Did Faulty Sidewalks Cause Death of Woman Who Used A Wheelchair?

Question keeps appearing, "Why was Dorothy Steele traveling in the street not on the sidewalk?" Does it have anything to do with impassable sidewalks for persons who use wheelchairs? Any investigations by the city or the state commissions on disabilities, or any of the taxpayer funded human services corporations? Any attempt to prevent similar needless deaths?

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20160426/NEWS/160426867

Somerville man pleads not guilty in fatal hit-and-run in Cambridge
By Natalie Handy
nhandy (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Apr. 26, 2016 at 1:27 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

Woman In Wheelchair Using Streets Due to Impassable Sidewalks Killed By Hit and Run Driver

[This comment was deleted by Cambridge Chronicle editors. It was posted a second time.]
Usual reason people who use wheelchairs ride in the street is because sidewalks are not passable. Imagine if black people or homosexuals were unable to use sidewalks. How long would that last? Parents with strollers carrying babies and toddlers also avoid the broken sidewalks by walking in the street. Much of this can be resolved by replacing brick sidewalks with concrete. But limousine liberals whose values rule Cambridge, dictate bricks because they are pretty. Dorothy might still be alive if the sidewalks were ADA compliant.

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160315/somerville-man-charged-in-death-of-cambridge-woman-in-hit-and-run-of-wheelchair

Somerville man charged in death of Cambridge woman in hit-and-run of wheelchair
An elderly Cambridge woman in a wheelchair who was struck by a car last month has died of her injuries, and a Somerville man has been charged in the death.
Posted Mar. 15, 2016 at 6:25 PM
Updated at 6:30 PM

Hit And Run Driver Charged After Striking Woman in Wheelchair, in Cambridge, MA

If half as much energy spent on avoiding hurting the feelings of privileged Harvard Law School students, and promoting same sex marriage, was spent making streets and sidewalks accessible to persons with mobility impairments, this woman would have been able to use sidewalks instead of the streets. Charming uneven brick sidewalks and their missing bricks force many people, including parents with strollers into the streets. Where is the MA Attorney General and US Department of Justice on this event? Silent as usual?

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/news/20160304/da-62-year-old-somerville-man-cited-in-cambridge-hit-and-run-of-woman-in-wheelchair

DA: 62-year-old Somerville man cited in Cambridge hit and run of woman in wheelchair
A 62-year-old Somerville man has been cited for leaving the scene of an accident after reportedly hitting an elderly woman in a wheelchair and driving away Feb. 28
By Staff Reports
Posted Mar. 4, 2016 at 4:13 PM
Updated at 4:17 PM
Cambridge Chronicle

Vancouver, BC, Canada Policeman Poses As Disabled Wheelchair User, Inspired

Mr Horsley told all the people who approached him - including these two women - that he could not count. Instead, he let them take money from his hand.

Sgt. Horsley's experiences differ from mine. Maybe it is the difference between Canada and the United States. Over the past 45 years criminals, police employees, and FBI employees tormented, slandered, insulted, humiliated, ridiculed, provoked and harassed me without stop. Decent people and professionals employed in the human services industrial complex (MA State Rep. Marie Parente's term) stood by and watched.   

[From article]
An undercover police officer has been left stunned at the generosity of passers-by after he posed as a disabled man.
Sergeant Mark Horsley pretended to be paralysed as part of a covert investigation launched in response to two knifepoint robberies involving people in wheelchairs in Vancouver, Canada.
He secretly filmed the interactions he had with people, including those who asked him for change and others who just stopped to chat.
[. . .]
'The caring and compassion expressed to me in my undercover role was inspiring. This community has soul.'
Mr Horsley also paid a stark warning to robbers who he said might be deliberately choosing to target the vulnerable.
'Victimizing the vulnerable is far beneath the people,' he added.
'For the very rare and despicable person who is willing to victimize the vulnerable people you should know the police are watching but more importantly the people are watching.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3165278/Undercover-police-officer-poses-disabled-man-streets-Vancouver-covert-anti-robbery-operation-stunned-generosity-honesty-passers-by.html

