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Despite Delays, Chair Lifts Coming To Public Pools
NPR ^ | July 6, 2012 | by Gigi Douban

Posted on 07/08/2012 7:07:06 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Pools open to the public were supposed to have chair lifts installed for people with disabilities in time for this summer, but after a wave of protests, the federal order was delayed until January.

Still, some of the country's 300,000 or so pools at hotels, parks and gyms continue to fight the requirement.

Vestavia Hills pool near Birmingham, Ala., is one of thousands of pools that scrambled to get a chair lift installed by May.

At first glance, it looks like a lifeguard chair, only low to the ground. It's meant to help people with disabilities get in and out of the water.

"It goes really, really slow," says Candia Cole, Vestavia's pool supervisor."

May was the second installation deadline set by the U.S. Justice Department as part of a new provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act. But then many owners of the affected pools complained. Each chair lift costs as much as $8,000. And most hotel pools don't have lifeguards to operate them.

The elderly, people with arthritis or someone who is missing a limb could benefit from the chair lift, but Cole says so far no one's asked to use it.

"If it's used or not, you know, it's here, so we got it — ready to go," she says. "Come on down! The water's fine!"

(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: disability; regulations
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1 posted on 07/08/2012 7:07:12 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Ok, so I have a question. Is a lifeguard required now for all public pools? What if a disabled person, who is disabled enough not to be able to get into the pool, gets into trouble when in said pool? Will the owners of the public pool be sued? I think the person should sue the Gov’t for requiring these $10,000 lifts at EVERY pool. Another expense that small business owners (think Motel 6) cannot afford. The Democrats will completely destroy this economy if they get 4 more years.
2 posted on 07/08/2012 7:12:01 AM PDT by originalbuckeye
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

But having to ask someone to operate the lift for you is stigmatizing. It has to be operable by the physically challenged person themselves - more lawsuits. Kids will use it, someone will get hurt - more lawsuits. The device just sitting there with no one using it will need periodic testing and certification - like an elevator - more cost, regulations, and staff. The nanny state is expensive.


3 posted on 07/08/2012 7:16:36 AM PDT by Truth29
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Who gave us the Americans with Disabilities Act? George HW Bush. He also gave us David Souter and, read my lips, a massive tax increase.

Nixon gave us the EPA and Title IX.

But, surely, Mitt Romney will be different and another Ronald Reagan...Just look at his record as governor!

4 posted on 07/08/2012 7:19:03 AM PDT by Kazan (Mitt Romney: The greater of two evils)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Good. They can double as dunking chairs to be used for visiting politicians.


5 posted on 07/08/2012 7:20:00 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

6 posted on 07/08/2012 7:24:29 AM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: Kazan
But, surely, Mitt Romney will be different and another Ronald Reagan...Just look at his record as governor!

Vote for obama then, he'll be so much better, eh?

Prolly your guy anyway

7 posted on 07/08/2012 7:28:46 AM PDT by Las Vegas Ron (Medicine is the keystone in the arch of socialism)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Anybody else out there getting pretty darn sick of entitled disabled people?

How about we require that each such pool needs an at-the-ready “Companion Dolphin” to swim around in the pool with said disabled person?

I myself cannot keep food down whenever I happen to see or hear Obama. Finding a lawyer and a doctor to get this declared a disability should be a piece of cake. I demand an electronic device that superimposes Stalin’s face and Bugs Bunny’s voice whenever the O appears. Certainly would make my life better.


8 posted on 07/08/2012 7:28:46 AM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
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To: Kazan
Who gave us the Americans with Disabilities Act? George HW Bush. He also gave us David Souter and, read my lips, a massive tax increase.

Nixon gave us the EPA and Title IX.

And Reagan gave us Sandra Day O'Connor, Amnesty and the 21-year old drinking age.

But, surely, Mitt Romney will be different and another Ronald Reagan...Just look at his record as governor!

You might not want to look at Reagan's record as governor too closely.

