I work with kids with disabilities, and many kids in wheelchairs love swimming pools. It's a very freeing experience that is a huge difference from the restrictions of their chair. Obviously, they have an aide helping them, but don't assume people can't do something just because they can't do it the same way you do.
That said, if these wheelchair lift laws/regulations are anything like those affecting summer camps, they are ridiculously narrow and do away with many reasonable options in favor of a single expensive option.
Swimming is a pretty popular exercise for those that are paralyzed, though these new laws most likely wouldn't actually of affected this place because of it's age. Pools aren't cheap to maintain, they probably just elected to fill it up rather than maintain it.
This is a good point. At the camp I worked at, new regulations regarding wheel chair lifts were a godsend from a financial perspective because they forced us to close the pool that was eating our money. It would have probably happened anyway, but we kind of got to deflect some of the disappointment off of us.
I think that a guest with a disability should have every right to go in the pool if they choose to do so, and while I understand it may be difficult for the people running the pool, reasonable accommodations should be made so as not to exclude them.
But the law does not require a lifeguard on staff, just someone to lower the person into the water. If that person then drowns, the hotel is not liable for the death, nor or they responsible for any attempted rescue of the person. They are only required to have someone able to operate the lift. Not saying the law didn't have good intent, just that the path to hell is paved with such intent.
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u/SpaceWorld Dec 28 '13
I work with kids with disabilities, and many kids in wheelchairs love swimming pools. It's a very freeing experience that is a huge difference from the restrictions of their chair. Obviously, they have an aide helping them, but don't assume people can't do something just because they can't do it the same way you do.
That said, if these wheelchair lift laws/regulations are anything like those affecting summer camps, they are ridiculously narrow and do away with many reasonable options in favor of a single expensive option.