Power chairs: older and fatter Americans are on the move

Power chairs: older and fatter Americans are on the move

ST. PETERSBURG — A man on a moped crashed into a man in an electric wheelchair the other night in the middle of Fourth Street. There on the front page of the paper was a police tape picture of one of those objects we see all over. The wheeled mobility industry calls it a power chair.

They're everywhere, it seems, dotting the downtown streetscape, a kind of ant trail from the condos to the Publix and back.

....

A 60-year-old man in Minnesota took his scooter to the store to get some Jell-O and ended up under a Ford Expedition. A 70-year-old woman on a scooter got hit by a Chrysler in Nebraska. A 79-year-old man on a scooter drowned in a marina in South Dakota. All that's just this year.

....

State law says motorized wheelchairs are allowed on a road where the speed limit is 25 or less, or on a bicycle path, or in a crosswalk even if that crosswalk is on a road that has a speed limit of more than 25.

State law also says sidewalks are for pedestrians. No motors.

..
This is to say nothing of the fact that the manufacturers of EMDs say (even if they don't really mean) that their products aren't meant for outdoor use. Medicare, which last year paid out $547 million for power chairs, won't pay for an EMD unless it's specifically meant for indoor use.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/power-chairs-older-and-fatter-americans-are-on-the-move/1138096

Sorry, but this is just getting worked up about nothing. How about the folks in the cars actually watch where the fuck they're going.

My father in law, a large man(not fat, just tall and big like myself) was involved in a major car wreck a couple of years ago(one that was not his fault, got hit from behind). His pelvis was broken, along with several other bones. He recovered, and he can walk around the house, and a little bit around outside. But being on his feet for even a modicum of time hurts horribly. Therefore when he wants to go to the mall, or downtown or wherever, he takes a power chair. It has given him his mobility back, and improved his quality of life. You want to take that away from him?

This is simply bullshit. If you're having problems with power chairs in the area, then apparently you're going to have problems with wheelchairs, baby strollers, and people in general.

When so many of us are becoming so obese that we need scooters to get around. I don't blame the people, though.

They have 20 carts! 20 carts. And about 30 with their personal carts are in there all the time. It is like walking out on a bumper car floor.

A ton of them are obese. Sad how many, and you see them buying the most unhealthy foods.

So the fat and unhealthy are okay with you as long as they make music you like and don't get in your way at Wal-Mart. Check.

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

The worst part is, they always seem to sit SMACK in the middle of the aisles, blocking everyone else's right-of-way. Walmart is scary. I avoid that place like the plague....

If you ever go over to the "People Of Walmart" site, there are some interesting reconnaissance photographs of some of their clientele. :evilgrin:

I never thought I'd be in the mess I'm currently in, but without healthcare until 2014 and a hip that is falling apart, I might find myself on crutches.

On one hand, turn on late-night TV and watch the ads for these scooters, etc. It's hard to imagine that these commercials don't lead to sales among people who could actually benefit from walking instead.

At the same time, some people really need to use these. I'd rather see them on sidewalks where they are being used essentially as the equivalent of pedestrian transportation. If the worry is that they'll run down people on foot, ticket the violators. I think those laws need to be updated.

Blaming drivers of cars across the board for accidents makes little sense, either. Certainly some drivers are negligent. But scooters can be hard to see; maybe people taking them on the road should have flags/reflectors or something to enhance visibility? And if they go out on the road are the riders taking even the most rudimentary safety precautions? Bike riders should wear helmets; how about people on scooters?

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

about the scooters you see on TV that medicare pays for. That is ONLY if you are going to use the chair inside your own home.

I have been there many times on the chairs with my parents. At one time I owned five of them. Of course many people do not stick tot that stipulation. Both my parents have been in the chairs for years now. My Mom going on ten and my dad for at least ten before he died two years ago.

I have another friend who smoked three packs of non filtered ciggys a day and he is a chair person at 65. Full time disability, medicare, mediCal.He isn't fat but he cant walk from the car to the front of the store. He has been full time disabled for at least 10 years. He has also had about five of the chairs.

Another friend did every drug, drank 12 Pepsi's a day, eats shit, never exercised for five minutes in his whole life.. Full SSI disability. Medicare, MediCal. He weighs about 350. Couple of heat attacks, half a foot cut off. He's got a chair. 54.

I have anotehr friends who broke his neck 22 years ago and became paralyzed from the waist down and has had a series of accidents since then, and he still does not use a motorized chair. He rolls himself everywhere. Even toured Europe by himself.

http://www.lifestylemedicine.org/definition

Dr. Joshua Freeman, the chair of Family Practice at The University of Kansas Medical School:
http://medicinesocialjustice.blogspot.com/search?q=lifestyle+medicine