Jennie Berry is a full-time wheelchair user and when she got an adapted car last month, she thought it would bring her more independence.
But getting back to driving has highlighted a new problem for wheelchair users – filling your car with petrol.
Jennie, 26, tells Metro.co.uk: ‘Getting your wheelchair out of the car and assembling it takes a long time just to put petrol in and I don’t feel there is a lot of space.
‘In supermarket car parks, there is space to do it but in the petrol station, I would feel like I was holding everyone up and I would be in the way of traffic.
‘I need some way to ask staff to come out and fill up my car and then take payment.’
Jennie is paralysed from the waist down and says that although there are apps and companies to help but only one station in Hartlepool, Co Durham, where she lives, is signed up.
The FuelService app is a scheme where drivers and stores can sign up and you can send a message to the petrol station to let them know you are coming to buy petrol and need assistance.
There is also a service called MyHailo, which involves buying a key fob for £19.95, which you can press on the forecourt and if the petrol station is signed up, they are alerted to come and help.
But needing more options in her area, Jennie started to investigate and found that Tesco states that disabled drivers who want help should put their hazards on, toot their horn and display their blue badge.
She tells Metro.co.uk: ‘I read the advice and thought it sounded ridiculous.
‘I felt like Hartlepool is already behind the times in terms of accessibility and I felt like people just wouldn’t react to that and they would think I was crazy for doing it.’
Jennie decided to put the policy to the test at a Tesco station.
She tried a Tesco service station in Hartlepool, following the policy listed on their website of beeping her horn and putting her hazard lights on.
While she was sat waiting for some help, other customers called her stupid for having her lights on.
After 15 minutes, a member of staff came out and asked her what the problem was.
Jennie explains: ‘I showed her my blue badge and said “Can you just put some petrol in for me please?”
‘She said: “What? Do you not know how to put petrol in your car?”
‘I explained I was disabled but she told me that I was meant to ring a number and speak to the petrol station, which is not what it says on the Tesco website.
‘How was I supposed to know that? And what if I want to go to a different petrol station? Am I supposed to ring a different number every time? It’s really unclear.’
Jennie went into the store and spoke to the manager but says that the staff in store had not heard of the policy.
Since posting about the test on her Instagram @Wheelie_good_life, Jennie has received some criticism from people, including other wheelchair users, who said that she should just bring someone with her or that she is being lazy for not getting her chair out.
Jennie adds: ‘I shouldn’t have to take someone with me. I want to be independent and that isn’t always an option. I’m not lazy for not taking my chair out either – getting someone to help won’t take long but there just needs to be a better system.
‘I’m not saying that other people shouldn’t do it those ways but if these apps and key fobs are available, I would like to see them available everywhere to give disabled people that choice.’
The campaign has already had an impact though, as she has been contacted by Fuel Service, about working together.
She has also spoken to an owner of some independent petrol stations locally about what they can do to help.
‘I want to make petrol stations in Hartlepool fully accessible and then see it spread across the UK. I think a lot of people don’t think about it as an issue until you point it out to them.
‘It’s really not efficient and there isn’t a consistent policy across petrol stations.’
Jenny tried the FuelService app this week going to the only station nearby that is signed up.
She says: ‘I was able to request assistance before I arrived and they could track me on the app. Once I got there, I could tell them which pump I was at and it sent an alert and then told me someone would be out within two minutes.
‘Someone then came out, filled up the car and I was able to pay through another app created by Shell.
‘It was great but there is only one in my area and I want to see every petrol station having something like this in place.’
A Tesco spokesperson said: ‘We were really disappointed to hear about this. We want everybody to be welcome at Tesco and our colleagues receive training to ensure they know how to help.
‘We apologise to Jennie that our usual process wasn’t followed on this occasion.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/13/disabled-woman-explains-difficult-get-petrol-wheelchair-12388726/?ITO=squid
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