Posted: March 19, 2009 09:23 PM CDT JACKSON, MS (WLBT) – A man in a wheelchair is fatally hit while traveling down the road. Jackson police say the driver of a Chevrolet Impala was attempting to cross the median on Medgar Evers Boulevard, when she rear ended a Chevrolet Tahoe. The SUV then struck and killed an unidentified man who was riding in his wheelchair on the side of the road because there are no sidewalks.

A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities says Thursday’s tragedy was an accident waiting to happen. “We’ve got to have accessible, safe reliable transportation and part of that to the community are safe sidewalks too,” Mary Troupe said. Mary Troupe says for the past two decades she’s begged the city to create additional sidewalks and more handicap-accessible public transportation. “It’s frustrating because we’re talking about over 18 years here that we’ve been talking about this and it’s always been put on the back burner,” Troupe said.

Councilman Frank Bluntson, who’s ward covers where the accident occurred, says he will request that some of the stimulus money Mississippi is set to receive will go towards creating more walkways. “This accident might be able to create some avenues to where we can get additional money for sidewalks for people who are in wheelchairs,” Frank Bluntson said. Until then, Dorothy Lee, who drives a school bus down Medgar Evers, says she will miss seeing the man who traveled down the boulevard each day. “He’s a nice man, he speaks and everything. He usually watches the traffic when he comes across the street. He’d be to the side of the street but everybody see him, he’s really a nice person,” Dorothy Lee said.

So far, no charges have been filed against either driver. The coalition is currently suing the city to get better public transportation for the disabled.

As you’ve (hopefully) seen on the front page, we’ve been asking for your photos of anything transportation-related in your community, and you’ve responded with photos of new light rail vehicles in Phoenix, bike boxes in Portland, Safe Routes to School in Ohio, and many others that are being spotlighted on the front page and in the sidebar just to your right. But we especially wanted to share this story and photos we received yesterday from Dr. Scott Crawford in Jackson, MS. Hit the jump to continue.

I know you asked for pro-transit photos at your Transportation for America site, and believe me, I’m as supportive as I can be. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of positive photos for you, because Jackson Mississippi isn’t exactly a pro-transit city. They recently cut the budget for our transit system by 1.5 million dollars, and they are being sued by a consortium of people with disabilities for violations of civil rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (me being one of the plaintiffs).

The first and last photos are of one of the *BETTER* bus stops in Jackson, but as you can see, it is not accessible to people in wheelchairs. The second picture is of me being told, yet again, that I can’t ride the bus because the lifts don’t work. The third picture is of a friend of mine trying to cross a busy street in traffic because there are no accessible sidewalks or crosswalks in a busy shopping area. You can certainly understand the importance of sidewalks, curb ramps, accessible buses, and accessible bus stops to people like me. Now, if we can just convince our leaders that they are good for everybody else too! This is the state of transit in many of our smaller communities like Jackson.Underfunded and neglected by city or county governments, and more often than not, woefully ignored by State Departments of Transportation mostly concerned with pouring new asphalt and opening new highways.

Transit is not just something for big cities like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles. For residents like Dr. Crawford (and millions of others) in communities big and small, who either can’t drive or choose not to drive, it’s a basic question of equity. Jackson did submit their “wish list” to the U.S. Conference of Mayors for potential economic stimulus money. Their $560 million request does include $6.1 million for 18 fixed route buses, and $720,000 for 12 demand response buses, but it also covers $188 million for street and road work. I wonder if the $800,000 for “JATRAN Shelter Improvements” includes making those terribly-designed curbs compatible for the disabled or elderly?

If you haven’t already, go and weigh in with your elected leaders and tell them that you want economic stimulus money for transportation invested in the smartest way. If you’re from the second or third district of Mississippi, you might want to tell your representatives to complete Jackson’s streets, making them safe for all users, and help upgrade Jackson’s buses to serve those who need them most. What’s the view in your community? Send photos and/or your story to photos AT t4america DOT org

• Article archived by the Clarion Ledger – no longer freely available
  Former Link: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090320/NEWS/90320012/-1/archive

The leader of a coalition for the disabled is renewing her call for improved sidewalks in Jackson after Thursday’s traffic crash that killed an elderly man in west Jackson.”It’s always something tragic that brings attention (to a problem),” said Mary Troupe, director of the state Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities.

James Smith, 68, was killed as he rode his motorized wheelchair along Medgar Evers Boulevard. An SUV that had been struck by another car careened into Smith as he moved along the road’s shoulder. He was pronounced dead in the 4700 block of Medgar Evers, less than two miles from his home in Delhaven Manor on Albermarle Road. The drivers of the two vehicles were not seriously hurt. No charges have been filed.

The coalition has for years urged the city to improve existing sidewalks and install new ones in some areas, including Medgar Evers. The city has inadequate sidewalks or no sidewalks at all in most places, leaving people in the unsafe position of traveling on roadways in wheelchairs, said Troupe. People in wheelchairs often have to brave traffic and bumpy roads to run errands, she said. A manager at the Food Depot on Northside Drive less than a mile from the accident site said Smith occasionally would shop there, though he did not recall Smith being at the store on Thursday.Attempts Friday to reach Smith’s family were unsuccessful, but neighbors at his apartment complex said they were saddened by his death. “We’ve been friends for 20 years,” said Eugene Bracey, 74. “I think about what if somebody had run over me.”

Like Smith and many Delhaven Manor residents, Bracey uses a motorized wheelchair to run errands outside the apartment complex several times a week. “All these roads around here are dangerous,” Bracey said. He would use the JATRAN bus system but said buses that come by the apartments rarely have working wheelchair lifts. Another neighbor, 74-year-old Anderson Forbes, said Smith took a risk going down Medgar Evers Boulevard is his chair. “People fly down that road,” Forbes said. Forbes has an artificial knee and has used a wheelchair for many years, but he said he will climb out of his chair if it looks like cars are coming too close. Not only is it unsafe for the disabled not to have proper sidewalks, but also for the many walkers in the city, Troupe said.

Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said he would like the city to use economic stimulus money to install some sidewalks or repair crumbling and cracked sidewalks. The city is due about $2 million in stimulus funds for public works projects, mostly street resurfacing. It’s uncertain when the money will come and how much it will be. “I just hope that somebody will take it seriously and realize that people in wheelchairs need access also,” Stokes said.

To comment on this story, call Kathleen Baydala at (601) 961-7262 or Heather Civil at (601) 961-7067.

• Source: Clarion Ledger – Fatal crash revives call for better sidewalks [Archived]

• Article available at disabilityscoop.com:
  http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2009/03/24/kareem-dale/2639/