas station, for Ness and millions of other disabled drivers coast to coast, the fear is being turned away.

"I am constantly looking for the blue guy," Ness said, referring to the wheelchair symbol for handicapped accessibility.