Undercover police officer poses as a disabled man on the streets of Vancouver as part of covert anti-robbery operation - but is stunned at the generosity and honesty of passers-by
Sergeant Mark Horsley pretended to be paralysed on five occasions
Investigation in response to two knifepoint robberies on wheelchair users
Told passers-by he could not count and allowed them to take own change
Was never shortchanged and even had people pray for him to get better
By LYDIA WILLGRESS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:20 EST, 17 July 2015 | UPDATED: 14:17 EST, 17 July 2015

MBTA Slow To Allow Wheelchair Access

WORK TO BE DONE: Olivia Richard, a member of the Boston Center for Independent Living, is sometimes frustrated by the lack of accessibility at some MBTA stations.
Photo by: Stuart Cahill

U.S. law (Rehabilitation Act) was in effect in 1973 requiring the MBTA to be accessible. It is only 41 years late. Hear the silence from human rights activists?


[From article]
“A lot of stations are still not accessible in a variety of ways,” including a lack of signs in Braille for the blind, announcements for the deaf and elevators and ramps for people who use wheelchairs, said the BCIL’s Karen Schneiderman. “The MBTA is required by law to provide equal access to its services for people with disabilities. It’s up to the T to figure out where to get the money. It’s not up to us.”
Retired Judge Patrick King, who is due to give an update on the agency’s compliance with the settlement agreement at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Transportation Building, said the T has made “tremendous” progress since 2006, but he said it has been slowed by its $8 billion debt load — much of which the T attributes to transit projects that were required as part of the Big Dig permitting process.
“As a result, you’ve got 40-year-old trains on some lines,” King said.
Five of 60 subway stations lack any elevator. Construction of elevators at one of the five — Government Center — is underway and will be ready in the spring of 2016, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said, while an accessibility project at Wollaston is in the planning stage and Hynes will be made accessible as part of a developer’s project adjacent to Massachusetts Avenue.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/12/advocates_urge_t_to_speed_up_accessibility

Advocates urge T to speed up accessibility
Thursday, December 11, 2014
By: Marie Szaniszlo
Boston Herald

US Airways Fined $1 million For Inadequate Wheelchair Access

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/4/us-airways-fined-12-million-over-wheelchair-access/

US Airways fined $1.2M for inadequate wheelchair access
By Jessica Chasmar
The Washington Times
Monday, November 4, 2013

Man Using Wheelchair Charged With Robberies

Police Friday arrested Matias Moreno-Boza, 25, of Perth Amboy, in the case.


Police released this video footage of suspected robber.

Indicates that just because a person has a disability it does not make them solely a victim, with no flaws. That pattern also applies to women, black people and homosexuals.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/cops-bust-midtown-wheelchair-bandit-article-1.1463298

Cops bust Midtown 'wheelchair bandit'
Police Friday nabbed Matias Moreno-Boza, 25, of Perth Amboy, who they said snatched four women's purses from different Midtown hot spots. He was spotted in a wheelchair in video footage.Comments (4)
BY MARK MORALES AND JOSEPH STEPANSKY / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013, 11:49 AM
UPDATED: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013, 11:49 AM



* * *
http://nypost.com/2013/09/19/cops-search-for-wheelchair-bound-bandit/

Cops search for wheelchair-bound bandit
By Daniel Prendergast
September 19, 2013 | 1:01pm

Disabled Vet Thrown From Wheelchair At Chicago Airport

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233132/Paralympian-veteran-left-soaked-urine-thrown-wheelchair-OHare-Airport.html

Paralympian veteran 'was left soaked in his own urine after being
thrown out of his wheelchair at O'Hare Airport'
Retired Sgt Joseph Smith is suing Air Serv and United Airlines for the
November 2010 incident
Claims Air Serv worker tossed him from wheelchair after one of the
wheels got stuck
Accuses united staff of refusing to help him to his seat and causing
his catheter bag to burst
Smith was injured in Afghanistan in 2004 and left partially paralyzed
By SNEJANA FARBEROV
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 18:15 EST, 14 November 2012 | UPDATED: 18:18 EST, 14 November 2012

