San Fransisco Chronicle – Saturday, May 5, 2007 via Overlawyered:
A Contra Costa County school district’s use of wood chips in play boxes makes it harder for boys and girls in wheelchairs to get to swings and slides, a violation of the disabled children’s rights, a federal judge has ruled.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland could lead to replacement of wood chips with firmer surfaces in public playgrounds at other schools and parks around the country, said a representative of the group that sued the Mount Diablo Unified School District in central Contra Costa.
“Our experts and people with disabilities tell us that wood chip surfaces are not accessible,” said Larry Paradis, executive director of Disability Rights Advocates. “They constantly form mounds and gullies … and they’re impossible to maintain. Little kids in wheelchairs are already struggling to get around, they have less muscular strength, and it’s important that play structures be easily accessible for them so they can be mainstreamed (with other children) as much as possible.”
In a recent court filing, district lawyer Gregory Widmer said there was “no evidence that any student with a mobility disability ever complained about the accessibility” of play boxes with wood chip surfaces. He also said rubberized mats are eight times as expensive as wood chips and would cost the district more than $2.7 million if installed in 32 play boxes.
The school’s answer should be to close the playgrounds.
While I’m for the concept of the ADA, the sh!thead lawyers have exceeded the boundaries of what is obvious and reasonable.
Yet again. The act needs reformed.
isnt the purpose of the wood chips to make it a softer landing for when someone falls? if they start making it harder then the whole purpose of the wood chips is defeated and they might as well just make it asphalt for the wheelchair kids
How much would it cost to make just a single swing at each playground handicapped accessible? This is just a case of a law firm billing by the hour. They’ve spent far more legal fees than a reasonable solution. I believe the ADA requires about 3 out of every 100 parking spaces to be handicapped spaces, with at least one being van space.
… sorry i was to busy looking at the picture, what was this about again?
I have to agree with Rtyalor on that, oh and another not, Dvorak, were are you getting these sause picutures, dam lol
I agree with everyone. Should the needs of a few dominate the needs of many?
Taking the fews position and putting some thought toward it is good, should be required.
It’s going to far.
And I love that Girl!! Who is she?
BS to all; you may as well go back to Sparta and start killing those kids right after they come to this fucked up world. $2.7M for rubberized mats is money well spent as oppose to some brilliant ideas of our government like tax breaks for oil corps etc…
Now how are the wheelchair bound kids supposed to get into the swings in the first place?
right on Dave the wave… It seem that the swings and slides themselves are a bit more prohibitive that wood chips.
This is a conspiracy by the wheelchair and crutch industry… Returning to hard surface playgrounds will have the effect of MORE kids getting injured when they fall… needing more wheelchairs…needing more accessible play boxes…. Oh the humanity, stop this evil conspiracy before all of our kids are in wheelchairs.
8, 9 Now, where are your brains this morning? I think that would be a better question.
The point is not how they get themselves from the wheelchair to the swing, they probably wouldn’t be there by themselves if they couldn’t; the point is why do they have to go thru the obstacle course before they get to those swings. You don’t put up any barriers for other kids, do you? I think the opposite is true – you make it easy and safe, so they have a great time. Why not do the same for those that are in a disadvantage?
We’re not talking here about some few adults that find their coffee too hot at some restaurant, and they start suing, we’re talking about kids that are in disadvantage from the very start; and in this case, statement “needs of many vs. few ….” is as stupid as it gets, at least it should be treated as such in any civilized society …
…The decision by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland could lead to replacement of wood chips with firmer surfaces in public playgrounds at other schools and parks around the country…
This quote should read:
…The decision by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland could lead to THE CLOSING OF public playgrounds at other schools and parks around the country…
art – what exactly is your point? This has nothing to do making things easier for disadvantaged kids. This is about compliance with the law in an extreme sense. Growing up we had a couple kids in our school who were in wheel-chairs and we didn’t use wood chips… the surface under the playground structures was the ground. It was perfectly accessible for those kids, but guess what… they didn’t go on the swings or the slides. I don’t imagine there are too many handicapped kids that will have any interest in going on those things. But guess what’s going to happen now – the first time a kid breaks his or her leg coming down too hard on the firm surface, the school is going to be sued for not using a softer material which could have prevented the injury.
This law was simply about a group of people who seem to have nothing better to do than to go and find the most obscure violation they can think of and use that to cost the rest of us a pile of money. I’m all for the ADA as it has given those people options that were never there before… but there comes a point where it becomes ridiculous. This is one of those ridiculous cases.
11.
It they are not there by themselves, then can that “helper” not pull them through the mulch? Communities barely have enough money to build the playgrounds in the first place, now they need to spend more. Let alone the cost of retrofitting the existing playgrounds…
@Stewrt
if I am not mistaken the girl in the picture is Aurora Snow, one of my favorite porn actresses. I have a signed flyer from her I got at the adult video expo in vegas a few years back.
I don’t imagine there are too many handicapped kids that will have any interest in going on those things.
And that’s where your imagination failed you. Almost every kid wants to do what other kids do, including or maybe especially those handicapped.
And that’s why this has everything to do with making things easier for disadvantaged kids.
It they are not there by themselves, then can that “helper” not pull them through the mulch?
Try re-reading what I wrote
#4, #5, and #6 – Her name is whatever you want it to be. She is Generic Pretty Girl #674. She looks exactly like 3 or 4 hundred other generic pretty girls except that this one has a plaid skirt. You can find hundred more pictures of this girl in any Sears or JCPenny Junior Miss catalog.
14 – My wife is in a wheelchair and getting through wood chips would be next to impossible. Wheelchairs get stuck on almost anything.
Hmmmm… sand is worse for wheelchairs than wood chips… I guess we need to pave over all of our beaches… Ludicrous…
Instead maybe someone should develop an all-terrain wheelchair?
i think we should ban all books with big words so stupid people don’t feel left out….
Check out Penn & Teller’s BS program dealing with ADA.
http://tinyurl.com/2n79kv
HUH? a person in a wheelchair getting onto a swing? a slide? I’d like to see that!
Maybe the ‘monkey bars’
and yes, I have spent plenty of time in a wheelchair.
Take out all of the playground equipment.
Next up — California bans walking upright. Everyone must be Equal, after all…
I agree w/ &8 – how the hell are you supposed to climb up the ladder on the back of a slide of you’re paralysed from the waist down – not to mention crawling off of the slide at the bottom…
So whats next? Banning track & field & football & all other sports from schools because you need LEGS to play – and somehow thats unfair?
bullshit!
and that girl in the pic is hot!
My question is how in hell do you get into it?
The ladders on the slides should be removed and the slides laid flat so the kids can roll out of their wheelchairs and onto the slide. Not much fun, but at least now the slide’s accessible to everyone.
Seriously, I agree this will probably lead to playgrounds being closed rather then taking the 100% risk of being sued by either (1) the physically-challenged kids who can’t get to the swings because the surface is too soft, or (2) the unchallenged kids who fall off the swings and break their necks because the surface is too hard. Time to close up shop.
#19 You’re on to something… My wife was in a car accident and was in a wheelchair for a while. At the time we lived near the beach in San Diego and I was constantly thinking about how nice it would be if she had an All-Terrain Wheelchair. First person here to come up with a good design will be a millionaire.
What the hell are kids doing outside playing anyway. Dont you know the sun causes cancer. Playgrounds are dangerous, they should be inside watching TV or playing violent video games. What is wrong with you people.
It’s pretty close to an all terrain wheelchair, but the name could be better. It’s gasp the iChair, from Johnson & Johnson.
http://www.ibotnow.com/ibot/4wheel.html?from=ggl&ad=allt