Proposed North Adams Rule Worries Power Chair Riders

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
10:08PM / Tuesday, March 10, 2009Print Story | Email Story

Verda Senecal says increasing the height of the safety flags could be dangerous.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council once again postponed action on an ordinance regulating motorized wheelchairs but discussed elements of it with several residents who would be directly affected by the new rules.

The ordinance has been a work in progress since last fall after City Councilor Richard Alcombright expressed concern over the use of the power chairs after nearly hitting one that shot out into the road in front of him.

Alcombright and Councilor Gailanne Cariddi said at Tuesday night's meeting they were nearly finished in polishing the language on the ordinance and that it would ready to be placed before the council on March 24.

Verda Senecal of Ashland Street said she was very concerned about certain restrictions she believed were in the ordinance, such as requirements for lights, carrying a doctor's note or prescription explaining the need for the device and installing a flag at least 6 feet tall on the chairs to raise their profile.

Alcombright said those requirements had been eliminated or changed. He told Senecal he believed she'll happy with the outcome.

"It's not restrictive in any sense that I can see," he said. "It just create awareness and keeps people in chairs out of harm's way."

Senecal asked to be alerted to the next subcommittee meeting. "I would like to find out what has been added or eliminated," she said. "I guess I'm trying to be a voice for those of us who are stuck."

In other business, the council also postponed action on another long-gestating ordinance on vacant and foreclosed properties to April.

The council approved the installation of three utility poles on Versaille Avenue. Bonnie Brown of National Grid said two poles would be installed on the public way and one on private property to bring electric, telephone and cable service to Annette and Johnathon Briggs.

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

Greylock Youth SummerFest

Come join in on the wealth building fun! August 3-8. Click for event details. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Your Comments

iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.

I have noticed an increase in the motorized wheelchairs and it alarms me. I once watched a woman on one with a child in her lap fall over in the middle of a crosswalk. I stopped my car and ran over to assist her when to my alarm she got up and picked up the darn thing herself! Aren't these for the handicapped? It seems to me that they are becoming transportation for those to lazy to walk or just to large to walk a long distance. I am sorry but I have a real problem with that. Although wheelchair do aide those unable to walk it has become a crutch all too many do not need! I agree completely with any rules the city council may set forth for there use. In addition, I wonder how some of these people even get them? Is this what my tax dollars pay for? What next? When people that work everyday have to talk cabs to work we give these able body people motorized wheelchairs! I know I am getting off the beaten path here but it really bothered me to watch that woman just get up and pick up this item that probably cost tax payers thousands of dollars for her to have and she didn't even need it. They are not meant to be a car people!
from:	on: 03-11-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I have had several near-misses with these motorized "wheelchairs" in the downtown, and not in cross-walks, either. They should not be in/on the road. And, the NAPD should start ticketing them.
from:	on: 03-12-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I don't know why it is unreasonable to expect people using motorized wheel chairs to have a doctor's note for them... they certainly expect a lot from the general public when they use them...crossing in front of cars against the lights..not using crosswalk and riding down the middle of Eagle Street. If my grandchild did this with her bike she would have it taken away. Make them responsible for their actions. My mother had MS and her doctor would not sign for a wheelchair of any kind because he did not want her to stop trying to walk...why can't they.
from: concerned tax payer	on: 03-12-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE REGULATIONS ON MORTERIZED WHEEL CHAIRS AND SCOOTERS THAN YOU BETTER DO SAME THING FOR BIKES OR ANYONE THAT CROSSES STREETS. I KNOW THAT THERE MAY BE SOME THAT ABUSE THEM BUT IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE YOU HAVE TO USE COMMON SENSE. AND AS FAR AS DRIVERS OF CARS GO IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING.! IT COULD BE A KID DARTING OUT BETWEEN CARS OR ADULTS WALKING. I HAVE POWER CHAIR AND I THANK GOD FOR IT .IF I DIDNT HAVE THE CHAIR I WOULDNT BE ABLE TO GO ANY PLACE . SHOPPING OR EVEN OUTSIDE. POWER CHAIRS PROVIDES FREEDOM TO MANY SHUT INS. YES POWER CHAIR OWNERS NEED TO USE COMMON SENSE JUST LIKE BIKERS OR PEOPLE WALKING DO. YOU DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE TO BE IN ONE OF THESE CHAIRS.AS FOR ME I WOULD RATHER BE RUNNING OR JOGING. SO PLEASE IF YOU WANT TO REGULATE THAN DO SO ALSO FOR BIKES AND OTHER VEHICLES NOT JUST POWER CHAIR. ALSO FIX SIDE WALKS SO CHAIRS DONT HAVE TO GO IN ROADS. THANK YOU. TO POWER CHAIR USERS . USE COMMON SENSE. DONT BE CARELESS.
from: LINDA	on: 03-14-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I wonder what has happened to this great country of ours? I ask myself when viewing such proposed rules, what would the world war II vets thinks of this? Target one group of people and take away their right to travel on a city's street unless they have their paper work in order? A few years ago this would have been unheard of. Yet now American citizens read they may have to register with the city, be singled out to a different set of laws than the rest of the public? They aren't criminals folks, there is a difference. What next? Instead of having to carry a Doctors note how about sewing a cute little badge on our clothes or let's tattoo them! Over dramatic? As long as your rights aren't the ones being affected you can say I'm being ludicrous and laugh it off. When it's your rights that are targeted, mine may well be silenced and of no help to you. What of Us who are not from North Adams? Will We have to stop at City Hall or the Police station to obtain a visitors permit? It wasn't that long ago People, a country in Europe started with passing laws limiting the disabled. Then Ethnic groups and Religious creeds and the unthinkable happened. Am I saying history will repeat? Of course not ...I'm saying please think long and hard before striping away Our rights an privileges so dearly bought. Let's not turn Our country into the land of the free, unless you're different than some one else.
from: Anon.	on: 03-14-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

