Since reading Niall’s column a couple of weeks ago about pavement etiquette I have thought a lot about this matter. I found it to be an interesting and thought-provoking read because I recently fell foul of my own impatience and frustration with other walkers at an airport.

I muttered an audible expletive at a group of individuals who showed no understanding as I walked in the opposite direction to the main flow of people using my white cane. I definitely offended somebody and I’m deeply ashamed of this. So it has made me think an awful lot about the question: How much can a disabled person expect from others on pavements and walkways in terms of making allowances for the disabled person and moving out of the way? And vice versa.

As Niall implied in his article it is clearly more difficult for wheelchair users on narrow pavements. He said that he gets frustrated when people hog the middle lane on pavements. I can imagine how frustrating it must be if you’re in a wheelchair and cannot pass the people in front because they’re walking right in the middle of the pavement and not allowing for you to pass them. But there is no rule that says the left of the pavement is the slow lane and the right is the overtaking lane.

I think that the users of electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters and ordinary wheelchairs must have patience but also be prepared to call out to the people in front if they need to pass or use a bell or hooter.

Niall also stated that he gets frustrated when people stand flat against the wall to let him past because he feels that they are implying that he is overly large. I personally do not use a wheelchair because I can walk, but find walking very difficult and I’m slower than most people. I am also visually impaired which means that I’m usually very grateful when people make as much space as possible because I’m less likely to trip over them. Those people Niall referred to standing flat against the wall probably just don’t want to get their feet run over by his wheelchair which I can understand.

A friend of mine recently came face to face with a young lad in a wheelchair and both of them turned to the left and then both then turned to the right, but then the lad in the wheelchair told my friend to get the ... out of the way.

As I have mentioned, I too, have been guilty of not controlling my frustration but believe that this kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable. But we also must all accept that pavements and walkways are a shared resource and no one individual or subgroup of our community has a divine right to own the whole pavement space for themselves.

We must all be considerate to the other users and avoid pavement rage or wheelchair rage.

However, this doesn’t stop me wishing occasionally that my white cane could double up as a 100,000 Volt cattle prod to aid my passage from A to B.

 

 

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