9 posted on 07/08/2012 7:30:52 AM PDT by Drew68 (I WILL vote to defeat Barack Hussein Obama!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I have no problem with reasonable efforts to accommodate the handcapped when it comes to things such as access to public buildings, access to facilities within the building, etc. I’ve also known disbaled people who are able to operate a car with the use of specially installed controls. As long as they can demonstarte that they can operate the vehicle safely, again, no problem. This, however, makes no sense to me. If a person’s physical abilities are limited to the point where they cannot get in and out of a pool without this type of device, they should not be using the pool. All this does is put them at great risk.


10 posted on 07/08/2012 7:33:02 AM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

You should read the comments at the main npr site. The liberals’ feathers are highly ruffled that the writer put such a realistic face on the law and its effects. Stupid law. The DOJ lawyer sounds like a fool, too.


11 posted on 07/08/2012 7:35:30 AM PDT by GodfearingTexan
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To: dagogo redux

“How about we require that each such pool needs an at-the-ready ‘Companion Dolphin’ to swim around in the pool with said disabled person?”

Quit giving them ideas! ;)


12 posted on 07/08/2012 7:36:38 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
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To: dagogo redux

“Anybody else out there getting pretty darn sick of entitled disabled people”?

...our neighborhood “Kroger” grocery store has about 20 handicapped parking spaces. I go there at least 3 x’s a week and never are there more than 2 in use. I took my visiting 88 year old Mother in law there and parked in one. I don’t have a pass but she’s 88 and it was 100 degrees so I had to park closely. I got scolded by some passer by. Stayed there anyway and got nasty stares all the way through the store. Only 1 other space was in use. So yeah, I’m sick of it.


13 posted on 07/08/2012 7:36:49 AM PDT by albie
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To: Kazan
Who gave us the Americans with Disabilities Act? George HW Bush. He also gave us David Souter and, read my lips, a massive tax increase. Nixon gave us the EPA and Title IX. But, surely, Mitt Romney will be different and another Ronald Reagan...Just look at his record as governor!

If your only purpose in life is to get Obama re-elected, then you are surely wasting your life.

14 posted on 07/08/2012 7:38:30 AM PDT by trebb ("If a man will not work, he should not eat" From 2 Thes 3)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

When does accidently splashing one of them become a hate crime and open one to a huge lawsuit becuase a 5-year old didn’t observe the nosplashing within 100 feet of a disabled person rule when diving into a pool?


15 posted on 07/08/2012 7:41:28 AM PDT by trebb ("If a man will not work, he should not eat" From 2 Thes 3)
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To: GodfearingTexan
You should read the comments at the main npr site. The liberals’ feathers are highly ruffled that the writer put such a realistic face on the law and its effects. Stupid law.

I sometimes listen to NPR in the car and a few months back they were doing a series on small businesses being wiped out due to government over-regulation. I was surprised to be hearing this on NPR, given their reputation.

Honestly, I think NPR is more "fair and balanced" than most of the network and cable news stations.

16 posted on 07/08/2012 7:48:18 AM PDT by Drew68 (I WILL vote to defeat Barack Hussein Obama!)
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To: Kazan

As governor, Ragan signed tax increases and a gun control law. Just saying


17 posted on 07/08/2012 7:52:34 AM PDT by muir_redwoods (Legalize Freedom!!)
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To: Drew68

Dear Godfearing Texan: You don’t listen enough to NPR. It is the voice of communism in the US.

They must be defunded as priority one next year.


18 posted on 07/08/2012 7:53:36 AM PDT by kjo (+)
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To: muir_redwoods

The moochie nation just became fatter without pools.


19 posted on 07/08/2012 7:55:22 AM PDT by scooby321 (h tones)
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To: kjo
You don’t listen enough to NPR. It is the voice of communism in the US.

That's why they're publishing articles like this one and airing reports on crippling government over-regulation?

20 posted on 07/08/2012 7:59:30 AM PDT by Drew68 (I WILL vote to defeat Barack Hussein Obama!)
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