MOBILE Act
From Family Voices
"With disability-related complaints regarding air travel up 50 percent in the last year, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and John Thune (R-SD), along with U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) and Pete Stauber (R-MN-08), introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to improve air travel for passengers with disabilities, notably passengers who use wheelchairs and other mobility aids. The bipartisan Mobility Aids on Board Improve Lives and Empower All (MOBILE) Act (S. 1459) would help ensure the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) takes additional actions to empower passengers who use mobility aids, such as manual and powered wheelchairs, to better prevent more disability-related incidents that occur far too often.
The MOBILE Act would require the Security of Transportation to:
- Issue a notice of proposed rulemaking requiring air carriers and foreign air carriers to publish dimensions of cargo holds;
- Evaluate the frequency and types of damage to wheelchairs and scooters;
- Develop and submit to Congress a strategic roadmap on researching the technical feasibility of accommodating passengers in wheelchairs in the main cabin; and
- If in-flight, in-wheelchair seating is determined to be technically feasible, assess the economic and financial feasibility of accommodating passengers with their wheelchairs in the main cabin during flight.
Comments