A great many people with disabilities who drive find it hard or almost impossible when it comes to filling up their cars with petrol or gas. This may be due to the fact that they have trouble using the hose, nozzle or controls at the self service centres. Some service stations are only self service and this may mean that the disabled person cannot buy their petrol/gas from these types and are therefore discriminated against.

Most petrol/gas stations now have some kind of policy regarding disabled peoples needs, although they may differ slightly from country to country, but most stations are now required to meet conditions such as:

* Providing fuelling assistance upon the request of a person suffering from a disability although if the station is manned by a single assistant they are not required by law to provide this assistance but only ask that they try and assist disabled drivers.

* Display signs and notifications on pumps to let the disabled person know they can get assistance for example by honking the car horn to signal the attention of an employer. Some stations have started providing a button to press which then triggers an alarm which the assistant will hear.

* Provide help with re fuelling your car at no extra cost.

Although options have started to to be put in place to assist the disabled in re-fuelling their cars it is clear that more should be done to take the needs of the disabled into account, most stations still have a long way to go and a better system may be needed.

Some of the buttons for the disabled to press are so small and easily more than an arm reach away so if the disabled person cannot get out of the car then they often cannot reach the button to press for help.

For those service stations that don’t even have a button the whole process of filling up your car with fuel can be an embarrassment, having to sit and honk your car horn once or twice maybe even more before someone realises that you are in fact disabled and do need assistance.

Filed under: Disability Help