I must first state that no one with a physical disability wishes to treated any different or be pitied. However, I am writing with the hope to give the reader some insight into the lives of those with physical disabilities. Everyone is ignorant until they experience enlightenment.
With that out of the way, what is a “handicap tax”? It is a broad term that not only involves the extra financial burden set upon those with disabilities, but also the effort and frustration involved with everything from finding and implementing adaptive equipment, to the inconveniences that ripple out to effect friends, family, and even the employer of those with a physical disability.
Though I have written about this in the past, I have recently paid the heaviest “handicap tax” ever in my adult life. It is this experience that gave rise to the term.
On February 15th, 2022, the day after Valentine’s day, I took my Call 0f Duty, MW3 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to Fred Beans Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep Dealership in Doylestown Pa. For an oil change and tire rotation. My Jeep was driven full speed into a wall and subsequently deemed a Loss, four long weeks later.
Add insult to injury, have a listen to the audio from the dash cam after the fact.
Caution: Language
For the record, I golf and have both legs.
My favorite Model
How on earth might this happen, you might ask? That deserves a bit about me I suppose. I was born with Cerebral Palsy, though mild, my vehicles need to be equipped with a left foot accelerator. This adaptive equipment is very simple to negotiate if you are mindful of its presence. However, the unit does have a quick release that allows it to be removed from the plate mounted to the footwell. Now, a man of 44 years of age, with three decades of driving with my left foot, I do not give it a second thought just as you give no second thought to using your right foot to drive. Just as I was surrendering the keys to the service writer, I remembered about the pedal. I turned and said, “Oh! Wait! I have a left footed pedal in there.” following, “I can take it out if you need?” Response given, after a couple seconds to contemplate what I had just said was, (I’m paraphrasing, as I do not remember exactly), “Uhm, No. It will be fine, no problem.” I asked, “Are you sure?” The answer, “Yes, no problem.” It was a 2012, I had been taking it there for years without it ever being a problem. I didn’t think to insist. My walker and I were half way to the waiting area at this point.
Well, after siting in the waiting area for 10-15 minutes, I hear my Jeep red-line and moments later crash into a wall! Everyone in the dealership, including myself, flocked to the windows that give view down into the shop. There she was, crashed into a cinderblock wall!
My left foot pedal assembly fits in very few footwells. The “dead pedal” in most vehicles take up a great majority of the space to the left of the break pedal. Thus, there is not enough room to fit my accessibility accessory. It is worth considering that I also need to have enough room to tuck my right foot back, so as not to interfere with the accessory. This is all to say that my experience buying a car is a an even more frustrating and exhausting experience than it already is for most people. Most importantly, when I find a vehicle the suits my needs, my intention it to keep it as long as possible.
One vehicle that both my 6-foot, 4-inch tall body and equipment fit into are Jeep Wranglers. They have a wide open footwell and a decent amount of room for my right foot and leg to not interfere with driving safely.
I had the title of a low milage (62,000 miles), limited edition, with expensive upgrades, in excellent condition when I surrendered my keys to that service writer, I now have nothing. The insurance value of a 10-year old Jeep Wrangler obviously isn’t enough to buy a new Wrangler. I understand that is the vehicle’s insurance value. I do not think I should be left at a loss when I literally had nothing to do with my Jeep being Totaled.
I don’t think my stance that this is an unfair, let alone an unacceptable outcome, is unjustified. Fair is fair, I surrendered a modified vehicle, made those I needed to make aware that it had special modifications aware, and they still drove it into a wall. In a busy dealership shop, too. It’s a miracle no one was hurt or worse! My vehicle needs to be replaced, and I should not need to pay a cent to have it be so.
Do you?