What a waste of time and resources. These should have the same restrictions that a pedestrian has - crossing at crosswalks, staying on the sidewalk, etc. If they are "jay-walking" then give them a ticket and be done with it. There are more important fish to fry.
from: waste	on: 03-17-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

I have noticed the increase in wheel chairs everywhere. How do people get them so easily? Some of the people are overweight, whish makes it difficult for them to walk, at least several of them that I see passing on the street. Maybe they should get out of the chair and try walking.
from:	on: 03-17-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

If only people with handicaps used these chairs it would be great. However there are several people that use them for transportation,and even let their grandchildren operate them. Just go to the parking lots near the highrise and observe some of the races they have. There are several people that walk all winter or when they feel like it,and have been seen walking in the mall without a chair Handicap people need to know this is being done for their protection only and should discourage their lazy friends from using them. Many of them buy them from someone that didn't really need it and re-sell it for more money to someone else. These are the ones that need to be taken off the road.
from: pam	on: 03-17-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

Agreed that "some" people NEED these forms of transportation but like everything else, many ABUSE it. Many think that because they have one, that they are "special" and can IGNORE ALL Rules of the Road. My observation is that more than half abuse it and think that because they have that form of transportation that they are NOT obliged to follow the Rules of the Road. Just dart out and God forbid any motorist that cannot stop in time... lawsuit. It's almost like a temptation... hit me, I NEED the money. Hope you own a house. I need one of those too. WHY do most of these people thing that they are ABOVE the LAW ??? To those who follow the rules of the road and use they head and common sense, God Bless YOU ! My heart goes out to you.
from: ELS	on: 03-18-2009 12:00AM I Agree (0) - I Disagree (0)

North Adams Becomes a Purple Heart Community

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:16AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Veterans Service Officer Kurtis Durocher, a Purple Heart recipient, tells his own story of how he was wounded in Iraq.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City leaders last week held a ceremony marking the city as a Purple Heart Community to honor local military service members wounded or killed in combat.

"This designation is much more than a sign that will stand at the entrances to our city," said Kurtis Durocher, Northern Berkshire veterans service officer at City Hall on Friday. "It is a lasting commitment and a promise to this community. We'll never forget the sacrifices made by those who are wounded or killed while serving our nation. It is a public declaration of the courage and sacrifices of combat wounded. Veterans will always have a place of honor here in North Adams."

As a Purple Heart Community, North Adams will place signs throughout the city acknowledging the designation. The city will also hold a ceremony every Aug. 7 on National Purple Heart Day.

During the inaugural ceremony, Durocher said he was asked by the Military Order of the Purple Heart to find a keynote speaker for the event, preferably a Purple Heart recipient. But he was unable to find someone willing to speak. With the date approaching, he decided to tell his own story.

"I don't like standing up and telling my own personal story ... But I realized, in my position as a VSO, I get so many ... children of veterans who will say, 'I didn't know anything about my father until after he passed because he just didn't talk about it,'" Durocher said. "... I have been that way until I've gotten into this position, and so, now, I try to tell my story as much as I can when it is brought to me."

Durocher served in the Army for 20 years and retired as a master sergeant. On Friday, he recalled a time early in his career while serving in the 82nd Airborne Division deploying to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Sept. 12, 2003, his squad was conducting a patrol on Route Irish in Baghdad. He was serving as a gunner on an LMTV when it was struck by a 155-millimeter artillery shell. He said the explosive had been hidden behind a guardrail and detonated using nothing more than a washing machine timer.

"In an instant, everything changed. The blast knocked me unconscious. When I regained consciousness, I instinctively was removing my helmet," he said. "Almost immediately my training took over. We had been taught repeatedly that attacks like this were often followed by a secondary attack or an ambush. I quickly put my helmet back on and began searching for my machine gun."

View Full Story