Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Tribune editorial on gas pump assistance:
Editorial: A smart move at the gas pump
Published: February 29, 2016
U.S. Rep. David Jolly’s proposed Gas Pump Access Act aimed at helping drivers with disabilities deserves the support of Congress. It also deserves the attention of citizens. The legislation illustrates how persistent citizens can indeed enact change.
The measure is based on a Hillsborough County ordinance passed in 2011 that requires gas stations that offer self-service gas to post a phone number that a motorist with disabilities can call to get assistance.
The plan was the brainchild of Ben Ritter, a co-chair of the Tampa Mayor’s Alliance for Persons with Disabilities and a member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
Ritter pointed out that even though the American Disabilities Act requires large gas stations to assist disabled motorist with fill-ups, the law was often ignored.
As Ritter once wrote in a Tribune commentary, “ … other than honking, waving a disabled parking permit or flashing your headlights, the ADA does not state how a driver with a disability is supposed to connect with an attendant inside the gas station’s convenience store.” Such methods, he knew, rarely worked, and even the “call for assistance” buttons some stations installed could be impossible for a disabled driver to reach.
He offered a simple but effective solution made possible by the prevalence of cellphones: Post a station phone number that drivers needing assistance could call for an attendant to come out to help.
The Hillsborough County Commission, led by Commissioner Sandy Murman, adopted the measure. Hillsborough was followed by six other counties, including Pinellas and Pasco.
In 2014, the Florida Legislature made the requirement a state law.
And now Jolly, an Indian Shores resident who has been working with Ritter, wants to make it a national requirement. His colleagues in Congress should have no trouble seeing the wisdom of this smart, inexpensive step.
Jolly is right when he says, “Tampa Bay and Florida led the nation with this solution, and it’s time the rest of the country follows their lead.”
Engaged citizens might also follow the lead of Ritter and other determined activists who found a way to make government responsive on the local, state and now, we hope, national level.
