Wheelchair users seek a level field

The Nov. 13 articles, “Getting there is none of the fun” and “2.3 miles is a lot longer this way,” provide welcome coverage of the barriers confronting wheelchair users who want to go where everyone has gone before. Uneven pavement, cars parked across driveways, sprinklers that water the sidewalk and other barriers may mean getting there late or not getting there at all. Fortunately, however, disability rights activists such as John Lonberg and Ben Rockwell are illuminating barriers that deny wheelchair users full and equal participation.

ARTHUR W. BLASER

Orange

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Thanks to reporter Dan Weikel for actually riding in a wheelchair to discover the impediments that disabled people endure every day. Although Rockwell is a polio survivor (as am I), the related story about a car accident victim in a chair must alert others that disability may lie just around the corner.

I have always wondered why there is no seating outside theaters or in stores. There is no sense in having disabled parking close to venues when there is no place to rest while waiting for friends or taking a break from shopping.

KURT SIPOLSKI

Palm Desert