This is a technical posting so skip it if you are not interested. Now, I work in Penrith, and as far as disabled access goes its the land that time forgot. Sadly, its just murder to get round, which is a pity as its in the Lake District, and is a pretty town with lots to offer. The main problem for me anyway is the crossfall in the pavements. Ooooo what's this you ask? Well next time you are out walking , stop to notice the angle of the pavement. Is it flat or does it fall to one side? If it falls to one side then this is known as crossfall or camber. Its ok for walking, legs can deal with it, but wheelchair's are not designed to accommodate more than a very modest angle. This means that I'm going around town at a very uncomfortable angle. So its hard pushing for me, kills my back as I have to actively sit up straight, and also I feel unsafe that I'm going to topple over at any minute? What can be done then you ask? Well I need to change the camber bar on my chair. This is the bit that holds your wheels on. At the moment I have basically a city chair in that there is not much angle in my wheels. By changing the camber bar, I can angle my wheels so that the base of the chair is wider than the top. Must do it asap as I don't want to fall out of my chair in public!!
Just keep in mind that you might experience problems getting through narrow doors -- for everyday chairs, I would not recommend a negative angle larger than 3 degrees!
ReplyDeleteWin (VT)