Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 27, 1990                   TAG: 9006270355
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MAN IN WHEELCHAIR FALLS FROM CURB AFTER PLEADING FOR DISABLED

Leaving a Roanoke City Council meeting where he helped make a plea for better enforcement of the city's handicapped-parking ordinance, Sanderson took a nasty fall from his wheelchair that required a trip to the hospital.

The 63-year-old Northeast Roanoke man is chairman of an advocacy group called the Center for Independence for the Disabled Inc. Sanderson and representatives of the Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Mayor's Committee for the Disabled asked City Council to put more teeth into the city's handicapped-parking law.

Sanderson uses a wheelchair, having lost his own legs above the knees to disease 11 years ago. Leaving the council meeting, Sanderson took the City Hall elevator to the first floor. The handicapped exit to the building is located on the Second Street side of the building, but handicapped parking for City Hall is near the opposite end on the Campbell Avenue side.

After a custodian unlocked the handicapped door to let him out, Sanderson saw his wife pulling into the parking lot next to the door. The lot is used by the mayor and council members.

As he turned his wheelchair toward the lot, Sanderson tumbled off an unmarked and unguarded 8-inch curb. Sanderson did not see the curb just outside the handicapped door and there was no marking to indicate it was there.

"My left front wheel went off and I landed on my left stump," Sanderson said. "And you can't imagine how much that hurt me. Oh God, it was bloody."

Sanderson went from the parking lot to Roanoke Memorial Hospital for X-rays and a checkup.

The doctor predicted correctly Sanderson would be sore and stiff from the fall the next day. "I'm too old for that sort of stuff," he said.

Tuesday afternoon, Sanderson and his wife, Corretta, were back at the parking lot with a ruler and camera, taking pictures of the curbing. He plans on complaining to the city manager and other city officials. "This is an area where someone could be badly injured," he said.

Sanderson now has two problems related to the handicapped to discuss with city administrators. Council tabled for further study the request to strengthen the parking ordinance Monday because of a disagreement among council members about the size of the penalty for violations of the ordinance.

Sanderson wants a $100 fine for illegally parking in a handicapped spot, but the city attorney, he says, has recommended $25. The current fine is $5, and council members are divided on how much it should be raised. Handicapped people, with whom he has worked, repeatedly tell him that their biggest problem is transportation, Sanderson said. And Roanoke doesn't provide but a few handicapped spots, he said.

Anyone who illegally parks in a handicapped space knows what he is doing, Sanderson said. A $100 fine would be a psychological deterrent, he said. "Unless we aggressively defend the few places we have, we're no better off," he said.