Author: Tony Trott

I’m not sure what the deal is, but just because a person who uses a scooter stops on the sidewalk and is looking in their bag or at their phone for a minute or two, does not automatically mean there is a problem and they need help. When this happens to me, most of the time it is a well-intentioned person who is concerned that something might be wrong and they are receptive to my assurance that I’m fine and just checking a text message.

That’s not always the case though. Sometimes the person doesn’t simply offer help, they jump right to the big guns. Case in point, there was a time a few years ago when my wife was in the hospital and it was only a couple miles from where we lived. Because I don’t drive anymore, I decided to roll up the street. When I was about halfway there, I got a notification chime on my phone, so I stopped to check it; I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I believe it was a friend asking for the street address of a restaurant we had spoken of recently. While I was stopped, I had  to look up the address on my phone. I was sitting there for a couple of minutes and I remember hearing sirens and I looked up to see firetrucks and an ambulance go by on the far side of the road.

I looked back down, finished my text, and off I went to finish my trip to the hospital. About half a block later, I was at an intersection waiting to cross and I looked around behind me and was surprised to see paramedics getting out of an ambulance and coming toward me. The head person told me that they had received a 911 call about a disabled person in trouble stopped on a scooter in front of their house. After assuring them I was fine, I finished my trip without further incident. If nothing else, it gave me a story to tell. However, that 911 call was unnecessary and actually could have caused problems had there been a real emergency for them to respond to.

Yes it’s nice to be helpful, but please keep in mind that even though a person has a disability, there is no need to jump to the conclusion that there is an emergency. If you are unsure, it is better to ask than assume. Just because an individual with a disability using a mobility device is stopped and looking down does not mean it is a five-alarm fire.