Helping to move the nation
Transport for physically disabled people is often a problem, but one which Nissan is trying to address
NISSAN is laying claim to being the first manufacturer in SA to offer wheelchair-friendly vehicles to the taxi industry to meet the growing demand for safe, reliable transportation for people living with disabilities.
The company has developed a full conversion of its NV350 Impendulo, transforming the vehicle into a spacious carrier suitable for disabled passengers including hydraulic lift, rear-facing seating and aluminium flooring which helps to keep wheelchairs in position.
The converted vehicle has already been put into service in the Eastern Cape where it has been deployed within regional health departments.
“There is a definite need for more public transport facilities that cater for people living with physical disabilities,” says Wonga Mesatywa, director corporate and general affairs at Nissan Group of Africa.
With taxis transporting about 15-million commuters daily, according to the South African National Taxi Council, and about 7.5% of the country’s population regarded as having a disability, many disabled people remain unable to access this vital mode of transport. Many find it difficult to use taxis because the vehicles aren’t properly equipped for people living with physical disabilities, especially people in wheelchairs. Most taxis don’t have space to fit a person in a wheelchair and drivers are reluctant to pick up disabled people.
“Public transport facilities just cannot accommodate people in wheelchairs,” says Olivea Louw, GM of Nazareth House, a home that offers refuge for orphaned and abandoned children, terminally ill and destitute adults as well as the elderly.
“We had to invest considerable resources into buying two wheelchair-equipped vehicles because we could not rely on public transport facilities.”
This is a problem Louw feels strongly about after a physically disabled former colleague of hers was hijacked and left stranded on the side of the road while driving to work one day. Determined to get to work she attempted to catch a bus but she was told to disembark because the bus driver said he could not accommodate her wheelchair.
“I remember how humiliated and embarrassed she was. It was heartbreaking. It’s pure discrimination and something needs to be done about it,” she says.
The interior seating in the Impendulo can be removed, and a portion of it adapted to be rearward facing so wheelchairs can fit comfortably inside the vehicle. This is also removable, thereby allowing for versatile use.
One of the most useful modifications is the hydraulic lift which allows for people in wheelchairs to have easy access through the rear door.
“Many people living with disabilities in SA have been excluded from mainstream society and prevented from accessing fundamental social, political and economic rights due to different factors. Lack of access to adequate transport shouldn’t be one of them,” says Mesatywa.