A Factory Built Wheelchair Accessible Van

Anyone who has had to purchase a wheelchair accessible van, ramp van, or a lift van knows how expensive the customization can be. Taking a factory made van, lowering the floor, and installing a ramp is a labor intensive process. Nearly all of these vans are customized by relatively small specialty shops, and while these shops often do great work, factory support isn’t there if something goes wrong.

So we were excited to see that the first factory built wheelchair accessible van will be available soon. Dubbed the “MV-1″, and looking like a cross between a truck and a minivan, this new vehicle could prove to be very useful.

Wheelchair Pride has a nice story on this great new vehicle – you can see their article here for more information.

How to Improve Disabled Parking

For anyone using a van with a lift, listen to this scenario and tell me if it sounds familiar: you drive into a large parking lot for an event (professional baseball game, concert, etc.) and search out the disabled parking spots so that you have a space to lower you ramp. Only, once you find the disabled spots, they are completely filled by regular (non-ramp) cars – meaning there is no safe space to park your van without worrying about someone parking next to you and blocking your life.

If this has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating it can be. Now, I am not saying at all that the people parked in those disabled spaces don’t have a need to park there and shouldn’t be able to park near to stores. I know how important that close parking is to people with disabilities that put them in pain when they walk, or make walking any sort of distance very difficult.  But many disabled spots have protected lined-off areas next to them specifically so that ramps can be lowered. And ramp-vans need those spots. Imagine coming back to your car in the pouring rain only to find a car parked next to you, blocking you from lowering your ramp. You’d have to wait who knows how long until the owner of that car comes back and moves it before you could get back in your car and leave.

So my idea to improve disabled parking is simple. We create two types of disabled parking spaces. The two types of spaces would be: those with marked off hash lines for ramps or lifts, and spaces without. If you don’t need a lift on your vehicle, you get a placard that allows you to park in the close spaces, but does not allow you to park in the hash mark spaces. And vans and vehicles with lifts wouldn’t park in the spaces without marked off areas next to them for obvious reasons.

Does this make sense to you? Would you support such an idea? Share your thoughts, or what your plan would be.