“Obstacle Course: Navigating Niort’s Town Centre in a Wheelchair”

This is a recurring problem in town centres, access for people with reduced mobility. If in Niort the agglomeration has improved bus transport, there is still a lot to do. We followed a person in a wheelchair through the streets of the Deux-Sévrien capital.

As every time he goes to the city center of Niort, Damien Tanché begins an obstacle course. No problem for the bus adapted for people with reduced mobility, the trouble starts at the exit.

With the trash, I’m not sure it will pass…

He maneuvers his wheelchair gently and manages to pass within a few millimeters. Five meters further on, a new annoying bin, near a sign announcing a space reserved for people with reduced mobility: “necessarily with a car that doesn’t have the logo, that’s typical!” he complains.

When he finally manages to clear his way, a new test awaits the 46-year-old paraplegic: the pedestrian crossing. Sitting in his wheelchair, hidden by parked cars, he cannot see or be seen. “So I’m going to signal myself, I’m going to move forward a little to show that I’m going to pass…”

Forced to put himself in danger, he does not get the right of way… A truck passes in front of him without slowing down.

Once on the other side, the return to the safety of the sidewalk is not simpler. Even beveled, an overly marked edge is difficult to cross. “There I can’t go up, I’m going to try slowly on the other side… as you learn in a rehabilitation center. As you can see, it leans! I have wheels that don’t touch the ground, I was on the verge of falling there I think!”.

A risky route due to poorly adapted roads, but also linked to acts of incivility, such as this vehicle encroaching on the sidewalk.

We see that the truck really exceeds, they do not think about pedestrians!

After an hour of gymkhana, three times the time needed for a pedestrian, the first shops are in sight, the beginning of new difficulties.

The shoe store has provided an inclined plane for the wheelchair, but because of the bellhop at the door (which triggers its automatic return), Damien Tanché has all the difficulty in the world holding it and maneuvering his wheelchair uphill at the same time. Without outside help, he cannot enter.

The door here is however up to standard.

We have the width, we are there constantly but it is perhaps not enough! Again we are fine but there are stores where it’s worse than that.

Isabelle Sylvester

Saleswoman in a shoe store

This is the case of this restaurant where walking prevents any wheelchair access, as a result, trips to the city center, Damien Tanché has practically given up on it: “I hardly go there anymore, only when I have an obligation, when I have invitations”.

Far from being an exception in France, the city of Niort is singled out by associations supporting the disabled for its lack of financial commitment. Damien Tranché now does his shopping in supermarkets.