Man Who Uses Wheelchair Abandoned in Desert

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2222252/Ricky-Gilmore-Paraplegic-man-crawled-miles-desert-dumped.html

Incredible survival of paraplegic left to DIE in the desert: Victim
crawled for THREE DAYS without water after he was dumped without
wheelchair
Ricky Gilmore was thrown out of his wheelchair in the middle of the
Navajo Nation Reservation in New Mexico
He lost the use of his legs in a car crash years before
Two cars passed him and simply honked their horns and drove by
It took three days before a man in a truck finally stopped to help him
By ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 22:10 EST, 23 October 2012 | UPDATED: 02:21 EST, 24 October 2012

Injured Model Works In Fashion Promotion

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2194319/Quadriplegic-model-37-paralysed-waist-following-horrific-car-accident-lands-major-fashion-campaign.html

Quadriplegic model, 37, paralysed from the waist down following horrific car accident lands major fashion campaign
Angela Rockwood, star of Push Girls, set to star in upcoming campaign for retail giant Nordstrom
'It’s so important that there are companies out there that see the value in using models with disabilities,' she said
By SADIE WHITELOCKS
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 14:57 EST, 27 August 2012 | UPDATED: 15:05 EST, 27 August 2012

29-year-old Man Punches 69-year-old Woman in Wheelchair

[From article]
An ensuing investigation revealed the woman was waiting for a Modesto Area Express Bus when Nicholas Velasquez, 29, of Modesto, punched her in the face then walked away saying "I hate white people",

http://www.news10.net/news/article/195916/2/Woman-69-punched-in-the-face-while-sitting-in-wheelchair?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

69-year-old woman in wheelchair punched in the face in suspected Modesto hate crime 1:42 PM, Jun 6, 2012 News10 KXTV MOdesto CA

Some Airlines Ignoring Disabilities

In September 2010 I flew on Jet Blue about ten times. On each flight there were some people in wheelchairs. One of the employees explained that they ask passengers if they want or need a wheelchair. Some passengers use a wheelchair to get special services and early entry to the plane. They are like the criminals who exploit the ADA to mitigate their criminal acts depriving persons with disabilities of the protections intended by Congress.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/228583/250/Complaints-against-airlines-by-disabled-passengers-rise

Big increase in complaints against airlines by disabled passengers
4:19 PM, Dec 28, 2011
WTSP Tampa FL
Written by
Adam Freeman

Wheelchair Bandit Arrested

[From article]
"The heartless thug allegedly caught on video mugging a 78-year-old Brooklyn woman in her wheelchair once again appeared before the cameras yesterday -- but this time, he was being hauled off in handcuffs. Suspect Cody Santiago, 18,"

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/bust_brings_roll_reversal_pxxiBNZHoteLO76AuW6E5M

Bust brings roll reversal
W'chair 'bandit' bagged
By TODD VENEZIA
New York Post
Last Updated: 7:44 AM, August 5, 2011
Posted: 1:57 AM, August 5, 2011

Accessible on Paper Only

At "The movie theater at the Roosevelt Field Mall holds itself out as being wheelchair accessible
[. . .]
"The woman in the booth looked at my chair and said, 'If you can get upstairs, then you can go."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/flicked_off_e16WxfIWGob2gijintl1IO

Woman suing LI movie theater for not being wheelchair accessible
'Disabled' suit vs. theater
By JENNIFER BAIN and DAREH GREGORIAN
New York Post
Last Updated: 10:09 AM, December 20, 2010
Posted: 2:50 AM, December 20, 2010

Two wheelchairs stolen in two days in Philadelphia.

Two wheelchairs stolen in two days in Philadelphia.

http://cbs3.com/local/West.Philadelphia.Catherine.2.1708620.html

May 22, 2010 12:02 am US/Eastern

Disabled Child's Wheelchair Stolen In West Philly

CBS News Philadelphia