More on the same subject.

Imagine if you will a big outlet shopping centre (mall) and car park with several disabled spaces close to the entrance (that’s not hard to do, is it?) To get from the spaces to the shops, you have to cross the road. The shopping centre realised this might be a problem, so they helpfully put in a zebra crossing and to make it even safer, raised it so that it would slow down oncoming vehicles by making it a wide sleeping policeman.

They obviously did this after they had installed their drop curbs (which are really wicked in that they must be about 2 inches high and just perfect to tip you out of your chair) and weren’t quite sure how to handle it so they devised a solution by sloping the raised section off at each end towards the curb. If you are in a chair, it goes something like this:

• Park the car
• Get in chair and push down pavement to drop curb
• Drop off drop curb with a bump and immediately encounter a drastic short uphill onto the top of the speed bump
• Push across crossing – red faced after heaving yourself up slope
• Get some speed up on the flat – you are hurrying because there is a car coming…
• Suddenly encounter the down-slope at the other end of the ramp and start to go very fast
• Encounter (not so) dropped curb – at pace
• Throw yourself 6 feet forward out of wheelchair and hit wall of Nike shop

Mad…..

Actually I was sensible – applied a bit of braking force and discovered that I was then stuck in the down slope, up drop curb bit and needed help to be pushed out …oh the shame….