My nightmare pushing a wheelchair

[Bete]

This was my first time and I was horrible at it. I'm a shorther person and I couldn't see the leg rests very well. Needless to say, I was bumping people in their ankles. Most of them stepped right out in front of me, but I did try to stop. I didn't have the strength to stop it fast enough. I feel awful. Even when I went slower, it would happen. Luckily, my victims had shoes on; so, I'm hoping I didn't cripple anyone. I never hit them very hard, but I did bump them. I felt like wearing a sign-New Driver, Beware! when pushing a wheelchair. It did not get better as the week went by. Fortunately, I had another person who was taller and stronger that took over for me.

Are there any others out there like me? Am I the only one? I thought one person was going to get into a fight about it. I did apologize when it happened. After three strikes, I was out.

 

[Michigan]

It's not you it's the people that think nothing of running in front of the wheelchair. Both my daughters push themselves and they have people jump in front of them all the time. Once a man fell in my oldest daughters lap when she was 11 and he got up and started walking away like nothing ever happened until a woman walking by that saw it grabbed his arm and pulled him back and to him to tell her he was sorry for being a jerk.

Cindy

 

[SueM in MN]

Once a man fell in my oldest daughters lap when she was 11 and he got up and started walking away like nothing ever happened until a woman walking by that saw it grabbed his arm and pulled him back and to him to tell her he was sorry for being a jerk.

Cindy

My DD has had someone "hovering" over her lap. The woman had backed up to take a picture and ended up sort of crouching just inches from being on DD's lap.

 

[pugdog]

What you just discribed is very, very common in areas that have alot of people. Don't feel bad NONE of it was your fault. We don't aploigize much anymore because "THEY" always think that the party with the wheelchair is at fault. "THEY" would never think that since they were not looking around as they are talking to others that it is our responability to watch out for them.
Untill that happens it's just a part of life in a wheelchair.

 

[Ali and boyz]

We find this even happens here in our main city when we go shopping. people just seem oblivious to wheelchairs. my poor son keeps apologising but now (sorry if this sounds really rude) but I just keep pushing and if they haven't got the manners to stop walking right in front of the chair then bump

 

[momof2inPA]

It's not you it's the people that think nothing of running in front of the wheelchair.

Sometimes it is the driver. I was standing nearly still in a huge crowd leaving Bear in the Big Blue House when a teenager drove his grandma's wheelchair right into my achilles. Do they have to make those foot rests razor sharp? I tried not to react, but it really hurt. Anyway, I recovered, and sometimes I accidentally run into people who haven't jumped out in front of me with the stroller, too. I would be lying if I said that never happened, especially at Disney. I just apologize and try to drive a little slower.

 

[SueM in MN]

It's both.
I got run into by my DD in her power wheelchair in Target the other day. She had been following me all over the store at low speed while I was pushing a cart. When I said we were ready to leave, she got excited. When she gets excited, she can go into an extension pattern, which means she has to work really hard to avoid pushing on her joystick and driving fast. She was doing fine at keeping a distance until I had to stop suddenly because someone came out of an aisle right in front of me. She couldn't stop that fast and ran into me. I ended up with a nice bruise (now, that's an oxymoron) and a circular area where the skin was scraped off my leg.

My fault for telling her we were ready to go when we were in a crowded space, her fault for going too fast and following me too closely, my fault for stopping quickly, the person's fault who pulled out in front of me for pulling out of an aisle without checking "traffic".
In other words, enough fault to go around.