Photo Credit: Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service
Unless you are a trail manager or an ADA-compliance supervisor, you may not know there has been a flurry of activity to address public spaces after the Department of Justice (DOJ) amended several areas of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The amendments apply to Title II, covering programs, activities and services of public entities, and Title III, covering public accommodations, commercial facilities and private entities offering specific examinations and courses.
“The amendment allows virtually any type of vehicle to be used for accessibility. When the new regulations were being vetted, no one seemed to catch on to how far-reaching this would be,” says Stuart MacDonald, National Trails Training Partnership manager for American Trails. “Most people might have just thought it applied to Segways, and no one quite thought that this rule could mean that ATV and full-sized vehicles could be imposed as accessibility devices.”
