Toll motorway accessibility for wheelchair users: a survey.
OBJECTIVE
To identify difficulties encountered by wheelchair users who travel on toll motorways, with the goal of defining areas for improvement.


METHODS
Survey. After observing a wheelchair user travelling on a toll motorway and using the associated services, we designed a self-questionnaire on perceptions by wheelchair users of toll motorway accessibility.


METHODS
Toll motorway and rehabilitation hospital in France.


METHODS
We recruited 167 wheelchair users by advertisement and, to assess selection bias, 19 consecutive outpatients who visited our hospital's wheelchair showroom.


METHODS
None.


RESULTS
Of the 186 included subjects, 91 (49%) were used to driving independently on toll motorways. Among them, only 16% used automatic toll booths and 32% reported difficulties at toll booths. Furthermore, 53% routinely asked for help at filling stations, and only 27% were aware of the availability of a free-of-charge assistance service for disabled people at some filling stations. Among the 186 toll motorway users, only 84 (45%) reported never encountering difficulties in lay-bys; 162 (87%) felt that toilet accessibility was the most important feature of lay-bys and 143 (77%) preferred the locked toilets reserved for disabled people.


CONCLUSIONS
Wheelchair users reported difficulties on toll motorways that could be corrected fairly easily.
Prigent
Hélène
H
Raymond Poincaré Hospital,Garches, France.
Roche
Nicolas
N
Guillon
Bruno
B
Hurand
Anne
A
Moreau
Bernadette
B
Dufresne
Jean Pierre
JP
Ravaud
Jean-François
JF
Lofaso
Frédéric
F
D001107:Architectural Accessibility; D001334:Automobile Driving; D002958:City Planning; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011633:Public Facilities; D012147:Restaurants; D014038:Toilet Facilities; D014910:Wheelchairs